4O THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



So much would easily appear from the contradic- 

 tory nature of the advice given. One peach grower 

 (perhaps it would be better here to refer to peach 

 lecturers rather than to peach growers) has insisted 

 vehemently on an east slope; the next man has 

 spoken earnestly in favor of a north slope, and has 

 warned his hearers against the dire disaster which 

 always comes to peach orchards on south slopes; 

 while another lecturer or magazine writer has said 

 that the south slope is best by all cdds. I have re- 

 cently sent a questionnaire to leading growers in all 

 the peach regions of Canada and the United States 

 asking, among other things, which exposure they 

 found best. With a deep suspicion that all this ex- 

 posure worry was fol-de-rol anyway, I asked point 

 blank this question, "Does exposure make any dif- 

 ference?" The 152 replies to this direct question 

 were distributed as follows: 



No, 60 



Yes, 49 



Not much, 43 



Probably these figures put the case quite as 

 strongly in favor of the exposure theory as the facts 

 would warrant. Michigan and New Jersey gave the 

 largest number of votes in the "Yes" column, and it 

 is fair to believe that exposure makes more real dif- 

 ference in these districts than in some others. Yet 

 the force of the positive answers (those voting 

 "yes") is considerably weakened by the diversity of 

 ideas among the voters. Some recommended north 

 slopes, while other men in the same states recom- 

 mended south slopes. 



As nearly as any guiding principles can be sifted 

 out of this large mass of genuinely expert testimony 

 the case seems to stand as follows. 



