DESCRIPTION OF THE OZARK REGION. 17 



This summary admits of extended amplification, but enough has 

 been stated to indicate the complicated nature of the climatic factor 

 in fruit growing. Attention, however, should be directed to the fact 

 that the effect of any one climatic factor may be very greatly modified 

 by other factors that operate .simultaneously with it. This fact may 

 be variously illustrated, e. g.. the modification of temperature by the 

 wind; the intensified effect of a drought when accompanied by 

 high temperature and a strong wind; the modification of the effect 

 of frost on tender vegetation when followed by a heavy fog, dense 

 clouds, or other conditions which induce a very gradual thawing of 

 the frosted parts. 



In sections where the topography is as varied and the ranges in 

 latitude and elevation are as great as they are in the Ozark region, it 

 is obvious that there must be a correspondingly wide range in the 

 climatic conditions. Moreover, a study of climatological data relating 

 to the Ozark region makes it apparent that the storms which reach 

 this portion of the United States vary considerably in their severity 

 in different sections. It is therefore difficult to so analyze the 

 climatic factor in the Ozark region as to adequately and fairly show 

 its full relation to the fruit interests. In general, however, it may 

 be stated that in seasons when the fruit crop is not limited by some 

 climatic factor or factors the varieties that are well adapted to the 

 region may be expected to develop to a very high degree of perfection 

 in size, color, and finish. 



While it is true that climatic conditions unfavorable to the produc- 

 tion of apples and peaches have occurred rather frequently in some 

 parts of the Ozark region during the past 10 or 12 years, it is also true 

 that the fruit interests in many other sections of the Mississippi, the 

 Missouri, and the Arkansas Valleys, as well as in other regions of the 

 country, have likewise suffered more or less from adverse climatic 

 conditions during the same period. 



The decade from 1900 to 1910 represents an important period in 

 the fruit interests of the Ozark region, on account of the great number 

 of trees which came into bearing or which attained an age approaching 

 their full bearing capacity during those years. 



The adverse climatic conditions have been largely temperature 

 factors, comprising unseasonably warm periods during the winter, in 

 which the fruit buds have started sufficiently to make them tender, 

 and in this condition they have been injured by subsequent tempera- 

 tures that were relatively, though frequently not unseasonably, low; 

 frosts that occurred during the blossoming period; and freezes sub- 

 sequent to the setting of the- fruit. 



In the earlier days, before fruit growing became a leading industry, 

 an unseasonable frost or freeze might occur and pass almost unnoticed, 

 71425°— Bui. 275—13 2 



