PEACHES 149 



fruit buds which it bears, can withstand. Some 

 authorities state one figure as the minimum and 

 some another, when the truth of the matter is 

 that this low point varies with many varying 

 conditions. Some varieties are much more re- 

 sistant to cold than are others. The "quality" 

 of the cold has much to do with it — trees and 

 buds resisting a still, calm cold period much 

 more easily than one accompanied by high dry- 

 ing winds. The general condition of the trees 

 plays no small part in the way the buds behave 

 under the influence of cold. A tree that has 

 produced many crops of fruit, that has been 

 weakened by insects or disease or neglect will 

 frequently be killed outright while healthy vig- 

 orous trees near it may survive. We noticed 

 this particularly a few years ago when we had 

 a very severe winter with minimum tempera- 

 tures of about twenty-five degrees below zero. 

 Several thousand old trees in our orchards 

 were killed to the ground while some three- 

 year-old specimens not only lived but managed 

 to bring a few blooms into being in the spring. 

 Another factor which influences the resistance 

 of the peach tree and buds to cold is the con- 

 dition of the tree at the beginning of winter. 

 After a warm moist autumn the buds sometimes 

 open their protecting scales more or less and as 

 a result they fall an easy prey to the first real 

 nip of Boreas. 



