10 THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



flourish on a clay soil, but that vegetation on clay soils suffers more in 

 a time of drought than on lighter soils, and is therefore rendered less 

 able to resist the severity of our winters ; in other cases the wet 

 bottom may be fatal, as I should suppose is the case in Glengarry. 



A few words before I close about the climate of Barrie, which I 

 have no doubt some of my readers have been in the habit of looking 

 upon as located somewhere in the neighborhood of the north pole, and 

 possessing a climate something like that of Ottawa or Quebec. I have 

 seen the idea thrown out somewhere that Stratford was or might 

 become a great fruit growing centre, but I suppose who ever said so 

 would never have dreampt of Barrie as being worthy for one moment to 

 be compared with it in that connection. If so, allow me to state a few 

 facts for that individual's information, and he will perhaps be "surprised 

 to' learn" that Barrie really possesses a more favorable climate for fruit 

 growing than Stratford, although fully one degree nearer the north pole. 

 I have not all the statistics at hand to establish this point fully, but 

 perhaps I have enough for my purpose. In the first place, I have 

 three numbers only of the Canada Fanner for 1868, July, August, 

 and September, in which the mean temperature of nine towns in the 

 Dominion is given for those months, as taken from the year book of 

 British North America. And the mean temperature for the three 

 months is, 



Barrie, . . - 61" 50' 



Stratford, , - - - 59° 79' 



In July Barrie is ahead of Toronto. 



Barrie, . . . 71° 88' 



Toronto, .- - - - 70° 40' 



Stratford, - - - 66° 64' 



In an article from the pen of A. Macallum, M.A., of Hamilton, which 



appears in the Eeport for 1872, a table of the mean temperature of 



ten different towns in Ontario is given for one year — spring of 1869 to 



spring of 1870 — and here again Barrie takes the lead of Toronto. 



Barrie, . _ . 44° 03' 



Toronto, - - - - 43° 07' 



Stratford, - _ - 42° 07' 



It may not be difficult to account for the difference in favor of Barrie 



as compared with Stratford, when it is remembered that the latter is 



1182 feet above the sea level, while the former is only 779; but I 



