98 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



The ground is again watered and when wet enough the trees are 

 raised. To be sure, trees that have been treated in this manner will 

 not usually stand upright unsupported. Consequently, they are 

 propped up at an angle usually two props being required to keep 

 the wind from swaying them. 



Professor Maynard found that when the trees were covered too 

 closely with soil the buds were killed by heating, but when covered 

 with mats and other light materials a large percentage of the buds 

 were preserved. In some comparative tests made by him about 50 

 per cent of the buds of unprotected trees were destroyed while only 

 10 per cent of those of protected trees were killed. Many of the 

 trees used in Professor Maynard's experiments were more than ten 

 years old. (F. B. 186.) 



Winter Protection of Small Fruits. Where winters are severe 

 enough once in four years to seriously injure unprotected bush 

 fruits, mulching or laying down will often pay well. Much depends 

 upon the character and cost of the material used, and its durability. 

 Straw, unless clean thrashed and free from grass seeds, is a most 

 productive source of future trouble to the grower. Forest leaves can 

 be secured in sufficient quantity in some localities to be available for 

 use among the bush fruits. Where obtainable, pine needles also 

 form an admirable mulch, and with a little care in removing can be 

 used two or three times. Broken cornstalks that have been well 

 tramped over in the barnyard are useful, and sorghum bagasse is 

 utilized in some sections. In the colder and drier climate of the 

 Upper Mississippi Valley the only sure protection for blackberries 

 and raspberries is the laying down and covering of the canes. This 

 is accomplished by digging away from one side of the plant, toppling 

 it over with a fork, and wholly or partially covering the canes with 

 earth from between the rows. This method involves staking or trel- 

 lising the bushes when they are raised again in spring, but it is found 

 profitable because of the insurance against crop failure which it 

 affords. On most heavy soils water furrows should be run between 

 the rows with a light one-horse plow late in fall, in order that surface 

 water may be promptly removed during the winter months. (1905 

 Reissue Y. B. 1895.) 



Injury to Roots. This may result from the use of a root stock 

 too tender for the section in which the tree is grown. In Iowa, 

 North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota the best root to use for 

 the plum is the Prunus americana, but when these are scarce the 

 nurserymen use the Mariana, Myrobalan, and even the peach for 

 stocks. The plum takes well on these last-named stocks, and they are 

 commonly used in mild climates, but with such roots trees are often 

 injured or killed out entirely by the severe winters of the extreme 

 north. It is important, therefore, to have fruit trees on hardy roots 

 in order to prevent winterkilling. Heavy mulching about trees that 

 are on tender roots will often secure them against winter injury. 

 Deep planting brings the roots where they are not injured, 

 and the scion above, if of hardy stock, will generally 

 send out roots correspondingly hardy. If, however, the scion has 



