EXPERIMENT STATION WORK WITH PEACHES. 413 



blackened througlioiit , many such trees will have enough vitality to 

 enable them to pull tlii'ough. Others of less vitality are likely to suc- 

 cumb. If the trees are only moderately frozen, the wood above the 

 snow line being blackened but the bark not separated from the wood 

 and with the cambium still apparently alive, though water soaked 

 and injured, they will almost invariably recover. 



Trees thus moderately frozen, even though the wood is blackened 

 throughout, may be expected to yield abundant crops for several 

 years in the future. In the case of trees where the wood is 

 blackened and dead clear to the bark, moderately pruning back from 

 one-third to not over one-half of the top will give the best results. 

 No pruning at all will give better results than too severe pruning. 



Such trees if cut back to the large branches or "dehorned" are gen- 

 erally killed by this too severe pruning. Generally speaking, "almost 

 all the trees in which the bark is stuck tight at the critical point — 

 about 2 feet from the ground — ma}^ be expected to pull through, and 

 many which have the bark partially loosened may recover. Moderate 

 pruning back, followed by good cultivation, and unless the land is in 

 very good condition with a moderate amount of fertilizing, will be 

 the best course to pursue." 



PROPAGATION. 



Peaches are propagated from seed, the important varieties being 

 perpetuated by either budding or grafting on seedling stock. Some 

 varieties of peaches come practically true from seed. At the Alabama 

 Station ® seedling peach trees from selected seed were planted in the 

 orch^-rd in comparison with budded varieties. The fruit of the seed- 

 lings was very inferior, and all matured within a month, while fruit 

 from budded trees was obtainable from July 6 to October 15. The 

 statement that seedling trees often bear fruit when budded trees fail 

 was not found to hold true in these experiments. 



The Delaware Station also reports^ that pits obtained from Tas- 

 mania where yellows was not prevalent produced trees in Delaware 

 as subject to yellows as native seedlings. That station also found'' 

 that pits in which the kernels were loose and rattled when shaken 

 germinated as well but no better than pits which did not rattle. The 

 opinion of T. V. Munson is quoted by the station with approval to the 

 effect that a rancid kernel with discolored flesh always contains a 

 dead germ, and that seed over 1 year old is worthless. Prime seed 

 should give 95 to 98 per cent germination. From 40 to 60 per cent 

 of seed 1 year old planted early in the winter so as to become well 

 frozen should germinate, 



o Alabama Sta. Bui. 11. & Delaware Sta. Rpt. 1893, p. 152. cibid., p. 143. 



