66 GENERAL ADVICE 



"Shading or whitening peach trees to prevent 

 their absorbing heat on sunny days, opposes 

 growth of the buds and is, consequently, a pro- 

 tective measure. 



"Shading the trees with board sheds enabled 

 peach buds to survive the winter uninjured, when 

 eighty per cent of unprotected buds were killed. 

 Trees protected in this way blossomed later, 

 remained in bloom longer, set more fruit in pro- 

 portion to the number of apparently perfect 

 flowers, and held their fruit better than any other 

 trees on the station grounds. This is the most 

 effective means of winter protection tried at the 

 station, but it is probably too expensive for com- 

 mercial orchards. 



"Whitening the twigs and buds by spraying 

 them with whitewash is, on account of its cheap- 

 ness and beneficial effects, the most promising 

 method of winter protection tried at ^this station. 



"Whitened buds remained practically dormant 

 until April, when unprotected buds swelled per- 

 ceptibly during warm days late in February and 

 early in March. Whitened buds blossomed three 

 to six days later than unprotected buds. Eighty 

 per cent of whitened buds passed the winter 

 safely, when only twenty per cent of unwhitened 

 buds passed the winter unharmed. 



"Thermometers covered with purple material 

 registered, during bright, sunny weather, from ten 

 to over twenty degrees .higher than thermometers 



