2£&^s.^-^^^^^-^^^^>^-- 



FRUIT CULTURE- 



General Princi-ples. 



tion. 



LIMATE, Location and Site — 

 One of the first things which deter- 

 mines the success or faihire of any 

 particular fruit is the ch'mate ques- 

 With great extremes of heat and cold 

 we yet have, through a large part of Ontario, 

 a climate which favors the successful pro- 

 duction of most of the fruits belonging to the 

 temperate zone^and fruits of the highest 

 quality. The annual temperature of the 

 different sections of the country will natur- 

 ally have much to do with the successful 

 production of the different fruits. Occasion- 

 ally a favorable winter mav enable a fruit to 

 be ripened outside its usual northern limit, 

 but the minimum temperature of the average 

 year will determine the question as to 

 whether certain fruits can be profitablv 

 grown or not. Thus, where the mercurv 

 habitually touches lo** below zero, the suc- 

 cessful culture of peaches is practically im- 

 possible ; where the point ordinarily reached 

 is from 15 to 20** below, the growing of the 

 sweet cherry becomes a doubtful experiment, 

 and so on with other fruits. In each species 

 of fruit, however, there are varieties with 

 exceptionally hardy characteristics, enabling 



them to withstand conditions totally fatal to 

 the rest of the species, and it is this fact that 

 makes the choice of varieties an extremely 

 important point for the planter to consider. 

 Then, within a given district there may be 

 locations so favorable as to enjoy immunity 

 from the more severe frosts affecting the 

 surrounding countr}-. The low temperature 

 of the water in the spring will retard the 

 growth of vegetation, and thus enable the 

 effects of spring frosts to be escaped. In 

 the summer the temperature at night will 

 usually be higher on the lands adjacent to a 

 lake, and in the fall the warmer temperature 

 of the water will lengthen the growing sea- 

 son, and less danger from the early autumn 

 frosts exists. Experience has shown that 

 the most favorable sites for orchards are on 

 lands frequentlv sloping to bodies of water, 

 and always a little elevated above the sur- 

 rounding countrv. This is partly because 

 of the influence of the water ; partly from 

 the drainage facilities; and partly because of 

 what is known as atmospheric drainage. It 

 is a fact familiar to most people that the 

 colder air is, the heavier it is, and the low 

 flat areas are usuall}-, therefore, the first to 



•This article was publiHbed iu the last rejiort of the Sui)erintendent of Farmers' Institutes for Ontario, and we repab- 

 h it for the benefit of readers of the " Horticulturist " by the courtesv of the Superinteudent. 



