New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 145 
to thaw: the sand as quickly as possible. However, it is unlikely 
that the fire was excessively hot, because, if it had been, some 
bundles of trees standing close to it would have been badly 
scorched, whereas only a few of the most exposed trees were 
slightly scorched on the exposed side of the trunk. Otherwise 
these trees were scarcely more injured than trees at the opposite 
end of the cellar. 
The heated air rose to the ceiling (which was about seven anu 
one-half feet above the floor and very tight), spread out over its 
entire surface and then accumulated in a layer of uniform thick- 
ness. This layer of warm air was warmest at the ceiling and 
became cooler the nearer it approached the floor. The tips of the 
branches, being nearer the ceiling, were enveloped in air warmer 
than that surrounding the basal portions of the branches and the 
trunks. They were also smaller. Consequently the upper parts 
of the trees thawed out more quickly than the trunks. Now, it is 
a well-known fact that frozen plants which may be thawcd with- 
out injury, if the thawing is done slowly, may be ruined if thawed 
suddenly. It appears that the pear trees were thawed too sud- 
denly, and that the line marking the boundary between the 
injured and uninjured portions marks the height above which 
thawing progressed too rapidly for safety. That the temperature 
of the air was a more important factor than the size of the 
branches is shown by the fact that one bundle of Bartletts, in 
which the trees were so short that they did not project above 
the danger line, was wholly uninjured. 
The majority of the trees were of such a height that their 
branches were blackened for a distance of six to eighteen inches. 
Only in a few instances did the injury extend quite to the trunk. 
With a few exceptions, the blackened branches might have been 
cut away without removing more of the tops than is customary 
in transplanting; and since it is unlikely that the branches were 
injured below the point of discoloration, the trees were practi- 
cally unhurt for planters’ use. Nevertheless, the trees, which 
were worth about $2000, were almost a total loss to their owner. 
‘Twelve thousand of them were sold for $100, to a man who cut 
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