CAPABILITIES OF THE KOOTENAYS. 15 



sometimes reaching as high a figure as 40 cleg. Fahr., 

 obtains throughout the whole of the year, so that the 

 nights, even after the hottest days of July and August, 

 are refreshingly cool and agreeable. At this season, 

 again, the hottest part of the summer, the lake acts 

 as a sort of regulator, in that the heavy evaporation 

 filters upwards through the orchards, moistening the 

 foliage of the trees and cooling the bark, the blossom, 

 or the fruit, and imparting a certain measure of 

 humidity to the surface of the earth. 



As for the winds, one of the most noticeable things 

 that strike the new-comer in the Kootenays is the 

 comparative absence of wind, the prevalent stillness 

 of the atmosphere. This is especially observable, as 

 a rule, at the time when fruit-blossoms are setting, 

 and this is a fact the importance of which must not 

 be overlooked. If fruit-blossoms set well, in still, 

 tranquil, sunny weather, a good crop is pretty certain 

 to follow. The comparative absence of wind will, in 

 a similar manner, account for the smallness of the 

 loss from the dropping of immature or nearly ripe 

 fruit. The comparative immunity from loss in this 

 way must, however, also be attributed to the entire 

 absence of the codlin moth and other insectal and 

 fungoid pests in the Kootenay orchards. 



The geographical configuration of the country, 

 the mountains screening the orchards from the 

 quarters whence blow the chilling and injurious 

 winds, accounts perfectly for the safety which the 

 Kootenay fruit-grower enjoys against that dreaded 

 enemy of his English confrere, the East wind and its 

 near ally, the North wind. 



