469 



Often hail wounds may be distinguished from frost wounds because 

 straight lined normal wood, with numerous vessels, very soon appears again, 

 while, when the frost cracks heal, broad zones of parenchymatous wood 

 may be found, due to the great extension of the adjacent edges. When the 

 hail injury is slight, the bark is not uniformly destroyed, and the cambium 

 continues growing with many gaps. 



When bark has been injured it peels at this point very unevenly and 

 unsatisfactorily from the wood. This has an economic effect, since, when 

 oak is grown for the commercial use of the bark, the shoots, struck by hail, 

 peel very "unsatisfactorily. 



Often hail wounds provide openings for other diseases. If wet weather 

 prevails for some time after the hail storm, decomposition frequently sets 

 in, due to attacks of fungi, etc. In the Amygdalaceae an exudation of gum 

 may set in. .Such secondary diseases may later destroy the branches. If 

 this dying back extends to tlie top shoots of young trees, deformed tops or, 

 in seedlings, crippled trunks are of frequent occurrence. 



In fruit nurseries, after a severe hail storm which has greatly injured 

 the smooth barked trunks, these trunks should be pruned back almost to the 

 bud, thus renewing the stem. When the tops of older trees have been badly 

 broken and deformed by hailstones, it is advisable to try to reform the top 

 by severe pruning in the following spring. Ordinarily, the power of regen- 

 eration is so great in trees that hail wounds heal over easily, but when large 

 pieces have been torn from smooth barked trees by the incessant beating of 

 hailstones, it will be necessary to hasten the closing of the wound by using 

 some tree salve. \\'hcn the roughened surfaces of the hail bruise have been 

 made smooth by cutting with a sharp knife, they will heal more easily. 

 Then a mixture of loam and cow-manure, free from straw, with ashes or 

 powdered slate kneaded into the form of a salve, should be used. 



With the present mania of wishing to cure everything by manuring the 

 soil, it is not surprising that, even in extensive injuries, as from storms and 

 hail, with a loss of substance, fertilizers will be applied at once. We would 

 caution against the use of this ; even on poor soil, fertilizers should be used 

 only when the tree has already made new growth. Large wounds which 

 will take some time for healing, are best closed by painting with tree-wax, 

 which flows when cold, i. e., with a mixture of resin, which thus prevents 

 the entrance of water. It is cheaper to coat the wound with coal tar. 



In connection with fruit trees and grapevines, Miiller-Thurgau empha- 

 sizes our warning in regard to retaining the foliage in vegetative plants 

 which has been injured by haiP. 



In growing grapes, a certain hard flavor is mentioned". This is sup- 

 posedly the result of a fungous infection of the places when hail has injured 

 the grapes. These grapes should be cut out, though the work is very tire- 



1 Miiller-Thurgau, Beobachtungen liber Hagelschaden an Obst))aumen und 

 Reben. VII. Jahre.sber. d. Versuchsstation zu Wadenswell. 



- Chronique agricole du Canton de Vaud vom 10 August, 1S95. 



