THE KANSAS PEACH. 87 



winter. The purple color of the twigs favors the absorption of heat 

 during sunny days. Puri^le-twigged varieties are more easily stimu- 

 lated into growth, and they bloom slightly earlier than the green- 

 twigged varieties like Snow. Peach buds sometimes remain dormant 

 throughout the winter and suffer from late spring frosts after they 

 have begun to blossom. 



METHODS OF WINTER PROTECTION EMPLOYED. 



Numerous methods of protecting peach buds during winter have 

 been tried, with more or less success. Layering, or bending down, in 

 autumn, and covering with soil, mats, pine branches or other protect- 

 ing material has been resorted to. To facilitate bending down the 

 trees are usually headed low, the roots are cut on one side of the tree, 

 the tree is then bent over in the direction opposite the cut side, and 

 may be quite readily laid on the ground. This should only be prac- 

 ticed on trees that have been bent down each year after setting. If 

 an old tree is treated in this manner for the first time it may seri- 

 ously impair its vigor. The Iowa station advises shaping trees to be 

 thus protected by training the trunks horizontally along the ground 

 and. allowing the upright head to form several feet to one side of the 

 stump. Grown in this position, the prostrate trunk may be twisted 

 sufficiently to allow the head to be laid over on the ground. 



Some growers are rej3orted to have successfully laid the peach by 

 Ijlanting the young tree so its roots are guided laterally, in two oppo- 

 site directions, by a trough-shaped piece of sheet-iron embedded in 

 the ground. The roots in this position may be twisted sufficiently to 

 permit the laying of the tree. Coating the buds by spraying with 

 glue and other sticky substances has been tried, with the hope of 

 affording winter protection. ''Baling," or drawing together tlie 

 branches as closely as jjossible in a vertical bundle and wrapping 

 them with coarse grass or corn-stalks, has been tried with some suc- 

 cess. 



Whitening the twigs and buds by spraying with whitewash has 

 been given more attention at this station than any other means of 

 protection. [The results are summed in Nos. 7 and 8 above. — Sec] 



