New York. AGRICULTURAL. EXPERIMENT STATION. 305 
¥ this depending wholly upon the condition of the tree. At the end 
of the winter the trees showed no sign of injury, visible from the 
: outside. Upon. cutting into the trunk, however, it would be found 
that both bark and wood were discolored for some depth. Men- 
tion is made of the alarm that was felt by fruit growers when 
this was found to be the case. Their fears were exaggerated, for 
many of the trees so discolored lived and made a good growth 
during the summer of 1904. The younger trees generally suffered 
less than the older trees, and those on higher ground showed less 
injury from the cold also. With peach trees over seven or eight 
years old the injury was very serious. Trees that were injured or 
killed showed the injury in various ways; sometimes it appeared 
that, the winter had killed the trees outright for they showed no 
sign of life in the spring. In other cases the injury showed itself 
more gradually. The fruit buds were frequently so seriously in- 
jured that there was no crop the following year. Injury of all 
kinds was particularly noticeable amongst those trees planted in 
a depression where the water on the surface of the soil would 
collect and where the cold air would settle. 
The opinion of various practical growers is published as to the 
ability of various varieties to withstand cold. The grower is 
warned not to cut out trees at once as many times those trees will 
grow and even bear fruit, although they appear to be very seriously 
injured in the spring. Many trees were pruned in various manner 
in the spring to see if this would have any effect on the quantity of 
fruit borne. It was found that in the case of young peach trees a 
severe pruning, even to the cutting back of large limbs, was ap- 
parently advantageous. The same treatment on old trees was a 
failure and it was further found that the presence of a crop of fruit 
seemed to retard the natural healing of the injured trees. It is ad- 
vised when trees have been injured to prune them at least lightly in 
all cases, making the pruning more vigorous with young and vigorous 
trees. 
as 
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GRAPES. 
As has already been indicated, the horticultural department of the 
Station was considerably hampered during the first few years of its 
existence by the lack of fruit plantations; this applied especially to 
grapes. A’ vineyard was planted in 1882, and almost every year 
thereafter, new, varieties were added. In the Fifth Annual 
Report!! the statement is made that ten of these varieties had 
4 Rpt. 5:167 (1886). 
