FRUIT l-IOTES 

 September 1951; 



HURRICANE NOTES 



Better iiethod of SiipportJ.rif^ Hu rricane Dair^:f'-ed Tree s « '.There an apple tree has been 

 bloi;n over by the hurricane and has'~bien restored "to a vertical positian^ the proper 

 piceioent and attachnent of supports presents a real probleno After discussing this 

 natter v/ith tv/o of our larger groT,.^ers yfno had ruch experience follor:in£ the hurricane 

 of 1938, a better technique than that suggested in a recent release can no\/ be pre- 

 sented. Instead of using heavy scre\7 eyes for the attachr.ient of wires or placing a 

 padding of rubber underneath the v.lre, drilling a hole through the center of the tree 

 at a suitable height has certain advantages. 



The methods of these t./o groi/ers differ in several particulars although both 

 involve inserting the vd re through a drilled holec Grovrer No, 1 had Q0% of his trees 

 blovm over in 1938 and his rnethod of salvaging resulted in the recovery of 90% of 

 the damaged trees. He used a galvanized and twisted type of v/ire, and stakes 2I4" in 

 length r.:ade by savd-ng diagonally a 2U" piece of fir 2 x k) each piece making t\ro 

 stakes. The 3/3" hole \ras bored horizontally through the tree in line v/ith tiie dir- 

 ection of pull. The ends of the wire of proper length ware stapled to tvro stakes. 

 The center portion of the ^i re vras then doubled over, inserted through tlie hole and 

 a Lietal washer on the side farthest from the stakes, bent dovjnward and stapled about 

 8" below the hole. The stakes were then driven in mth resulting tension on the wires. 

 The angle betv/een the vfire and the horizontal -vras in no case more than hS° o V/here 

 raore than two stakes were needed, one or t,;o additional stakes were placed, with siiai- 

 larly attached miss, at selected points around tlie tree. 



Grower No, 2 used a sonewhat heavier type of ordinary iron wire v/ith the idea 

 that it Y/ould hold up at least three years before rusting through and by that tine 

 the tree should be on the v;ay to the reestablishnent of its root system. The 5/8" 

 hole was bored horizontally through the tree, but at right angles to the direction of 

 pull. The tViTO stakes, cut in the woods, vrere placed in such positions that they 

 v^ould provide support wh^re most needed. The ivire v;-as then inserted through the hole 

 and the two erds wrapped around the stakes. No staples vrere used, Vihere support in 

 other directions was needed, an exact duplicate of this set-up with two additional 

 stakes and another piece of wire on the other side of the tree v/as provided, the one 

 hole serving for both pieces of wire. 



Liberal use of v/ater in salvaging a hurricane damaged tree was stressed by 

 Grower No, 1. He used as much as 500 gallons around his larger trees, forcing it 

 into the soil under high pressure. By puddling, or reducing the soil around the roots 

 to mud, the stage v;as set for neicroot development, Tliis may be one of the most im- 

 portant steps in the salvaging operation. 



Some Lessons from the Hurricane - " sermons in stones, books in the running brooks, 



and good in everything'Ti (1/il'e might add, "lessons in hurricanes".) Readers of FRUIT 

 NOTES in the hurricane area are urged to examine damaged apple and peach trees and 

 observe the relation betvreen the framevrork and the amount of breakage, Peacli trees, 

 in jiarticular, shov/ more breakage vihere tlie tri:ffik was allov/ed to divide into two or 

 three more or less equal parts, ^iany such trees, completely ruined by the storm, 

 have been observed. Even in a peach tree tha-e is need for developing a short "leader" 

 with well placed scaffold limbs and no narrow angled crotches. It should be borne 

 in mind that the bark becomes trapped betvreen the two parts of such a crotch and a 

 strong connecting bridge of vj-ood is impossible. Hence the more severe breakage in a 

 storm, A second lesson is found in the relation..i;:atvreen magnesium deficiency and loss 

 of fruit. The drop of fruit was greater v/here tojees v;ere deficient in magnesium. It 



