14 THE KANSAS PEACH. 



locality, yet it may be laid down as a rule of pretty general applica- 

 tion that the crest adjacent to a valley is a desirable location for a 

 peach orchard, and if these valleys have streams running through 

 them, thus securing an outlet, so much the better. This rule ajDpears 

 to hold good without the general elevation of the valley above sea- 

 level. Ascend a high elevation some frosty morning and you will 

 reach a point where the frost will be succeeded by dew, and as you as- 

 cend still higher the dew itself will disappear ; or, as you descend 

 from the warm air of the elevation into the adjacent valley, you will 

 find yourself plunging into a lake of cold air. 



There is such a thing as frost drainage. Frost runs down hill — 

 so to speak — very much like water, and the buds in the valley will 

 often be killed when those on the elevation escape. 



Cotton, for instance, is often uninjured on elevations for weeks 

 after it is killed in the adjacent valleys. I will not invade the domain 

 of meteorology in attemjiting to explain this phenomenon further 

 than to state that the heat that is absorbed by the earth from the sun 

 during the day passes by radiation on cloudless nights into the at- 

 mosphere, and, owing to the ditference in specific gravity, the warmer 

 air rises and the colder air sinks, and this envelope of warm air in the 

 early morning, when the temperature is lowest, usually stands at an 

 elevation of 200 feet and uj^wards above the adjacent valleys, thus af- 

 fording protection from frosts in such favored locations. 



As an auxiliary condition in producing the above results, I might 

 mention that the radiation of heat from the soil of valleys is usually 

 much more rapid than that of uplands. We might refer to the fact 

 that clouds check the formation of dew and frost by obstructing radi- 

 ation, or restore by counter-radiation some of the heat lost. 



It is possible to accomplish the same end by a dense cloud of 

 smoke; winds also prevent the formation of dew and frost, by con- 

 stantly changing the strata of air in contact With the earth. The pro- 

 tection afforded by steep mountains or hills to the strips of land at 

 their base is somewhat analogous to that given by clouds, to which I 

 have referred. 



II — SOIL, 



The soil for a peach orchard should, if possible, have a good clay 

 subsoil, naturally well drained, and be rich enough to produce a fair 

 crop of wheat or corn, or not less than half a bale of cotton to the acre. 



Some people appear to think that if they have an old field that is 

 so exhausted it will not produce profitable farm crojas any longer, and 

 is washed into gullies, there is the place to plant an orchard. No 

 greater mistake can be made. If you are not willing to devote good 

 land to the orchard our advice would be to let the business alone. In 



