1904.] PUBLIC DOCUMFAT — No. 33. 11 



The most general coiuplaiiit, however, during the .spring 

 and summer, was in regard to winter-killing. It is seldom 

 one finds so many varieties of j)lants injured fi-om this cause, 

 which can be traced back to the uiuisually proh)nged "warm 

 Aveather, ciuiracteristic of the fall of l!M)2, and the sudden 

 freeze following in early December. Among the plants that 

 have suffered to a considerable extent are the following : — 



The Californian privet {^Ligustnini ovah'foVnim) and Ligus- 

 trum ihota were in many cases killed outright. Yellow and 

 crimson rambler roses and certain honeysuckles were killed 

 to the ground. The climbing iv}^ {A)npeloj)sis veifchii) was 

 badly damaged, so nuich so, in fact, that buildings that were 

 tolerabh' well covered with this beautiful ivy were almost 

 bare in mid-sununer. A\"istarias, deutzia, spiraea thunbergii, 

 spirtea vanhouttei and fors> thia had their flower buds injured 

 so severel}^ that they made little show in the spring. The 

 Japanese clematis was in most cases killed to the ground. 

 Euon3'uuis radicans suflered badh^, as did many of the vibur- 

 nums. Many of the choicer aquilegias were killed outright. 

 The fruit buds of cherries, peaches and Japanese plums were 

 practicallj' killed ; in some cases the wood was much injured. 

 Grape vines were in some cases killed to the ground, and 

 strawbeiTies, blackberries and raspberries were much injured. 

 Such wild plants as the beech, plum and buckthorn, and 

 man}'^ of the wild roses, had their Avood severely injured. 

 Many of these plants appeared to come through the winter 

 successfully, and threw out strong shoots in the spring, 

 when they suddenly colla})sed. Blackberries and raspber- 

 ries showed a marked tendency to die back after having 

 blossomed aiid fruited. In some other instances plants not 

 supposed to be hardy, such, for example, as the crimson 

 clover and alfalfa, have ijone throuo;h the w^inter Avithout 

 trouble. It would appear that, while the severe frost in 

 December, following the unusually prolonged warm spell, 

 was the means of doing great injurj' to plants that are sup- 

 posed to be toleral)ly hard}', those like the crmison clover, 

 etc., which are not hardy, were not affected. The limited 

 amount of frost in the ground, due to the snow cover, even- 

 tually proved advantageous to such plants as the crimson 



