ORCHARD LOCATIONS AND SITES 649 



immediate vicinity of the body of water. For instance, the so-called 

 *' fruit belt" on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan varies in width from 

 less than 2 to over 20 miles. The lake is as wide where the belt is narrow 

 as where the belt is wide, but the lay of the land is quite different. As a 

 rule but little influence of the water is felt back of the crest of the slope 

 toward the lake, bay or river and frequently its influence does not extend 

 to the crest of the slope. Naturally, if the slope is gradual the influence 

 is likely to be felt further back than if it is abrupt. 



Influence of Size and Shape of Body of Water. — Something of the 

 relation between the size of the body of water and that of the area 

 influenced by it may be understood by comparing the width of the fruit 

 belts bordering Lake Michigan or Lake Ontario with those bordering 

 Lakes Seneca or Canandaigua in New York. As already stated, the 

 Michigan fruit belt is from 2 to 20 miles wide. The fruit belt along 

 Lake Ontario is of equal width. Lakes Seneca and Canandaigua, them- 

 selves only about 4 miles wide at the most, have distinct fruit belts only a 

 quarter of a mile to 2 miles in width. A deep body of water has a much 

 greater influence on the climate of the adjoining land than one which is 

 shallow. The water is in effect a heat sponge, absorbing heat whenever 

 air temperatures rise above the mean and liberating heat whenever they 

 fall below it. Naturally, then, the larger this sponge the greater is its 

 absorbing and liberating capacity. This is particularly important in 

 the case of bodies of water so deep that they seldom freeze over or 

 remain frozen for only a short time, as it relates to their modifying 

 influence on midwinter minimum temperatures. On the other hand 

 many lakes as wide as the finger lakes of central New York, because they 

 are very shallow, furnish little protection to the neighboring slopes. 

 Protection is likely in the vicinity of large rivers, especially if they are 

 deep. Their currents, which delay or prevent their freezing over, may 

 partly compensate for their lack of depth; a river 10 to 20 feet deep and a 

 quarter of a mile wide may afford as much protection to orchards along 

 its course as a lake twice that depth and of the same width. Indeed it is 

 likely to afford greater protection because of its channel down which the 

 cold air may continue to drain indefinitely. 



Indirect Ternperature Effects. — Bodies of water influence temperatures 

 in their vicinities in other ways than through promoting air drainage. 

 There are certain favored spots where the increased atmospheric humidity 

 due to proximity of water leads to the frequent formation of fog during 

 periods when dangerously low temperatures occur at nearby points and 

 a very effective check is thus placed on loss of heat by radiation. 

 Kelley's Island in Lake Erie has been noted as a place thus rendered 

 especially suited to the culture of comparatively tender long-season 

 fruits and without doubt this is one of the chief factors in making possible 

 the successful culture of European plums in the vicinity of Ste. Anne de 



