318 State Horticultural Society. 



to their weakness by additional cutting. The trees had been pruned 

 heavily in December, 1897, and January, 1898, enough to let them 

 rest awhile. The last treatment is somewhat contrary to the teachings 

 of a few horticulturists who have said, ''^cut back frozen trees." 



With peach trees, I practice cutting back slightly when they 

 freeze and have had success, but my peach growing is very limited. 



With one or two A^arieties of apples the damage was great, but the 

 trees living J^ovember 1st, were green with foliage and I have no 

 fears but what they, as well as other varieties in my orchards will stand 

 another freeze as well, or better, than other orchards of same A^arieties 

 in my vicinity. 



Soon after the freeze last winter, I feared that I had lost all the 

 crop for this year, with heavy loss and damage to trees, but this fall I 

 find that I had an average of one fourth crop, good fruit on all ages of 

 trees, with very little damage to trees. The damage to the crop varied 

 on trees of different ages. The crop was damaged less on the older 

 trees, and the damage to trees was, also, less on the older ones. 



My orchards are not entirely free from borers, for in looking for 

 the effects of our treatment, I haA^e found three or four during the 

 summer and fall. I have only found them in a few of the trees that 

 had damaged places en them of tAvo or three years standing, Avhere 

 there was rotten wood, but in no sound tree have I found a single borer, 

 except trees not w^ashed Avith the sulphur and lime. 



I commenced to work in the spring on the theory that borers and 

 other insects attack more readily trees that have been damaged by 

 Avinter freezes than those not so damaged, therefore, are more apt 

 to do harm the summer follo^ving a damaging freeze than one follow- 

 ing a mild, even Avinter. A tree might die after being perforated by 

 borers, when the real cause of borers was the damaged condition of the 

 otherwise healthy tree by the hard freeze of the preceding Avinter. I 

 think it possible that the tree, having its inner layers of bark damaged 

 by a freeze may giA^e off an odor during the spring and summer fol- 

 loAving that attracts the insect which lays the egg that afterwards 

 hatches out a borer. Spraying is necessary to combat the evils folloAv- 

 ing a hard freeze, as a tree can not be healthy Avithout a good, strong, 

 undamaged foliage. I will say further, in regard to the use of sul- 



