UNFAVORABLE TEMPERATURE 119 



METHODS OF AVERTING INJURY BY COLD DURING THE 

 DORMANT PERIOD 



200. Dry soil. — A dry soil favors wood maturity, 

 while an abundant water supply retards it. Soil treat- 

 ment that restricts the water supply toward the close of 

 the growing period tends, therefore, to hasten wood 

 maturity and thus to reduce damage from cold (174). 

 Tillage should be early discontinued about trees liable to 

 winter injury, and in wet seasons mulching should be 

 removed. Oats, buckwheat or clover sown in the nursery 

 or orchard in late summer promote wood maturity by 

 increasing evaporation from the soil and are further useful 

 as a covering to the ground in winter (195). Draining 

 heavy or wet soils promotes wood maturity by promptly 

 removing surplus water. 



201. Pinching the terminal buds (416) a few weeks 

 before the time for leaf fall favors wood maturity by check- 

 ing growth, as does the removal of the younger leaves, 

 in which food preparation is most active. These methods 

 may be employed upon young trees — especially nursery 

 trees, which are very liable to make late growth. Early 

 gathering of the fruit from trees of late varieties also tends 

 to hasten wood maturity. 



202. Protection with non-conducting materials prevents 

 damage from cold in many herbaceous and shrubby plants 

 in climates where they are not fully hardy. By covering 

 such plants with straw or other litter, or with soil, we 

 lessen to some extent the intensity of the cold, but — more 

 important — we prevent frequent freezing and thawing 

 (189), and in a measure, the destructive heaving of the 

 ground (198). A covering of straw, leaves or other litter 

 is preferable for low, herbaceous plants, such as straw- 



