REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. J 53 



we can frequently protect our trees and plants from its baneful 

 influence, by shelter. The action of light and heat, of sun and 

 shade, of frosts and winds, and of bodies of water, have a most 

 important bearing on the health of vegetation, and it is hoped that 

 when the science of cultivation shall have attained to greater per- 

 fection, we may be better able to provide against the emergencies 

 which are now so disastrous in their results. 



The advantage of mulching the earth for dry seasons and soils, 

 whereby the temperature and moisture of the soils are kept uni- 

 form, is of the utmost consequence. This is almost as necessary 

 in winter as in summer. 



Facts, which we have adduced, go far to prove the truth of this 

 reasoning. 



The importance of shelter in our cold northern sections of the 

 country is becoming more and more appreciated, especiall}'^ in dry 

 and inclement seasons to which we are exposed. The removal of 

 forests diminishes the quantitj'^ of rain, increases the evaporation 

 of moisture, reducing the temperature, and exposes our trees to 

 greater vicissitudes than formerly. Our ancestors did not suffer 

 from this cause as we do, the proof which is seen in the fact that 

 throughout the New England States the peach and other tender 

 fruits were grown plentifull3^ 



Mulching and shelter may thus do much. That they will wholly 

 avail, should we ever again experience such a winter, is expecting 

 too much. The lesson has been a severe one, and we are as yet 

 unable to draw wholly satisfactory conclusions. 



We may in part take measures for prevention, but the}' will not 

 in such exceptional cases be wholly available. 



Careful culture will always do much, by rendering plants more 

 healthy and vigorous, toward enabling them to withstand vicissi- 

 tudes of temperature, and this point is one which should be 

 especially enforced upon cultivators. 



In a climate like ours the cultivator must be argus-eyed, and 

 must carefully watch the changes of temperature at different 

 seasons ; thus, and thus onl}', can be attained those triumphs of 

 which our Society may certainly claim a share, and of which we 

 trust the future may not be less productive than the past has been. 



The accompanying list will give a general idea of the condition 

 of vegetation in the vicinity of Boston : — 



30 



