54 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



suffer from frosts. With regard to the as- 

 pect or exposure of orchards generally, this 

 much may be said : Near large bodies of 

 water the most favorable exposure is on the 

 slope towards the water. In a district away 

 from water a northern or northwesterly ex- 

 posure is the best, as the blossoming period 

 is retarded and danger from spring frosts 

 escaped. The slope, however, must not be 

 too pronounced, or too cold and backward. 

 Account must also be taken of prevailing 

 winds, and a few words may be advisable 

 here as to the use of windbreaks. 



Windbreaks. — The value of windbreaks 

 for the orchard is a much debated question, 

 full of pros, and cons., only a brief summary 

 of the main points will be possible here. 

 The gradual removal of forests in Ontario 

 has rendered the sweep of winds over the 

 farm lands more violent and more noticeable. 

 Winds acquire, to a greater or less degree, 

 the temperature of the area over which they 

 pass, thus modifying the climate of every 

 new district touched. Hence a strong wind 

 from an open body of water will raise the 

 winter temperature of the adjoining land, 

 while wind from a colder area may have a 

 disastrous effect. Wind is a powerful agent 

 in the evaporation of moisture, and, apart 

 from the more rapid evaporation in an open 

 country during the summer, a strong dry 

 wind may have an appreciably bad effect on 

 fruit trees by evaporating the moisture in 

 dormant twigs during winter. The value 

 of a windbreak evidently, therefore, depends 

 on the direction and character of the prevail- 

 ing winds. Where strong land winds are 

 of frequent occurrence, a windbreak is clear- 

 ly advisable. To quote from Bailey : " The 

 benefits derived from windbreaks are, lessen- 

 ing of evaporation from soil and plants ; pro- 

 tection from cold ; lessening of windfalls ; 

 lessening of liability to mechanical injuries 

 of trees ; retention of snow and leaves ; the 

 enabling of trees to grow more erect ; les- 

 sening of injury from the drying up of small 



fruits ; retention of sand in certain localities ; 

 hastening of maturity of fruits in some 

 cases ; encouragement of birds ; ornamen- 

 tation." 



The injuries from windbreaks are as fol- 

 lows : " Preventing the free circulation of 

 warm winds and consequent exposure to 

 cold ; injuries from insects and fungous dis- 

 eases ; injuries from the encroachment of the 

 windbreak itself; increased liability to late 

 spring frosts in rare cases." This is a clear 

 statement of the advantages and disadvan- 

 tages of windbreaks, and the evidence is 

 strongly in favor of windbreaks, unless they 

 are unwisely planted so as to exclude warm 

 winds that are often a fruit grower's salva- 

 tion during a severe winter. The common 

 objection to windbreaks, viz., that they har- 

 bor all kinds of bad insects and tend to en- 

 courage fungous diseases such as mildew, 

 scab, etc., has some strength, but w^th the 

 intelligent use of a proper spraying appar- 

 atus this objection loses its chief force, and 

 care can also be taken that such trees as are 

 especially infested by injurious insects and 

 fungi are left out of the plantation. As a 

 general rule a mixed windbreak is advisable 

 of two or even three rows. It should usu- 

 ally be not too dense, checking the violence 

 of the wind rather than excluding it alto- 

 gether. Norway spruce, Austrian and 

 Scotch pines are effective ; and amongst the 

 deciduous trees those should be used which 

 are most healthy and thrifty in the locality. 



The Son. Question. — Having decided 

 as to climate, location and exposure, it would 

 become necessary to consider the matter of 

 soils for fruit, and under this head " drain- 

 age " and " tillage " will also be referred to. 

 It may be said in the outset that nearly all 

 soils so far as their mechanical texture is 

 concerned will produce with fair success the 

 various fruits, provided that the necessary 

 conditions of fertility, proper drainage and 

 cultivation are fulfilled. The fulfilling of 

 these conditions, however, becomes a some- 



