12 MAINE AGRICUIvTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



weather. Following this the temperature continued to fall and 

 within 48 hours it had reached —35° F., or next to the lowest 

 record for the winter, which latter occurred one week before. 



Weather conditions were so abnormal and so severe this 

 season that even those orchardists who had followed the most 

 approved methods of caring for their orchards did not always 

 escape loss. As a rule those orchards which were well drained, 

 had not been weakened by over-bearing, were least exposed to 

 cold north winds and were so cared for as to promote early 

 maturity, showed the least injury, although there were many 

 ajDparent exceptions. 



The damage resulting from the winter injury of 1906-7 was 

 much augmented by the failure in a large proportion of the 

 cases to properly care for the trees after it took place. In 

 many instances the dead wood was allowed to remain in the 

 trees. This began to decay and the decay spread to the sound 

 parts of the trees, eventually destroying many of them. 



In caring for the trees which have suffered from winter 

 injury the following procedure was found to be the most suc- 

 cessful. All badly diseased limbs were cut back to healthy 

 tissue as fast as they were discovered and where the bark on 

 large limbs or trunks of trees was partially destroyed the dis- 

 eased area was removed entirely back to and including some of 

 the healthy bark, so that the margins of the injured area were 

 entirely surrounded by the latter. The wounds thus made and 

 those made by pruning were disinfected by brushing them with 

 a solution of one ounce of copper sulphate dissolved in a gallon 

 of water. They were then painted with pure white lead in 

 boiled linseed oil or covered with grafting wax. This protec- 

 tive layer was constantly renewed as fast as it disappeared until 

 the wound was healed. 



Under the conditions of 1906-7 Baldwins and Ben Davis 

 appeared to be much more susceptible to winter killing than any 

 other varieties, although Northern Spy, Greenings and some 

 others suffered more or less severely, according to location, 

 slope, drainage of the orchard, etc. Not even the hardy Rus- 

 sian varieties escaped without considerable injury at Orono 

 where the weather records mentioned above were taken. 



