1780 
7ht RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Preventing Winter Injury of Apple Trees 
Two Forms of Injury. —On page 
1G51, E. L. L. complains that the bark 
on the southwest side of his apple trees 
has cracked, and he attributes the trouble 
to frost injury and asks for a remedy and 
a preventive. The answer confirms his 
opinion as to ,the cause, and advises shad¬ 
ing, or wrapping the trunks as a pre¬ 
ventive, and suggests various materials 
for covering, and, to some extent, dis¬ 
cusses the merits and demerits of each. 
Now the trouble in question is a form of 
Winter injury, of which there are two 
kinds—10 in fact, but only two which 
attack the trunk in this manner. One is 
that described as occurring on the south¬ 
west side, and known as “bark-splitting,” 
and the other, which is known as “Winter 
injury” proper, which occurs on the 
northerly side, and makes itself manifest 
by the peeling off of dead patches of bark, 
leaving areas of dead wood exposed. The 
trouble is occasioned, primarily, by sudden 
and extreme variations in the tempera¬ 
ture. and it always injures trees that are, 
themselves, susceptible to Winter injury, 
and never harms those that are sufficient¬ 
ly resistant. There is no remedy for a 
tree once injured, but the proper treat¬ 
ment consists of removing the loosened 
bark, cutting back until sound, healthy 
bark is reached, and painting the exposed 
surface with some lasting, antiseptic 
paint, and keeping it painted. For this 
purpose there is nothing better than good 
coal tar. and, if the color is objectionable, 
it may be toned down a little by the ap¬ 
plication of another and a different col¬ 
ored paint. But the tar will soon be¬ 
come weather-beaten and lose its objec¬ 
tionable color. 
Preventive Methods. —The correct 
preventive is not to wrap the tree with 
any protective material, but to make the 
tree so resistant to the variations of tem¬ 
perature that frost will have no effect 
upon it. The wrapping, while it may 
serve as a temporary protection, will, in 
the long run, act as an injury, for it will 
make the bark thinner, more tender and 
more susceptible to Winter injury when¬ 
ever its use is neglected. It is not a dif¬ 
ficult matter to make a tree resistant to 
the variations, or to any degree of cold 
or heat that is liable to occur within the 
range of its own isothermal latitude. In 
order to describe the method in detail, 
and in such a manner that it may be 
fully understood, it is necessary to present 
a brief chapter on the growth and sap- 
circulation of a tree. 
Sap Circulation. —Like most other 
plants, a tree absorbs moisture from the 
soil by means of minute appendages, 
termed “root-hairs,” and located near the 
extremity of _ the smaller roots. This 
moisture consists of a weak solution of 
the mineral elements which compose the 
ashes, when the substance of the wood 
is burned, and is termed “crude sap.” 
By some force, the nature of which is 
not well understood, it is carried into the 
trunk of the tree, thence up into the 
branches, and into and through the 
leaves. By another force, the nature of 
which is still less understood, air is also 
made to pass through the leaves. During 
the passage of these two bodies through 
the leaves, they come in contact in a 
manner very similar to that in which air 
and blood come in contact when passing 
through the human lungs, but with re¬ 
verse results. That is. the crude sap ab¬ 
sorbs the carbonic acid from the air. and 
forces oxygen into the atmosphere, thus 
purifying it. The carbon taken from the 
air. immediately unites with the hydrogen 
and oxygen of the crude sap. forming 
starch, which is almost immediately trans¬ 
formed into soluble, but closely ' related 
compounds, according to the nature of 
the tree. Holding this comnound in so¬ 
lution. the sap is now termed “elaborated 
sap. ’ forms the food of the tree, and is 
again forced into circulation. So much 
as is needed in the immediate growth of 
the trees is carried to the points where 
new tissue is being formed, and the re¬ 
mainder is stored in the trunk for the 
double purpose of furnishing material for 
early growth the following Spring, and 
for maintaining the health of the trunk. 
There is a lot more to it, but this will 
answer the purpose of the present dis¬ 
cussion. 
