302 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



green plantations on the college grounds. Not only 

 were these evergreen branches placed outside to 

 some thickness, where they were held by cords 

 wrapped around, but the spaces in the interior were 

 filled with them as compactly as possible. To sup- 

 port this heavy mass of material, two or three 

 stakes were driven alongside the tree in position to 

 be wrapped in with the branches. This attempt 

 was followed by results but partially favorable. 

 While the trees that had the advantage of protec- 

 tion showed more bloom than those alongside not 

 so protected, the difference was not sufficiently 

 marked to warrant the conclusion that this method 

 could be made of practical benefit. It was found 

 to be a matter of difficulty to retain the evergreen 

 branches closely enough in and about the head of 

 the peach tree to keep out the killing cold. More- 

 over, covering material of this kind could not be 

 obtained in our state, except by accident, and some 

 substitute must be found. As a cheaper and, it is 

 probable, a better material, we should have made a 

 repetition of the trial with corn fodder, had we not 

 been led by a stray suggestion to modify the method. 

 "The following fall, 1888, the trees were in good 

 condition for further trial. The shortening -in of 

 some branches and the thinning -out of others had 

 left abundant fruiting wood, favorably distributed and 

 well covered with fruit -buds. Our plan was now to 

 bend the trees downward, bringing them as near the 

 earth as possible, and keeping them in this position, 

 to be covered by a mass of hay or similar material 



