Apples. 19 



DAMAGE DONE IN SUMMER. 



Mr. J. W. COOK : The hot sun of summer frequently 

 burns the trees black. It leaves them with but little vitality. 

 The greatest damage is done in August. A little vitality is 

 left, just enough to support the tree for a short time, and 

 then the cold of winter is unjustly charged with doing the 

 damage. It is the hot sun that causes the fire blight on the 

 top of the tree. The body is not affected, at first, but it 

 gradually dies down to the root. South and east slopes are 

 preferable for wind-breaks. Such positions break the harsh, 

 dry winds of the north and west. 



WINTER PROTECTION. 



Mr. J. S. FLORY, of Longmont, furnishes the following 

 as his experience in the care of fruit trees during the winter : 

 '" To make fruit-raising a success in Northern Colorado we 

 must know how to save our trees through the winter ; if we 

 succeed in this, all is well. Yes, says one, there is where 

 all the trouble comes in ; the young trees die through the 

 winter or in early spring. So they will if the body is not 

 protected from the hot rays of the sun. What kills three- 

 fourths of the trees that die is the hot rays of the sun beat- 

 ing upon the south-west side of the trunk of the tree, heat- 

 ing the trunk and sap, and then at night a severe freeze 

 comes, and the tree is ruined. I have seen trees of good size 

 that were thus killed on the south side as if scorched by 

 fire, the bark peeling off and the tree finally dying. Some- 

 times a hot wind will also cause trees to die. Now for the 

 remedy, which is simply to protect the trunk or body of the 

 tree every winter until the branches are sufficient to shade 

 the body. This is readily done by taking tar paper, such 

 as is used in building, cut it in strips long enough to reach 

 from the ground to the branches of the tree, and with heavy 

 twine or wire, such as is used in binding grain, loosely tie 

 strips of paper around the tree, having first bent them so as 

 to form a kind of hollow tube. This also saves the tree 