Maintaining Balance. —Now. when 
the tree is in a normal condition of 
health, there is a perfect balance between 
the work that these three organs perform. 
That is. the roots supply the leaves with 
just as much crude sap as they can han¬ 
dle, and no more. The leaves elaborate 
just as much as is needed, and no more. 
The trunk stores all the surplus it re¬ 
ceives, which is just the amount that it 
needs, and no more. Whenever one of 
these organs is prevented, in any manner, 
from doing its full share of the work al¬ 
lotted to it, other parts of the same organ 
do a little more work, and thus, to a cer¬ 
tain extent, maintain the balance. But, 
when the limit is reached, and the equilib¬ 
rium can no longer be maintained, the cir¬ 
culation is disturbed, and the tree suffers 
in some manner. 
Forms of Injury. —Thus, suppose that 
the leaves, either owing to insect defolia¬ 
tion .or fungous disease, or too heavy 
pruning, or some other cause, are unable 
to elaborate as much surplus sap as the 
trunk needs, the tree goes into Winter 
quarters in unprepared condition and, 
when a severe cold spell comes, a portion 
of its tissue is “frozen dry” and killed. 
The injury does not immediately become 
apparent, but a couple of years later, 
when the dead bark peels off, we forget 
what happened a few years previously, 
and say that the tree has suffered from 
Winter injury, owing to the severe 
weather of the past Winter. Similarly 
if, during the Summer, the new growth 
requires all the sap the leaves, in their 
weakened condition, can elaborate, and 
also draws heavily on the surplus stored 
in the trunk, there comes a hot. scorching 
day in Summer, a portion of the bark, 
usually on the southerly side, is “dried 
out” and killed. A few years after, 
when the dead bark peels off, we say that 
the tree has suffered from “sunburn.” oc¬ 
casioned by the heat of the previous 
Summer. 
Another Cause of Trouble. —On the 
other hand, suppose that, by reason of 
care and fertilization, the roots and 
leaves are so stimulated as to force a 
superabundant amount of elaborated sap 
into the trunk, the tree goes into Winter 
quarters in an abnormally watery con¬ 
dition. A severe cold snap comes, freezes 
the sap and bursts the bark. In this case 
the trouble immediately becomes apparent, 
and we describe the condition as “bark¬ 
splitting.” Or. suppose the tree escapes 
this danger, and there comes a hot, sultry 
day in early Spring, before the new 
growth has begun to absorb the elaborated 
sap. the moisture expands, bursts the 
bark, longitudinally, and the sun, still 
pouring upon the bark, causes it to roll 
away from the wound, and we say that 
the tree has suffered “sun-scald,” but, in 
all these cases, the primary cause of the 
trouble may be traced directly to a dis¬ 
turbance in the sap-circulation of the tree. 
And the logical method of prevention con¬ 
sists in maintaining the equilibrium, and 
thus preventing such disturbances. 
Judicious Care. —This may be done by 
keeping the leaves in a healthy condition, 
by the use of the spray pump, or other 
means, _ avoiding too heavy pruning, and 
by giving ample, but not excessive fer¬ 
tilization, accompanied by a judicious 
cultivation and irrigation whenever neces¬ 
sary. It is the height of folly to give a 
scab-infested tree a severe pruning, and, 
if the fertilization has been excessive in 
the past, this may be partially remedied 
by strongly over-balancing with potash 
and phosphorus. In the present in¬ 
stance, it is probable that the trees have 
restored the equilibrium and that they 
will not suffer again during the coming 
Winter, but the others in the orchard 
may receive a serious injury if not pro¬ 
tected. It will be much safer to wrap 
them with burlap, since it is now en¬ 
tirely too late to attempt anything in the 
way of equalizing the circulation. But 
the owner should see to it that, next sea¬ 
son, the equilibrium is restored and main¬ 
tained, for that is the very keynote of 
successful tree culture. This is but a 
brief outline of the subject, and is in¬ 
tended only to illustrate the point under 
discussion. Maintain the equilibrium 
of sap-circulation in your trees, and they 
will never suffer from so-called Winter 
injury. C. 0. ormsbee. 
