102 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



longer periods of sunshine, fruit that has 

 been grown on the higher elevations is 

 liliely to be of better quality and appear- 

 ance. A southern slope offers relatively 

 more sunlight, but there is a common no- 

 tion that with such an exposure an 

 orchard is more susceptible to injury 

 from late spring frosts. While it is true 

 that the buds of trees on a southern slope 

 will start earlier than those on a north- 

 ern slope, there is little danger from this 

 source if proper attention is given to ele- 

 vation. The most experienced apple grow- 

 ers favor an eastern or northeastern 

 slope, but in most sections of New Eng- 

 land the apple may be depended upon to 

 do well on any slope. A western slope, 

 however, is objectionable, unless the trees 

 are protected from the strong prevailing 

 winds. The use of a windbreak in such 

 cases will prove valuable in the way of 

 checking the evaporation from the soil 

 and trees and of preventing the breaking 

 of the branches and the falling of the 

 fruit. A forest on the windward side of 

 an orchard is often worth more as a 

 windbreak than for any other purpose. 

 C. D. J.\RVis. 

 Storrs. Conn. 



.Vir Draiiiagre 



If possible, by all means select a site 

 that is naturally well drained. It should 

 be so drained that both an excess of water 

 and cold air can readily escape to a lower 

 level. While the apple very much dis- 

 likes a wet, soggy soil, it equally dislikes 

 a site upon which cold air may stagnate. 

 Cold air seeks the lowest levels. It fre- 

 quently carries with it the frost waves 

 that kill blossoms in the spring, or imma- 

 ture wood in the autumn. The force of 

 this point is readily impressed upon the 

 minds of all those who drive over the 

 gently undulating sections of our valley 

 after nightfall in the spring or early au- 

 tumn months. Every hollow, especially 

 if it be one without pronounced outlet to 

 lower levels, fills up with cold air, and as 

 one passes from the crest to the bottom 

 and up the opposite side, the change from 

 the cold air of the bottom to the warmer 

 strata above is as distinctly marked as 

 the passing from a warm room to the 

 open air on a frosty morning. Such places. 



hollows, or pockets, into which cold air 

 may settle and remain with little or no 

 motion, are death traps, not alone for the 

 api)le, but for fruit trees in general. 

 Though the soils in such places may be 

 good and deep and water drainage of the 

 best, yet is the site deficient in one of the 

 most important elemental features of a 

 site — air drainage. It is as imperative to 

 keep still cold air away from the tree's 

 head as it is to keep stagnant water away 

 from its feet. 



The diversity of geological formation 

 and exposure in the apple growing dis- 

 tricts of Oregon render this topic of as- 

 pect a peculiarly interesting one. In some 

 sections little attention aside from that 

 given to heavy winds is necessary; in 

 other sections the southern exposures, 

 while desirable in many respects, are li- 

 able to have a thin soil underlaid by 

 impervious rock; in still other sections 

 the northern slopes, ideal in several fea- 

 tures, have a soil rich, deep, full of hu- 

 mus, very moist, and thus prone to keep 

 the tree growing too late in the season, 

 and unduly retarding the bursting of the 

 buds in the spring; and in yet other sec- 

 tions the aspect is quite a matter of in- 

 difference, as in the Rogue and Grande 

 Ronde river valleys proper. But upon 

 the bench lands of these sections, when 

 more attention is given to the planting of 

 orchards upon them, due attention to as- 

 pect will be of no little importance, and 

 may be a deciding factor between success 

 and failure with particular varieties. 

 Especially in Rogue river valley would it 

 appear that the later keeping varieties 

 will demand the cooler northern expos- 

 ures, while the earlier varieties will do 

 best ujion the southern and eastern 

 slopes. 



In the Willamette valley, except in the 

 districts tributary to the "gaps" in the 

 Coast mountains, through which strong 

 sea breezes issue, a southern asjiect would 

 seem generally desirable, providing it is 

 not a hillside with thin soil. The general 

 low altitude of the valley, together with 

 the average high humidity, makes an 

 open or southern aspect desirable, since 

 under such conditions fruit will tend to 

 take on a higher color, an item of con- 



