STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 8l 



Is there any wonder that we sometimes see astonishing varia- 

 tions ? xA.s a matter of fact, this view of the case is not all senti- 

 ment, for the problem of what any particular variety will do 

 under any set of conditions of soil, climate, etc., is just the prob- 

 lem that we are trying to solve. 



It is generally accepted that the most important feature in 

 controlling plant life is the relative distribution of temperature 

 and moisture from month to month during the year. The logic 

 of this reasoning finds abundant support when we compare the 

 climatic conditions of Maine, for instance, with those of Florida 

 as they find expression in terms of plant life. Most of the hardy 

 plant forms which are indigenous to Maine require the rest 

 imposed by the cold of. winter, and, if transferred to Florida, 

 where no such rest would be induced on account of the very 

 mild weather during the winter months, the results would be 

 disastrous to the plants in most cases. Needless to say, the 

 transfer of the tender vegetation of Florida northward into the 

 colder regions would be equally destructive. The same thing is 

 true, though for diflr'erent reasons, if a similar transfer should 

 be made between plants of a humid and an arid or semi-arid 

 climate. In such transfers of vegetation, of course, there might 

 be all gradations from conditions of one extreme to those of the 

 opposite, producing corresponding variations in all plant: life. 



I stated earher in this discussion that elevation might properly 

 be considered in connection with climate because of its influence 

 in determining the latter. For instance, an orchard having an 

 elevated location may escape injury by frost when another one, 

 at a lower altitude, might be severely injured thereby. A dif- 

 ference in elevation, too, often makes a noticeable difference 

 in the blossoming of the same variety. This is doubtless asso- 

 ciated with the relative temperature at the diff'erent elevations. 

 I have no definite data relative to this point concerning apples, 

 but some interesting facts have come to my attention as devel- 

 oped in a West Mrginia peach orchard. This orchard is on a 

 steep mountain side, facing southeast ; the slope and soil are 

 uniform; the lower side of the orchard has an elevation of 1,700 

 or 1,800 feet; the upper side is some 300 feet higher. On the 

 lower side, a variety usually blossoms from two to three days 

 before it does on the upper side ; there is also a corresponding 