Dehydrating Cider 
I have read articles in the Saturday 
Evening Post by Herbert Quick on de¬ 
hydrating fruit and vegetables, which 
ought to be valuable to fruit raisers. The 
article you had in The R. N.-Y. on cider 
set me thinking about it. He claims that 
things dried in a vacuum or partial vac¬ 
uum require so little heat that they re¬ 
tain their original flavor. If that be true, 
I see no reason why cider could not be 
evaporated in that way until it became 
a syrup heavy enough to keep, and then 
dilute again for use, saving in the cost 
of transportation of the water it con¬ 
tains and also the container. I believe 
it could be done cheaply enough to be 
practical by experimenting, if the ap¬ 
paratus would not be objected to by the 
Government on account of the laws 
against stills. What can you tell us about 
this new system of drying? It seems to 
me it could be worked on liquids very 
easily. c. c. 
Silvis, Ill. 
I have never heard of the dehydration 
method being applied to cider, and until 
someone successfully works out the pron- 
lem I shall have to be a doubting Thomas. 
The more practical and less expensive 
method of concentrating cider, so far as 
I am aware, is by the evaporator system 
employing considerable heat. Tne evap¬ 
orator has been referred to briefly before 
in these columns. It is a covered tank 
arrangement with coiled steam pipes in¬ 
ducing the desired heat. The product- 
boiled cider,—is a staple fruit product 
produced by evaporation in the ratio of 
five gallons reduced to one. In this form 
it will remain in a state of perfect pres¬ 
ervation for years. It is dark brown m 
color and of a syrupy consistency. It 
has an extensive use both commercially 
and in the kitchen, being especially desir¬ 
able for making mincemeat and apple 
butter, as well as having a multitude of 
other culinary uses. It has a standard 
market with large vinegar and preserving 
plants, and is also extensively used in the 
manufacture of cereal breakfast foods. 
By continuing the evaporating process* till 
the cider is reduced to the ratio of seven 
to one, the produce becomes jelly, having 
a pleasing tart flavor. To please varied 
tastes it may be sweetened and any de¬ 
sired flavoring added. There would be 
no government interference in any way 
to the operation of a fruit juice evapo¬ 
rator, regardless of the status of prohi¬ 
bition. 
That increased use of apple and cider 
preparations will result now seems very 
certain. I think that without any pro¬ 
hibition influence the tendency for some 
years back has been toward giving the 
apple more recognition as a natural food 
and tonic. Perhaps this is only getting 
back on a big scale to conditions preval¬ 
ent in home life many years ago. win n 
apples en joyed some prestige as .real med¬ 
icine. Though before my time, I have 
often heard of the “half-barrel of apple 
sauce” put up on nearly every farm and 
consisting of quartered apples and boiled 
cider. Tin* tendency is surely toward -i 
widened use of the fruit through new 
means of preparation. Canned apple 
sauce has lately been placed on a com¬ 
mercial basis through a number of can 
neries in Western New York. 
As to the dehydration method of pro¬ 
cessing fruit and ^vegetables, this system 
received a great iinpeths during the war. 
when vast quantities of vegetables were 
shipped in concentrated form to the Eng 
lish and French forces. The system dif¬ 
fers from the dry-house or evaporator 
method in that much less heat is required 
in the process, the result being that the 
food cells are not broken down and nat¬ 
ural aromas lost, as happens in the 
process incident to the evaporator method 
to a more or less degree. 
The simplest and one of the most effi¬ 
cient systems I have seen is one by which 
heat is introduced at one end of the dry¬ 
ing cabinet and after passing througn 
and about the rotating drying drums, the 
moisture-laden air is withdrawn at far 
end of cabinet by a suction fan. Drying 
is rapidly facilitated by a constantly 
changing supply of warm, dry air. Lower 
temperatures are sufficient for the work, 
since much of the moisture given up is 
pumped out. There would appear to be 
practically no limitation of the system as 
related to fruit and vegetables, lint as to 
fruit juices, maple syrup, sorghum syrup, 
etc., the steam evaporator seems to offer 
a most satisfactory method of treatment. 
