FRUITS IN WEST VIRGINIA, KENTUCKY, AND TENNESSEE. 21 



vantages or disadvantages, the principal factors which determine 

 the desirability of a particular location and site in this area should 

 be understood, and these are briefly considered here. 



LOCATION. 



The principal factors to be considered in the location of an orchard 

 are labor supply, transportation facilities, markets, dates of ripening 

 of fruits, and climate. An orchard may have the most favorable 

 natural advantages for the growth of the trees and the development 

 of the fruit, but because of lack of trained help at the harvesting 

 season the fruit can not be properly handled, or because of impass- 

 able roads at a particular time of the year it is impossible to trans- 

 port the fruit to railroads, or because iced refrigerator cars can not 

 be secured when needed the fruit can not be shipped. The location 

 of large peach orchards in some sections is not desirable because the 



Fig. 13. — A strawberry field at Kenton, Tenn., in the Gulf Coastal Plains region. Note 



the vigorous foliage and lack of a mulch which are characteristic of strawberry fields 

 in this region. 



fruit ripens at the same time as in sections much nearer large mar- 

 kets which have lower freight rates. The same is true of the straw- 

 berry crop, which must compete with the product of the Atlantic 

 Coast States and of the States farther west. Many locations having 

 the above disadvantages may be found in this area. 



The principal factors to be considered in the choice of a site for an 

 orchard in this area are air drainage, contour, slopes, and soil. 



AIR DRAINAGE. 



A factor of much importance in the selection of an orchard site 

 is air drainage. Cold air is heavier than warm air and settles to the 

 lower levels. In late spring and early fall the temperature of the 

 air is often cold enough at the lower levels to cause a frost, while 

 higher on the hillside no frost occurs. In the spring, if warm 

 weather has advanced vegetation sufficiently to start the trees into 

 blossom, untimelv frosts mav kill the blossoms on trees in the valley 



