HARDINESS OF THE PEACH. 121 



favorable conditions for winter-killing. A wet soil is conducive 

 to sappiness in the tree and also freezes deeply. Severe cold, 

 especially alternating with warm weather or accompanied with 

 dry winds, causes evaporation of water from trees, and if the 

 soil be so dry as not to furnish moisture to replace the evaporated 

 water, harmful results ensue. Several experiences were given 

 in Michigan in which trees were injured far more from winter 

 freezes in a dry than in a wet soil. The statement was made 

 by several growers that twigs and buds which are more or less 

 shriveled in winter from lack of water or lack of maturity are 

 almost invariably winter-killed. 



WHAT EFFECT DO FERTILIZERS HAVE ON TREE GROWTH AND HENCE 

 ON SUSCEPTIBILITY TO COLD? 



It has always been held in theory that fertilizers with any 

 considerable amount of nitrogen, as barnyard manure, cause trees 

 to make a heavy, rank, soft growth susceptible to freezing. The 

 majority of the peach growers consulted in this investigation 

 still hold that such is the case, but a very considerable number 

 of them, among them some of the best growers in the two States, 

 hold that trees are more likely to suffer from cold if underfed 

 than if overfed. Their experiences indicate that vigorous, vege- 

 table growth in early summer can be made of great service in 

 counteracting cold and that half-starved trees, or those which 

 have been allowed to bear too heavily, are apt to suffer most 

 from freezing. Fertilizers properly used do not, in the experi- 

 ence of these growers, necessarily induce a rank, soft growth. 

 By using properly balanced fertilizers, by stopping cultivation 

 at the right time, and by judicious pruning, it was maintained 

 that the growth could be kept firm, the top of the tree compact, 

 and the branches well set with buds^ all conditions favorable 

 to hardiness. Practically all of the growers report that late fall 

 growths are susceptible to winter injury of both wood and bud. 



DO COVER CROPS PROTECT TREES FROM COLD? 



There were no conflicting opinions on this point. Growers 

 who had planted cover crops, and nearly all had, were agreed as 

 to the value of this method of protecting trees from winter freez- 