A. II. p. 
Harvesting and Drying Sunflower Seed 
In anwer to II. F. H.’s inquiry for a 
method of drying sunflower seed, page 
1378, I do not find it a very difficult task 
to harvest and cure it. I gather the 
heads any time they are fully grown and 
the seeds are fully matured. I cut the 
head, leaving enough stem to use as a 
handle. I then take them to the barn 
floor or any other convenient place, take 
a large barrel or box. set in the middle 
of the floor, as the seed will fly some. I 
then take the heads by the' stem and 
strike the face against the inside of the 
barrel or -box, and the seed will readily 
fly out of the heads. I then clean the 
seeds and spread -them on a floor or other 
convenient place where the air will cir¬ 
culate over them to dry ; in two or three 
days they are ready to sack. Treat tne 
same as you would any damp grain just 
thrashed. There is no use trying to dry 
the heads; it cannot be done successfully 
without a dryer, and that would be a lot 
of trouble and labor. 
Sunflower seed is a profitable crop to 
raise, and handled in the above way would 
be a business that would prosper in any 
locality where the season is long enough 
for the heads to mature. The past season 
I had a row 10 rods long between a field 
of beaus and potatoes that I planted to 
early sweet peas in hills 2 ft. apart, put¬ 
ting a pie pumpkin seed in every third 
hill, and between each hill a sunflower 
seed. They all grew nicely, and did not 
seem to interfere with each other in the 
least. I gathered from this row a good 
supply of corn, 80 pie pumpkins, which 
brought me I0o. each, and I harvested one 
bushel of sunflower seed. Just figure 
what one acre would produce at this rate. 
Of course the pumpkins occupied some 
extra ground each side of the corn row. 
IT. F. II. will have no trouble in harvest¬ 
ing his sunflower seed in any kind of 
season if he does it the way I do. 
Cherry Creek, N. Y. m. h. b. 
Up-State Farm Notes 
Tractors for Lumbering. —The use of 
tractors has spread to most of the lum¬ 
bering regions of the Adirondacks. They 
require no shoveling of snow, and one 
machine does the work of eight to 12 
horses, with less expense. They were 
t ied out successfully last Winter. Diffi¬ 
culty of operation is solved by hiring men 
who are experts, former operators of 
army tractors or of whippet tanks. 
Storage Holdings in Farm Produce. 
—Dr. Porter’s monthly report of cold 
storage holdings of butter decreased by 
1,000,000 lbs. and eggs by 250.000 cases, 
as compared to last month, but greater 
than the amount held a year ago. Large 
quantities of dry salt pork, 35,000,000 lbs. 
December G, 1919 
more than a year ago have been collecting 
since August 1. This is mostly borax 
cured meat that cannot be sold here, due 
to our pure food laws, but is awaiting ex¬ 
port. 
Farm Bureau Developments. — At 
the annual meeting of the Herkimer Coun¬ 
ty Farm Bureau 1,750 members reported. 
There are 2,300 farmers in the county. 
The annual dues were raised from .$1 to 
$3 per year. The Madison County Farm 
Association has organized a marketing de¬ 
partment, with A. L. Smith of De Ruyter 
as manager. The first things to be bought 
for the members will be farm implements, 
seeds and feed, and it is expected that 
gradually the service will expand to in¬ 
clude the^ marketing of produce. On De¬ 
cember 5 it is expected that Franklin 
County farmers will hold the biggest meet¬ 
ing at Malone in the history of the coun¬ 
ty. the outcome of recent smaller gath¬ 
erings where farmers’ interests have been 
discussed. Some important topics to be 
discussed are the reforesting of waste 
lands, an advertising campaign for maple 
sugar producers, looking towards bigger 
markets and better prices, and the im¬ 
provement of dairy herds, as the dairy 
industry is foremost in the county. The 
exclusive use of registered sires for all 
herds is one plan, standardizing of corn, 
oats and other seed varieties is another 
aim of the Farm Bureau of this county. 
