New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. VAN 
pass up from the roots, as the conducting tissue was destroyed at 
the point of discoloration. But observations made during the « 
summer and fall showed these fears to be unwarranted. : 
Below the snow line, even a fraction of an inch, both the 
bark and wood were entirely normal as to color and condition. 
This well illustrated the great value of snow as protection against 
frost, and indicated that the roots were uninjured. 
SYMPTOMS OF INJURY. 
It was hoped that some common symptom of fatal injury caused 
by cold could be found—such as would enable the fruit’ grower 
to determine the condition of his trees soon after a freeze, or at 
the end of the winter, so that if fatally injured they could be 
taken out and new plantings made the same spring, thereby gain- 
ing a year in the growth of a new tree, and saving the use of the 
Jand and the expense of cultivation for a season in waiting for 
the injury to manifest itself during the summer. 
It was at first thought that the degree of discoloration of the 
bark and the wood of the trunk would prove of some value in 
this connection, and that such trees as were badly discolored— 
when the bark and wood were black—could be classed as cer- 
tainly dead. 
To determine this point some peach and pear trees on a fruit 
farm in the Hudson Valley were selected and marked for ex- 
amination during the growing season. These trees were of dif- 
ferent ages and grew in a low hollow or “pocket” where the cold 
air settled, and the soil was moist and rich, favorable to growth 
late in the fall. On March 24, 1904, the condition of these was as 
follows: Snow line 6 to 8 inches from the ground, bark tight to 
the wood in all parts of the trees, though very dark brown all 
through, the wood black in the trunk; on the limbs the bark and 
wood discolored as high as a man can reach. 
On September 28, 1904, the last examination of these trees was 
made and the conditions were found to be as follows: Trees have 
made a good growth of new wood and have a good crop of foliage. 
The bark and wood of both trunk and limbs are of normal color 
and condition. The discolored wood is overgrown with new wood 
about three-quarters of an inch thick. Many fruit buds have 
formed. None of the trees bore any fruit this season. 
