HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 129 



THEIR VALUE AMONG APPLE TREES. 



The influence of evergreens upon fruit trees has been found to 

 be very beneficial. In numerous instances I have used them to 

 protect apple trees from the sunscald in winter. Of three rows 

 of Tetofsky apple trees, one row of which was planted with an 

 evergreen near to each tree on the south and the other two rows 

 without such protection, the row protected is in fair condition, 

 while but few trees remain in the other two rows. Another 

 block of Duchess of four rows — having a windbreak of one row 

 of pines, fir and spruce along the west end of the rows — bears 

 the most fruit on that part of the block which stands nearest to 

 the evergreens and very much less as the distance from the ever- 

 greens increases. The evergreens were set about two years after 

 the apple trees but are now fifteen to twenty feet high. The rows 

 of apple trees run east and west and the slope is a little to the 

 southwest. 



On the eighth of January, 1886, I was at Orlando, Fla. The 

 day being very warm I concluded to start north to Jacksonville. 



Going to the depot and looking on the bulletin board of signal 

 service I read as follows: "Cold wave approaching. Look out 

 for killing frost as far south as Tampa. (Signed) Hazen." 

 With a temperature at that time of 84° in the shade the general 

 conclusion was that Hazen was a little "off" his base. I went 

 to Jacksonville and on the eleventh or twelfth saw ice four inches 

 thick — with a temperature of 17° above. Later on going back 

 to the south part of the state I passed through the largest orange 

 grove in Florida and found that in that grove when the native 

 live oak had been left and the orange trees were interspersed 

 among them there was comparatively little loss or damage done 

 by the freeze, but wherever the groves were not well protected 

 the fruit was an entire loss and in numerous instances the trees 

 were killed. 



The destruction of the pine in all the gulf states to the north 

 and west of Florida for the past twenty years, undoubtedly 

 opened the way for that cold wave to reach as far south as it did. 

 My opinion is that if the western part of our state and all of 

 Dakota was crossed with continuous unbroken rows of evergreens 

 running east and west, two or three rows together, and these 

 belts one or two miles apart, that the course of the cold wave 

 and blizzard would be broken up and the damage which they 



Vol. IV— 17. 