To Post Land. —Farmers owning land 
in about 1(5 square miles near .Tamesville 
will post their lands, warning against 
trespass, due to large losses of live stock, 
crops and property damages from hunters 
and fishermen. 
Calf Clubs in Herkimer County.— 
Prizes totaling $150 will be awarded those 
making the best showing in the boys’ and 
girls’ calf clubs in this county. Little 
Falls bankers will finance the projects, 
and district superintendents, teachers and 
farmers will co-operate with C. A. Tavlor, 
Farm Bureau Agent, in helping ’ the 
juniors in every way. 
Legislation for Beekeepers. —Early 
in December the Onondaga County Bee¬ 
keepers’ Association will hold a meeting 
to discuss legislation to prevent epidemics 
among the bees of the State. Proposed 
measures will include a requirement that 
every keeper of bees register his colonies 
with the town or county clerk, in order 
that inspection may be made of the health 
of the colonies, and that the location of 
various swarms may be known accurately. 
Ravages of foul brood are too destructive 
in this State to be overlooked longer, and 
the beekeepers’ associations will co-op¬ 
erate in securing laws to protect the in¬ 
dustry. 
Farmers Heard at Washington.— 
New York Senators and representatives 
at Washington report very vigorous ex¬ 
pressions of (heir farm constituents, who 
disapprove the passage of the cold stor¬ 
age bill. There are many points about 
the bill specified as very objectionable. 
Telling letters have been received from 
the association of vegetable and fruit in¬ 
dustries of the State, including the State 
Horticultural Society, the Federation of 
County Farm Bureaus and the Canners’ 
Association. 
Cabbage Jumps. —After paying $30 to 
$40 per ton for late cabbage in Central 
New York, the market suddenly jumped 
today to $65 per ton. It is said that a 
Cortland firm has sold its entire holdings 
at this figure, having filled all available 
storehouses at around $30 per ton. and 
having quantities under straw on the 
ground. Most of the farmers had sold out 
the biggest part of their crops, getting 
$50 for the last loads. It is now certain 
that New York leads all other States in 
cabbage production this year, despite the 
fact that but 2.502 cars have been shipped 
to date, as compared to 4,358 cars of last 
year. Potatoes are bringing $1.25 per bu. 
at the cars. The lettuce season is over, 
with a total production of 1,652 cars, or 
318 cars over last year’s total. Potatoes 
arc moving rapidly, 595 cars leaving State 
points last week, as compared to 380 cars 
in 1018. The last of the tomatoes have 
left the storage, the season’s forwardings 
totaling 456 cars. Dutchess and Ulster 
counties sold over a million dollars’ worth 
of cider apples this season. m. g. f. 
This is a dairy section here. We are 
in the northern part of Clinton County, 
near the Canadian line. Milk is the prin¬ 
cipal business of farmers. We receive 
League prices. 13c less than the 200-mile 
producers; about 380 miles from New 
York. A good many potatoes are raised 
here, paying $1.06 per bu. from digging 
until Nov. 17: now $1.20. Crop light; 
about 60 per cent, and rotting badly in 
cellars. Hay and corn for silos a good 
crop; grain about one-third crop; straw 
very short. Some hay changing hands at 
$25 per ton. Oats, $1 per bu.; little 
wheat and barley raised. The middleman 
gets a heavy toll on feeds , $80 per ton 
for dairy feed ; cottonseed meal, $90 per 
ton. No fruit raised in this part of the 
county. Southern and eastern part of Clin¬ 
ton County, on the lake, lots of apples 
are raised, but that section is not reached 
by any milk trains to New York ; no milk 
train on the D. & IT. north of Whitehall. 
Clinton Co., N. Y. H. L. R. 
Tenderfoot (in new Kansas town) ; 
“Where is the postoffice?” Resident: 
“Over there.” “Where?” “D’ye see that 
man sawing wood? He’s the postmaster.” 
“Yes, but I don’t see the postoffice.” “Of 
course you don’t. It’s in his hat.”—New 
York Globe. 
