STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 37 
there, while the top and roots have a continuous cold temperature. 
The dead ring on evergreens and other low bushes is due to this. 
Low plants are killed at the top from the same cause. 
Mr. Jordon. Theories do not always agree with practice. I 
had some land with a high northern slope, protected by timber, 
and on this my fruit did very good, while the trees on a slope 
about 100 feet down (comparatively low land) was badly injured. 
On the low place the wood of Duchess was badly colored. From 
this it appears that high, elevated land is the best. 
Dr. Twitchell. Think it is the thawing out and not the freez- 
ing that kills the trees. I agree with Mr. Dart. This is a fact 
in the animal kingdom, and I believe it is one in the vegetable 
kingdom. 
Mr. Pearce. Wave no fear of winter-killing. IfI can savea 
- tree in the fall, I can pretty certainly say whether it will stand 
the winter. Inthe winter of °72 and 3 over a thousand trees 
were killed where the ground was never frozen. Part of my Jand 
was planted in potatoes, and they grew in the spring. The 
winter was open and snow came early. The early snow kept 
the ground too warm; the sap began to flow, was frozen, and 
ruptured every root. If the ground is dry and the trees thaw 
out in dry ground, they kill, The ground should be mulched 
when too dry. Protection in the fall is the secret. 
Mr. Day. I agree with Mr. Pearce. In the spring of °73 I 
dug potatoes as good as those I dug in the fall. In the spring of 
°69 my trees were killed in a similar manner. 
Mr. Harris. No snow on the ground and the frost penetrating 
many feet into it is what kills the trees. 
Mr. Jordon. I agree with Mr. Harris. Excessive hard freez- 
ing with no snow kills the trees. The less the frost in and above 
the ground, the less is the number of killed trees. 
Dr. Twitchell. Couldn’t find an unfrozen potato on my land 
when the trees killed. 
Mr. Cook. Had 5,000 trees killed. Would ask when were 
they killed? They were root-killed. I mulched two portions of 
my orchard, and one I did not mulch. The portion that I 
anulched early, before the first frost set in, was saved, while the 
portion mulched after the first frost was as dead as that portion 
not all mulched. 
Mr. Fuller. The hard freezing in December before the snow 
comes, kills my trees. 
