TILLAGE FOE THE OECHAED 



DIFFERENT CONDITIONS IN VARIOUS PARTS 

 OF ONTARIO — PRECIPITATION IN SUMMER 

 AND IN WINTER — WHY FRUIT GROWERS 

 SHOULD CULTIVATE IN AUTUMN, WHY IN 

 SPRING OR WHY IN SUMMER— THE FIRST OF 

 A SERIES OF ARTICLES 



PROF. J. B. REYNOLDS, 



OF O. A. C, GUELPH, ONT. 



^^PECIFIC directions for orchard culti- 

 V3 vation, to apply to every fruit-growing 

 section of Ontario, cannot be given. It 

 must be borne in mind that Ontario is not a 

 small country, and that within its borders it 

 possesses wide variations of climate. From 

 the eastern end of Ontario to the extreme 

 west at Port Arthur, the annual rainfall 

 diminishes by one-third. Generally the 

 farther west of Ontario, the drier the climate, 

 although this rule is subject to exceptions 

 when lake-shore or river- counties are com- 

 pared with inland counties. Therefore, since 

 cultivation is becoming more and more a 

 matter of conserving moisture, it is evident 

 that the same method will be applied to 

 different sections with different degrees of 

 success. The methods of orchard cultivation 

 that experience teaches to be the best at 

 Ottawa, or along the St. Lawrence, may not 

 do at all for western or inland sections. 

 The term 'rainfall' has been used. A 

 term more suitable for our purpose is * pre- 

 cipitation', which includes rainfall, snowfall, 

 dew and all aqueousdeposits from theatmos- 

 phere to the earth. With reference to the 

 annual precipitation, here is an important 

 question. Which part is of more value to 

 the fruit-grower, that which falls in the 

 autumn and winter — the inactive season — or 

 the summer rains ? At first thought, it may 

 be supposed that the summer rains are of 

 more value, since they come when they are 

 most wanted. Yet, with some reservations, 

 the opposite is the fact. The more valuable 



and necessary precipitations are those which 

 occur during the inactive season. This is 

 true for several reasons. First, the pre- 

 cipitation of the late fall and winter usually 

 comes when the ground is prepared to 

 receive and to -retain it. Then, the winter's 

 snow is conveniently slow in melting, and 

 gives the land plenty of time to absorb it. 

 There is frequently the equivalent of. two or 

 three inches of rain, in the form of snow, 

 lying on the ground at one time and, on 

 fairly level, well-prepared ground, little or 

 none of this is lost when it melts. In the 

 third place, the precipitation of the inactive 

 season is usually quite sufficient to be 

 effective, and to saturate the ground to a 

 depth of three or four feet or more. At this 

 period, also, there is little evaporation, and 

 therefore but little loss of moisture from this 

 direction. 



On the other hand, what happens with the 

 summer rain ? A gentle soaking rain, last- 

 ing a whole day and amounting to one or 

 two inches in depth, will likely penetrate the 

 ground to a sufficient depth to reach the 

 roots of the trees. But this is not the usual 

 character of summer rains, which are often 

 tantalizingly small in quantity and short in 

 duration. A smart shower, lasting from 

 twenty to thirty minutes, may penetrate two 

 or three inches of an ordinary soil. The 

 principal effect of such a shower is to com- 

 pact the surface soil, destroy the mulch 

 which the careful fruit-grower has main- 

 tained, and start evaporation of the moisture 



