66 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



Fig.20. — Twigs of young cherry trees that 

 have been pulled out by settling of snow 

 crust which had piled in over them. 



varieties too tender for 



the locality and the 



|f / "S. \ most successful remedy 



I / \ \\ is to secure hardier 



I / I \ ^ sorts if possible. But 



this is not always possi- 

 ble and the varieties 

 grown may be most 

 profitable if the trunk 

 is protected in winter. 

 Thus, in northern Min- 

 nesota the best authori- 

 ties recommend that 

 the trunks of young ap- 

 ple trees be surrounded 

 with a box six inches 

 square up to the branch- 

 es and that the same 

 be filled with soil 

 to furnish protection against winter injury. It is well known 

 that even though the smaller branches may be seriously injur- 

 ed in the winter, they stand a good chance of recovering, pro- 

 viding the trunk is vigorous and uninjured. Such protection 

 also prevents scald, injuries from mice and other animals. 

 In Florida some of the orange growers protect their tree trunks 

 by piling up the soil about them as far as the branches. 



Winter injury to the buds of fruit trees. — This is a common 

 source of loss to growers of cherries and p-eaches at the North. 

 The fruit buds of these trees are liable to start a little in warm 

 winter days and then to be killed by a low temperature, al- 

 though the leaf buds may not be injured at all. Various reme- 

 dies have been tried for this, among the most successful of 

 which is the bending of the trees to the ground in autumn and 

 covering with corn stalks. The tops are sometimes tied to- 

 gether and covered with corn stalks or matting in wint-er. Ex- 

 periments have also been made in covering the trees with va- 

 rious paint compounds for the purpose of giving an -extra cover- 

 ing to the buds, but without good results. One of the most 



