New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 145 



to thaw the sand as quickly as possible. However, it is unlikely 

 that the fii-e was excessiA'ely hot, because, if it had been, some 

 bundles of trees standing close to it would have been badly 

 scorched, whereas only a few of the most exposed trees were 

 slightly scorched on the exposed side of the trunk. Otherwise 

 these trees were scarcely more injured than trees at the opposite 

 end of the cellar. 



The heated air rose to the ceiling (which was about seven anu 

 one-half feet above the floor and very tight), spread out over its 

 entire surface and then accumulated in a layer of uniform thick- 

 ness. This layer of warm air was warmest at the ceiling and 

 became cooler the nearer it apx^roached the floor. The tips of the 

 branches, being nearer the ceiling, were enveloped in air warmer 

 than that surrounding the basal portions of the branches and the 

 trunks. They were also smaller. Consequently the upper parts 

 of the trees thawed out more quickly than the trunks. Now, it is 

 a well-known fact that frozen plants which may be thawed with- 

 out injury, if the thawing is done slowly, may be ruined if thawed 

 suddenly. It appears that the pear trees were thawed too sud- 

 denly, and that the line marking the boundary between the 

 injured and uninjured portions marks the height above which 

 thawing progressed too rapidly for safety. That the temperature 

 of the air was a more important factor than the size of the 

 branches is shown by the fact that one bundle of Bartletts, in 

 which the trees were so short that they did not project above 

 the danger line, was wholly uninjured. 



The majority of the trees were of such a height that their 

 branches were blackened for a distance of six to eighteen inches. 

 Only in a few instances did the injury extend quite to the trunk. 

 With a few exceptions, the blackened branches might have been 

 cut away without removing more of the tops than is customary 

 in transplanting; and since it is unlikely that the branches were 

 injured below the point of discoloration, the trees were practi- 

 cally unhurt for planters' use. Nevertheless, the trees, which 

 were worth about |2000, were almost a total loss to their owner. 

 Twelve thousand of them were sold for |100. to a man who cut 



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