10 FIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE, 



well underd rained, and the trees have received good cul- 

 ture and an uncommon attention towards cultural experi- 

 ments. Nevertheless, this orchard has never borne a 

 good crop, and many of the trees have been winter-killed. 



High lands are preferable for orchards, from the fact 

 that they enforce atmospheric drainage. Cold air is 

 heavier than warm air, and it settles on the lowest grouuds. 

 All have noticed the warmer air on the hills, when riding 

 over a hi ' ly country at night. Crops upon high or sloping 

 lands escape frost, while those in the valleys are seriously 

 injured. In still winter weather I have known a differ- 

 ence of ten degrees between contiguous places with a 

 difference of thirty feet in altitude. 



The aspect of the ground is sometimes important. If 

 the locality is especially liable to late spring frosts a 

 northern slope is to be preferred, since the trees will not 

 start very early in the spring. Near large bodies of water, 

 and in other places where there is no danger from late 

 frosts, a southern slope is probably to be desired. Other 

 things being equal, the southern slope will produce the 

 highest colored and finest flavored apples. The same is 

 true of a sandy soil. 



There are many idle hillsides which would bear good 

 apple orchards. New England is especially rich in such 

 sites. As we approach the inviting, intensive husbandry 

 of the future, we must begin to appreciate the value of 

 many of our waste lands for orcharding purposes. 



WINDBEEAKS FOR ORCHARDS. 



During a still, cold snap in a fruit-growing locality, 

 when the mercury sinks to twenty beloAV zero, it is the 



