22 Experiment Station Report. 



6. The Destruction of Peach Buds by Cold. 



In New England one of the greatest obstacles met with in 

 the cultivation of the peach is the destruction of the fruit 

 buds by cold. 



Many theories have been advanced to account for this 

 injury, and in order to obtain definite knowledge of the con- 

 dition of the buds during the season when the injury takes 

 place, examinations were made at intervals of from three to 

 five days from November 15th to the time of their destruction. 

 At the beginning of the examinations, the buds were all 

 found to be in a fully matured condition and the bud scales 

 very closely united, making the bud firm and compact. This 

 condition continued until after the warm days of the last of 

 November. 



December 6th the buds scales were found to have loosened 

 and the stamens and pistils to have increased very much in 

 size. December 16th some buds were found to have been 

 destroyed altogether. The temperature at this time had 

 only reached 18° above zero. Most of the buds, however, 

 only indicated an advanced stage of growth; in a few 

 instances, the rudimental petals began to take on some color. 



Upon examination after the severe cold of December 19th 

 and 20th, every bud examined, whether growing upon high 

 or low land, or with a northern or southern exposure, was 

 found to be destroyed. 



The facts brought out by the above examination, were as 

 follows : that the buds were started into growth by the warm 

 days of the last of November and the first of December ; 

 that in this condition some of them were destroyed at a 

 temperature of 18° above zero ; and that all were destroyed 

 when the temperature reached 10° below zero. 



What would have been the effect of this amount of cold 

 upon buds in a less advanced state of growth, cannot be 

 determined until we have a season less favorable for their 

 development. 



