224 



The Canadian Hortiadtiirist. 



question of the proper elevation came 

 in unexpectedly to aid in procuring 

 immunity and, in my opinion, acts 

 in this way : Cold air, being the 

 heavier, sinks to the lowest levels, 

 causing in this instance the frost 

 upon the plain, leaving a warmer 

 stratum of air above in which the 

 orchard lies. The higher end of the 

 orchard is between three and four 

 hundred feet above the bay, which, 

 in this northern region, appears to 

 be high enough to bring into notice- 

 able action the law of the lowering 

 of the temperature as the elevation 

 is increased. Were it not for this 

 fact in physics all the air above the 

 lowest stratum would be of the same 

 temperature, or an increasing temper- 

 ature, as the mountain was ascended. 

 The deposit of moisture on the higher 

 levels in the form of snow, and not on 

 the lower, is in consonance with this. 

 The air on the higher levels from 

 which snow is deposited is the warm 

 moist air from the bay which has 

 reached an elevation high enough to 



cool it to the point of congelation, 

 while the cold air on the lower level 

 is the dry air that was on the moun- 

 tain and its slopes, which, as it was 

 cooled near the surface of the ground, 

 slipped down to the lower level of 

 the plain, the place it had occupied 

 being taken up by the warm air off 

 the bay. 



The fact remains of a remarkable 

 immunity from frost of a strip of land 

 on the slope of the mountain in this 

 neighborhood, and has been noticed 

 by 5^ou in your neighborhood. If 

 my explanations are correct, anyone 

 seeking land has new data to assist 

 him in protecting his future orchard 

 from the evil effects of frost, for as 

 far as I am aware the question of the 

 proper elevation to secure this object 

 has never been looked at from a 

 scientific standpoint before. I trust 

 you will not find this attempt to 

 obtam future benefit from present 

 misfortune too long and garrulous 

 for insertion in your next issue. — 

 Geo. M. Aylesworth, CoUingxvood. 



CARE OF VINES AND SUMMER PRUNING. 



IF all the rotten grapes of last 

 season lying on the ground are 

 covered so deeply at the first plowing 

 that the after cultivation will not 

 reach them, the danger of rot will be 

 greatly lessened. 



There is great diversity in modes 

 of summer pruning the vines, and in 

 what many call by that name we see 

 only Vandalism, that is, to permit a 

 free growth until after midsummer, 

 and then to go through the vineyard 

 with a scythe or a corn-knife, cutting 

 and slashing as if they were trimming 

 a hedge. 



What we, here in INIissouri, con- 

 sider the proper method, is to have 

 vines so pruned as to have two, 

 three, or four canes start pretty well 

 down on the vine, from spurs headed 

 back for that purpose. These we 

 let grow without any disturbance 

 except to pinch the ends of the 

 shoots when they have reached the 

 top of the trellis or stake. Then let 

 them run into laterals as strong as 

 they please. 



And now for the fruiting branches, 

 which we begin on as soon as there 

 are two joints formed beyond the 



