Winter-Killing of Buds 



307 



Fig. 112 shows the structure of the peach-bud (after 

 Halsted) ; at a is shown a longitudinal section (enlarged) 

 in winter, the pistil, or fruit-bearing organ, being in the 

 center; at b is shown a section of a partially opened bud. 



A true fruit-bud is one in which the flower, or cluster 

 of flowers, is present in miniature. This flower occupies 

 the very center of the bud, and is surrounded by dense 

 layers of scales. A healthy bud is normally green in the 

 central part in cross-section. When the bud has been 

 killed by the winter, in the 

 usual way, this central part 

 of the flower becomes promi- 

 nently discolored or almost 

 black. Fig. 113 shows a fresh 

 or live bud at a, and a killed 

 bud at b and c. When only 

 the pistil is killed, untrained 

 eyes may not detect the injury. The general run of 

 examinations made of buds by farmers, to determine 

 whether there is winter-injury, are of little consequence. 

 Except in pronounced cases, the only reliable examination 

 is made under a dissecting microscope. 



There are no remedies for winter-injured buds. 



Api 

 .ed : 



and c, killed by winter. Enlarged. 



INJURY BY FROSTS IN THE GROWING SEASON 



Much mischief is done by "cold snaps" after the buds 

 have begun to swell, and yet the disaster is not so easily 

 wrought, — at least not in the North, — as is commonly 

 supposed. Even the buds of the tenderer fruits may 

 endure very sharp freezes after they have begun to show 

 color. Observations were made at Cornell on buds of 

 apricots, peaches, plums and pears (as shown in Fig. 



