Location and Site of the Orchard 41 



tures of the land. Sites where the topography is rolHng and 

 broken, as those suggested in Plates I and II, have better air 

 drainage and sometimes better soil drainage than where the 

 topography is level as suggested in Plates V and VI. There 

 is no lower level into which the cold air can drain from these 

 sites. The topography of the sites in these two illustra- 

 tions is similar, though the elevations above sea level and the 

 general locations are very different. Plate V shows an or- 

 chard site in the east central part of Georgia where the ele- 

 vation above sea level is about 500 feet ; Plate VI, a valley 

 orchard in Colorado with an elevation of about 5000 feet 

 above sea level. 



It needs to be emphasized that a high elevation above sea 

 level in itself does not signify good atmospheric drainage. 

 The relative elevation of the site compared with the sur- 

 rounding area is of real importance. 



From the standpoint of good air and soil drainage, sites 

 along the slopes of mountains where the contours are regular 

 as in Plates III (top) and VII (bottom) are ideal, except 

 the steepness of the slope which makes tillage, spraying, and 

 other orchard operations difficult and more expensive than 

 where the site is more nearly level. Extremes in steep or 

 broken topography need to be guarded against. While a 

 topography like that shown in Plate VII has its objections, 

 the soil and subsoil are of such character that erosion does 

 not occur. Many types of soil would wash irretrievably 

 under such conditions, and where the surface is too uneven 

 the inconvenience in carrying on necessary orchard operations 

 is excessive. Therefore, although a broken topography is 

 much more to be desired than a dead level, for reasons 

 given, there is a limit in this direction beyond which the 

 disadvantages more than equal the advantages. 



