SOIL, LOCATION AKD WINDBREAKS. 11 



common remark, '* There is no wind and the peach buds 

 will not suffer." If the thermometer registers a temper- 

 ature ten or fifteen degrees higher and a smart wind is 

 blowing, everyone feels discouraged or uncertain. It is 

 one of tlie commonest of observations that a wind in- 

 creases cold. I recall a farmer who had an old and poorly 

 made house, but Avho boasted that because he was well 

 protected by trees he suffered less than a neighbor on 

 a barren field, who had a new and tight house. 



High winds are in several ways injurious to the orchard. 

 It is a common and correct teaching that orchards should 

 be planted on high land as a matter of winter protection, 

 but, as such places are invariably windy, the idea has ob- 

 tained that wind is in some manner a protection. The 

 advantages to be obtained from high places are two : The 

 \ soil, being commonly well drained, is warm ; the atmos- 

 pheric drainage is good. If we can secure the congenial 

 soil and the atmospheric drainage at the same time that 

 we avoid high winds, we secure the greatest requisite in 

 orchard culture. 



A high wind shortly before apples are ripe will shake off 

 and bruise half or more of them in unprotected orchards. 

 I have frequently known promising apj)le crops to be 

 ruined in this manner. It frequently occurs that the 

 trees are badly broken at the same time. An ice storm, 

 followed by wind, is exceedingly destructive. Young trees 

 set in an exposed situation are always being blown askew, 

 and they must be repeatedly staked and tied. Many 

 growers recognize this fact, and plant corn among young 

 trees, but as soon as the corn is removed the unprotected 

 trees are wrenched Jby Autumn winds. I frequently see 



