122 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Ji 



an. 



roots manifest themselves in many ways. Sometimes the 

 plant is killed outright, while in other instances only a slight 

 injury is caused. Many maples, for example, were killed 

 outright, while others lost only a certain per cent, of their 

 roots, thus causing thin tops, and where this injury was not 

 very extensive many of the thin-top trees recovered in one 

 year. 



In some instances the leaves at the top of the red maple 

 remained in a half-developed condition throughout the sum- 

 mer. In such cases the leaves were rather pale in color, 

 and they assumed a peculiar pendulent position on the 

 branches. These trees have also for the past two years 

 manifested a premature autunuial coloration, especially on 

 those portions with poorly developed foliage, the result of a 

 limited water supply caused by winter-killing of the roots. 



Apple trees were affected to a large extent by root kill- 

 ing, and many hundreds of them ha\'e succumbed. In many 

 cases these trees would have been saved if severe pruning 

 had been practised at the time of the first appearance of this 

 troulde, since severe pruning of the tops of the trees would 

 have balanced the root and branch systems. Peach, plum 

 and quince trees were affected in the same way, but tlie 

 trouble was not nearly so general with these. The same 

 holds true for blackl)erries, raspberries and grapes. One of 

 the peculiarities displayed by many of these plants consisted 

 in their leaving out and bearing fruit, then suddenly col- 

 lapsing. 



The white pine was the most extensively affected tree. 

 These trees in some localities were so severely affected that 

 many of them died during the spring following the winter 

 of 1903-04. In some severe cases the trunks were frozen 

 and badly injured, but in the greater majority of cases the 

 tips of the new leaves became brown and died. The dry 

 summer of 1905 was severely trying for these partially 

 affected pines. Had a normal water supply been available, 

 this injury would not have resulted. The specimens which 

 we examined had a large percentage of the small, fibrous 

 roots killed, but in no case observed had the large roots 

 been injured. This pine injury extends throughout the 



