282 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



Franklin County. 



Franklin county. One orchard of 300 trees located on an 

 easterly cant, 25 to 40 feet above shore of pond, lost 200 trees 

 and about 50 injured. One-half of these trees were set within 

 three years. On examination these young trees were found to 

 be dead from about 15 inches from the ground upward. On 

 inquiring we found that the snow was very deep, almost cover- 

 ing the trees, and that about the middle of March there came 

 a very warm day which settled the snow about one-half. The 

 weather changed suddenly much below freezing, which caused 

 the snow to form a very hard crust at the depth above referred 

 to. This was the cause of the winter-kilHng. 



I have selected only a few of the many hundreds of cases 

 recorded. ^lany others show a loss of from 10 to 75%, or even 

 higher. 



INJURY IN OTHER STATES, 



In New York during the winter of 1903-04 trunk and branch 

 injury was common, the damage being greatest in the Hudson 

 River Valley where — 40° and lower was reported. 



On examination the bark and wood of the trunk and limbs 

 were discolored. Many trees partially leaved out, but gradually 

 lost their foliage and died during the summer following. Trees 

 situated in cold air belts without much circulation suffered the 

 most. A similar condition existed in other states. 



Avoid setting trees in low ground where the cold air settles 

 and remains as stagnant air. It is a well-known fact that the 

 thermometer always runs much lower in such places. Trees 

 on low ground generally do not ripen their wood so early in the 

 fall and are not so well able to withstand the extreme cold of 

 a winter like that of 1906-07. 



SUMMARY OE ORCHARD INVESTIGATION. 



As shown under the tables of orchard investigation, there 

 were 950 orchards inspected, with a total of 443,184 trees. The 

 number killed outright was 24,613 or about S-S"^"- A safe esti- 

 mate of the number injured would be at least 25,000 more; so 



