66 INFLUENCE OF DEEP LAKES AND RIVERS. 



ceived the reflected heat from the ground, nearly all started, 

 and were killed, while those on the tops of the trees were 

 not injured. It is evident that a very slight depression of 

 temperature would have been sufficient to have prevented 

 the lower buds from starting. But the warmth may be so 

 great, either late in autumn or in mid-winter, that no check 

 of the kind would be sufficient. 



It has often been observed that woods or thick trees, 

 buildings, high board fences, or steep hills, on the east side 

 of peach, orchards, protect the crop. Hence 'the erroneous 

 opinion, that it is the east wind which does the damage. It 

 is the sunshine upon the frozen buds which destroys them ; 

 hence, a clouded sky after a clear frosty night, by prevent- 

 ing sudden thawing, sometimes saves a crop. Covering 

 trees of rare kinds with mats, to shade them from the morn- 

 ing sun, after an intensely frosty night, might sometimes 

 be highly beneficial. 



Influence of deep Lakes and Rivers. — Large bodies of un- 

 freezing water in the bottoms of valleys, will reverse some 

 of the preceding rules, and the banks of such waters are pe- 

 culiarly adapted to the cultivation of tender fruits. They 

 soften the severity of the cold, by the large and warmer 

 surface constantly presented ; on the other hand, they chill 

 the dangerous warm air which starts the buds in winter; 

 and they afford great protection by the screen of fog which 

 they spread before the morning sun. Along the borders of 

 the lower parts of the Hudson, and on the banks of the 

 Cayuga and Seneca lakes, tender fruit trees often afford 

 abundant crops, while the same kinds are destroyed only 

 two or three miles distant. Along the southern shore of 

 Lake Ontario, the peach crop scarcely ever fails, and the 

 softening influence of that large body of unfreezing water, 

 extends many miles into the interior. 



ENCLOSURES. 



The skilful cultivator, after having prepared his ground, 

 procured the best trees the country affords, carefully trans- 

 planted them, and watched over them, and given them 

 careful and laborious attention for years, feels a very 

 natural desire to partake of their fruits. But this he can- 

 not do, in many places, unless his fruit garden is protected 



