276 POMOLOGY 



are moderately pruned, experience shows that the maximum 

 number can be saved. ^ (See Plate VIII b.) 



246. Protecting trees and buds. — Various efforts have 

 been made to protect tender trees and their buds during the 

 winter, with some degree of success. Such precautions are 

 of special value in sections in which growth is likely to be 

 excited by premature warm spells, followed by low tem- 

 peratures. 



When the wood or buds are likely to be frozen during the 

 winter season while they are entirely dormant, the only prac- 

 tice that seems efficient is to layer the vines or trees entirely, 

 and this is not often feasible. Some peach orchardists do, 

 however, cut the roots on one side of the tree, pull it down 

 into a trench and cover it with soil, which has prevented 

 injury. Entire grape vineyards are also laid down and cov- 

 ered with soil, with success." 



Baling the trees with hay, straw, or other material has also 

 been practiced with success, but is not generally recom- 

 mended. 



Chief among the experimental efforts to coat the trees 

 and buds with a protective material is the work of Whitten.^ 

 He observed that the chief damage to the peach in Mis- 

 souri resulted from killing after the trees had been started 

 into premature growth from unseasonable weather in the 

 winter or early spring. As a means to prevent the swelling 

 of the buds, the following treatment was given: "During 

 the winter a row of peach trees, running diagonally across 

 the orchard, so as to embrace several varieties, was whitened 

 by spraying with a lime white wash. These trees had been 

 set only two years and had but few fruit-buds. Four older 



1 Mo. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 55. 1902. 



^Hedrick, U. P. Proc. Amer. Pom. Soc, 35 Bienn. Rept. 1917. 

 p. 48. 



3 Whitten, J. C. Mo. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 38. 1897. 



