SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 51 



from winter freezing. Many individual cases were cited of 

 orchards having cover crops surviving this cold winter or 

 that, when nearby orchards without the covering crop, hold- 

 ing a muffler of leaves and snow, were killed. The peach 

 growers in the two regions consider the cover crop the most 

 effective treatment of their orchards to avoid winter-killing,, 

 holding that they protect the roots from cold, cause the trees 

 to ripen their wood quickly and thoroughly, and assist in 

 regulating the supply of moisture 



V. 

 Are Seedling Trees Hardier than Budded Varieties? 

 Seedling peach trees are popularly supposed to be hardier 

 than budded varieties. Most of the correspondents in this 

 investigation state that such is the case, but none give rea- 

 sons for the supposed greater hardiness of the seedlings. The 

 statements made are in no w^ay convincing and the greater 

 hardiness of the seedlings can be proved only by carefully 

 conducted experiments. Two hypotheses should be tested 

 in determining whether there is a difference in hardiness be- 

 tween budded and seedling trees : 1st, budding may decrease 

 hardiness ; 2nd, seeds for the stocks of the budded trees come 

 from the south and these may produce more tender trees than 

 would northern grown seeds from which seedlings come. 



VI. 



Is There any Difference in Hardiness Between Low- 

 Headed AND High-Headed Trees? 



All growers in both states prefer low-headed trees, 

 claiming that both trunks and branches are more often injured 

 in high-headed trees. Buds, however, often survive on the 

 higher branches and not on the lower ones. The reasons 

 vouchsafed for the difference are : The eft'ects of winds in 

 drying out the wood of high-headed trees ; low-headed trees 

 are usually most vigorous ; and lastly, better protection to the 

 trunk from the sun and hence from sun-scald, one of the ef- 



