SELECTING A SITE FOR Atf ORCHARD. 69 



others in the vicinity ; yet his success is far greater than 

 any others. Indeed, he scarcely ever fails, and it is at- 

 tributed to this cause his orchard is surrounded by 

 high hills. On the north, they rise several hundred 

 feet, but are a mile or more in the distance ; on the east,l 

 they are not quite so high, but approach nearer ; on the 

 south, they are nearly as high as on the north, and about 

 the same distance ; and on the west, they are not more than 

 fifty or sixty feet high, but covered with timber. Between 

 these flows the river, not in a straight line, but first to 

 the sourii-west, then to the south-east, and then back 

 again to the south-west. By this peculiar topographical 

 position, the wind has no direct sweep on the farm. What 

 is more remarkable still, and goes even further to prove 

 that Mr. Logan's succes's is owing to position, and not 

 cultivation or other cause, is the fact, that on the fourth 

 of June, A. D., 1859, a remarkable frost occurred, which 

 killed not only the fruit, but the wheat and rye, and even 

 the leaves of the trees, in all that section of the country. 

 Yet Mr. Logan had sixty acres of wheat, which was not 

 even injured. 



Many similar instances, but not perhaps so remarkable, 

 have come under our own observation. The cases of 

 trees in towns protected by houses and walls, are famil- 

 iar. It seems plain, therefore, that the topography of a 

 place has much to do with the success or failure of an or- 

 chard. But it is equally evident, that favorable locations, 

 such as we have described, are very rare. Proximity to 

 a body of water is supposed by some to be a favorable 

 circumstance ; and some remarkable results are referred 

 to in support of this opinion. It is, no doubt true, that the 

 proximity of a bay, lake or large river materially allevi- 

 ates the severity of winter ; and often prevents the inju- 

 rious effects of late frosts in the spring. These beneficial 

 results, however, are sometimes impaired, or entirely 

 neutralized, by counteracting ones ; and especially in the 



