48 



RURAL NEW YORK 



liability to untimely frost. Since water changes tem- 

 perature much slower than land and the air in con- 

 tact with the water is similarly affected, these land 

 areas so situated as to receive the prevailing winds 

 from over such bodies of water are correspondingly 



Fig. 11. Showing the average number of days between kill- 

 ing frosts in spring and fall which corresponds to the 

 average length of the growing season. 



tempered. This advantage is held by the Great Lakes 

 plain. The water in Lake Ontario maintains an av- 

 erage temperature of ten to fifteen degrees warmer 

 in winter and cooler in summer than the adjacent 

 land areas. The success of growing fruit on the lake 

 plains is largely due to the freedom from untimely 



