46 THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



melon growers of the State, and to obtain the name and ad- 

 dress of ever}^ grower of importance, in order that we may 

 profit from his experience and thereby prove of more help 

 to others. 



Peach Yellows and So-Called "Yellows." 



Concerning the second topic I intend to discuss, I do so 

 with some hesitation after the comprehensive address we lis- 

 tened to last year from Mr. Waite of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture. However, during the past two years I have 

 tried, either personally or by letter, to come in contact with 

 most of the experimenters of experience with yellows in the 

 United States. ]\Iy views, perhaps, are a little diiTerent from 

 those ordinarily held, but a discussion from a different view- 

 point often helps to advance our knowledge of a subject rather 

 than to retard it. During the past six years the peach trees 

 of Connecticut have had many difficulties to contend with, and 

 as a result, many have been killed outright, others have sick- 

 ened and are gradually dying from a variety of troubles. As 

 to the definitely known causes of these troubles, we have first 

 the sudden drop to zero weather on December 9, 1902, which 

 resulted in very severe injury to large numbers of the young 

 trees in the nurseries, some of which were afterward sold, 

 and less severe injury to orchard trees. The following win- 

 ter of 1903-04 was so severe, as a whole, that orchard trees 

 all over the State were killed, and others severely or slightly 

 injured. Some orchards or parts of orchards were rooted up 

 the following year, while others were severely pruned back, 

 and some of these trees and many of those less severely in- 

 jured are still in existence. In 1906-07 we had a slight in- 

 jury to the trees, confined chiefly to killing the blossoms and 

 young twigs. The past winter caused more injury through 

 collar girdle to scattered trees in situations favorable for such 

 trouble. On top of these various winter injuries we had, in 

 1907, an unusual drought that also severely affected the trees, 

 in my opinion, since it is from that time that the yellows, or 

 so-called "yellows," became most prominent. The dry periods 

 of the past year seem not to have been so severe in their ef- 



