INSECTS. 51 



due south slope, is, south of New- York, frequently found too 

 warm for many fruit trees, in soils that are light and dry. 



Deep vallies, with small streams of water, are the worst situ- 

 ations for fruit trees, as the cold air settles down in these vallies 

 in a calm frosty night, and buds and blossoms are very frequently 

 destroyed. We know a rich and fertile valley of this kind in 

 Connecticut where the Cherry will scarcely grow, and a crop of 

 the Apple, or the Pear, is not obtained once in ten years ; while 

 the adjacent hill tops and high country, a couple or three miles 

 distant, yield abundant crops annually. On the other hand the 

 borders of large rivers, as the Hudson, or of some of our large 

 inland lakes, are the most favourable situations for fruit trees, as 

 the climate is rendered milder by large bodies of water. In the 

 garden where we write, a fourth of a mile from the Hudson, we 

 have frequently seen ice formed during the night, of the thick- 

 ness of a dollar, when the blossoms of the Apricot were fully 

 expanded, without doing the least harm to that tender fruit. 

 This is owing to the slight fog rising from the river in the morn- 

 ing, which, softening the rays of the sun, and dissolving gradually 

 the frost, prevents the injurious effects of sudden thawing. At 

 the same time, a couple of miles from the shores, this fruit will 

 often be quite destroyed. In short, the season on the lower half 

 of the Hudson, may, from the ameliorating influence of the river, 

 be said to be a month longer a fortnight earlier in spring, and 

 later in autumn, than in the same latitude a few miles distant ; 

 and crops of the more tender fruits are, therefore, much more 

 certain on the banks of large rivers or lakes, than in inland dis- 

 tricts of the same climate. 



CHAPTER VII. 



GENERAL REMARKS ON INSECTS. 



THE insects injurious to fruit trees are numerous, and to 

 combat them successfully requires a minute acquaintance with 

 their character and habits. While considering the culture of 

 each class of fruit in the succeeding pages, we shall point out 

 the habits, and suggest means of destroying the most important 

 of these insects ; but, in the meantime, we wish to call attention 

 to some general practical hints on this subject. 



In the first place, we cannot too strongly impress upon the at- 

 tention of the fruit grower the importance of watching carefully, 

 and making an early attack, upon every species of insect. It 

 is only necessary to look for a moment at the astonishing rapid- 



