■ 13 



FREEZE PROTECTION BY BANKING 



The only j)rotection wc are ac(juainted with in this 

 Stale is BANKING (see Plate YII, fig. 1), that is, hilling 

 up (Urt around the tree as high at least as twelve inches 

 from the ground. This is done for the purpose of pro- 

 tecting the bud and should there be any freeze damage 

 it ma}' be possible to save some part of the tree above 

 the bud from which a new tree will develop in a com- 

 paratively short time. This banking, in order to be ef- 

 fective, should be done between the 1st and 15tli of 

 November. 



Fifty-four and one-half per cent, of the growers did 

 not practice banking. Forty-five and one-half per 

 cent, practiced banking to a greater or less extent and 

 reported that sixty-eight and one-half per cent, of the 

 trees which otheriwse would have been damaged were 

 saved. See graph on page 10. 



THE EFFECT OF LOW TEMPERATURE ON THE 



FRUIT 



The grower should bear in mind that nearly every 

 year we have a cold spell in the middle or latter part 

 of November, the temperature going down to 28 and 

 some times as low as 25 degrees above zero. Every ef- 

 fort should be made to have the fruit harvested before 

 that time. The Satsuma in the green state will suf- 

 fer when the temperature goes down to 29 degrees 

 above zero and it thus becomes unsuited for consump- 

 tion. If the temperature goes below 27 degrees the 

 ripe fruit will be damaged. 



The effect of low temperature above referred to is 

 not immediate. A week or ten days will elapse from 

 the time of low temperature till the effect is notice- 

 able. Evaporation follows and the fruit becomes soft 

 and spongy and one or more segments dry up. For ex- 

 ample, if an orange is cut open two weeks after it has 

 sujffered from above low temperature one or two seg- 

 ments may be dry and the balance beginning to decay, 

 although the outside appearance would be normal ex- 

 cept that it is soft. If fruit in this condition is wrapped 

 in tissue paper and packed in the usual manner and 

 shipped to a market requiring four or five davs in 

 transit, it is unfit for human consumption when it ar- 

 rives at destination. 



