102 
longer periods of sunshine, fruit that has 
been grown on the higher elevations is 
likely to be of better quality and appear- 
ance. A southern slope offers relatively 
more sunlight, but there is a common no- 
tion that with such an exposure an 
orchard is more susceptible to injury 
from late spring frosts. While it is true 
that the buds of trees on a southern slope 
will start earlier than those on a north- 
ern slope, there is little danger from this 
source if proper attention is given to ele- 
vation. The most experienced apple grow- 
ers favor an eastern or northeastern 
slope, but in most sections of New Hng- 
land the apple may be depended upon to 
do well on any slope. A western slope, 
however, is objectionable, unless the trees 
are protected from the strong prevailing 
winds. The use of a windbreak in such 
cases will prove valuable in the way of 
checking the evaporation from the soil 
and trees and of preventing the breaking 
of the branches and the falling of the 
fruit. A forest on the windward side of 
an orchard is often worth more as a 
windbreak than for any other purpose. 
C. D. Jarvis, 
Storrs, Conn. 
Air Drainage 
If possible, by all means select a site 
that is naturally well drained. It should 
be So drained that both an excess of water 
and cold air can readily escape to a lower 
level. While the apple very much dis- 
likes a wet, soggy soil, it equally dislikes 
a site upon which cold air may stagnate. 
Cold air seeks the lowest levels. It fre- 
quently carries with it the frost waves 
that kill blossoms in the spring, or imma- 
ture wood in the autumn. The force of 
this point is readily impressed upon the 
minds of all those who drive over the 
gently undulating sections of our valley 
after nightfall In the spring or early au- 
tumn months. Every hollow, especially 
if it be one without pronounced outlet to 
lower levels, fills up with cold air, and as 
one passes from the crest to the bottom 
and up the opposite side, the change from 
the cold air of the bottom to the warmer 
strata above is as distinctly marked as 
the passing from a warm room to the 
open air on a frosty morning. Such places, 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
hollows, or pockets, into which cold air 
may settle and remain with little or no 
motion, are death traps, not alone tor the 
apple, but for fruit trees in general. 
Though the soils in such places may be 
good and deep and water drainage ot the 
best, yet is the site deficient in one ot the 
most important elemental features of a 
site—air drainage. It is as imperative to 
keep still cold air away from the tree’s 
head as it is to keep stagnant water away 
from its feet. 
The diversity of geological tormation 
and exposure in the apple growing dis- 
tricts of Oregon render this topic of as. 
pect a peculiarly interesting one. In some 
sections little attention aside from that 
given to heavy winds is necessary; in 
other sections the southern exposures, 
while desirable in many respects, are li- 
able to have a thin soil underlaid by 
impervious rock; in still other sections 
the northern slopes, ideal in several fea- 
tures, have a soil rich, deep, full of hu- 
mus, very moist, and thus prone to keep 
the tree growing too late in the season, 
and unduly retarding the bursting of the 
buds in the spring; and in yet other sec- 
tions the aspect is quite a matter of in- 
difference, as in the Rogue and Grande 
Ronde river valleys proper. But upon 
the bench lands of these sections, when 
more attention is given to the planting of 
orchards upon them, due attention to as- 
pect will be of no little importance, and 
may be a deciding factor between success 
and failure with particular varieties. 
Especially in Rogue river valley would it 
appear that the later keeping varieties 
will demand the cooler northern expos- 
ures, While the earlier varieties will do 
best upon the southern and. eastern 
slopes. 
In the Willamette valley, except in the 
districts tributary to the “gaps” in the 
Coast mountains, through which strong 
sea breezes issue, a southern aspect would 
Seem generally desirable, providing it is 
not a hillside with thin soil. The general 
low altitude of the valley, together with 
the average high humidity, makes an 
open or southern aspect desirable, since 
under such conditions fruit will tend to 
take on a higher color, an item of con- 
