HARDINESS OF THE PEACH. 123 



largely upon the topography of the land. A windbreak so situ- 

 ated as to form still air can only be detrimental so far as cold is 

 concerned. So planted as to deflect or cause air currents they 

 become of value in keeping off frosts. ]More often than not, 

 however, it was claimed, they seriously check atmospheric drain- 

 age and the damage by frost is increased. Another disadvan- 

 tage is, should the windbreak be to the north, the buds on the 

 trees thus sheltered are forced and are therefore more liable to 

 injury by late frosts. The testimony was for most part un- 

 favorable to windbreaks. 



WHAT DEGREE OF COLD WILL KILL PEACH TREES? 



There was a most surprising uniformity in the answers to 

 this question. Nearly all of the correspondents set 20° below 

 zero as the temperature that will kill the peach tree under nor- 

 mal conditions, though some had known them to withstand tem- 

 peratures of from 20 to 30°, depending upon the condition iiv 

 which the trees went into winter. The following are the con- 

 ditions imfavorable to withstanding cold and about in order of 

 the frequency in which they are mentioned : lack of maturity of 

 wood ; lack of protection of roots by snow or cover crops ; poor 

 soil drainage ; overbearing in the preceding crop ; lack of vitality 

 from ravages of insects or fungi; and the susceptibility of the 

 variety to cold. 



WHAT DEGREE OF COLD WILL KILL PEACH BUDS? 



From the answers to this question we are forced to conclude 

 that much more depends upon the condition of the buds than on 

 the temperature, assuming of course a temperature below zero 

 and not greater than 25°, which seems to be the limit that peach 

 buds can stand even under most favorable conditions. The 

 chief factors influencing tenderness of buds are : maturity of 

 buds ; variety ; and the time at which the buds of a variety fin- 

 ish their resting period and become ready to grow. Some of 

 the factors influencing temperature are : lay of the land ; prox- 

 imity to water ; stresses of changeable weather ; altitude ; lati- 

 tude; and currents of air. 



