The daily gazette., 1876-03-31
For the Delaware Gazett,.
A Letter from Samuel TOsosssesd d

For the Delaware Gazett;.
A Letter from Samuel TOsOsssemd.
MR.. EDIToR:-In your paper of the
2Sth inst, you state there is q contro-
versy going on with peach growers,
about dead buds blossoming. know
of no such controversy, and if there If
one, it is very foolish one, although
there are, l believe, persons whose
minds are not clear on the subject, and
| will try to enlighten them. First, to
begin, the buds to produce the next
years crop, form on the new wood
that is grown the year before, in other
words, the wood grown in 1875, and
the buds formed on said wood in Au-
gust and September, produces the crop
OF 1876. Last year, although there was
large cropof peaches, the weather in
August and September was wet, and
therefore after producing sap enough to
make the peaches, also made a good
growth of wood and fair number of
buds; whereas, if August and Septem.
Der had been dry, the crop of peaches
would have exhausted the sap so much
there would have been little left to
grow wood and buds for this year; and
now, when the thermometer in Janu-
ary or February sinks below zero, from
3 to 5 or more degrees. for or 8 days,
it freezes the buds and kills them, and
hurts the young branches the buds
grow on: this is what is called winter
killing, Cut bud open and there is
small black spot in the heart, about
the size of pins head, these buds neoer
sweH or blossom, but all drop off the first
start of sap; but if buds are not hurt
during the winter, and sap starts and
the buds swell until they are the size
Of peas and larger, nearly out in bloom,
and there comes very cold spell ,such
as we have had, the cold will kill some
of the germ, or centre PETALS inside of
the blossom, and the neck of the bios
SONS having growed so large, and so
much Vitality in it, it will blossom
out, and the germ in the centre dead.
Then again, after an orchard blooms
for the first few days, and there comes
a heavy white frost, and the next
morning is clear and warm, it is death
on an orchard, as it kills the young
germ inside the blossoms; but if the
next day after frost is cloudy it does
not hurt half so bad; but after an Or
chard blooms out, if there follows s or
| 10 days of warm weather, or without
frost, the young peach will have grown
inside and at the neck of the blossom.
to the size of large grain of wheat,
and fills up the neck or cavity of the
blossom; they can stand frost with
out its hurting them much. Another
dangerous stage is when the blossoms
shed off, and leave the young peach
exposed; if cold check comes then, it
will stop the flow of sap. and that
starTes the young peach, and its hold On
the twig loosens, and it drops off, for
after the young peach loosens,ir never
Itightsns. Early plowing peach orch
ards makes the ground dampen and if
the weather is cold, makes a heavier
frost, and therefore kills more young
peaches than where it is not plOwed.
A winter killed bud with the ther-
mometor a few degrees below zero,
never swells or blossoms no more than
a pebble stone; it is buds that have
swelled and nearly bloomed then, al
though the inside germ is killed, the
blossom will open; but no bud killed
before sap starts ever swells or BIOS
SONS. l have seen entire orchards
without one single blossom in them.
There is show yet in the old peach
district for some peaches and much
better paying crop than last year, but
they have about 60 days yet to run the
lgauntlet, but the prospect to-day is
that the crop, although not more than
oRe.fourth or one-third as many as last
year, will pay the grower more money
and require far less work than last
year. SAMUEL TOWNSEND.
Townsend, March 80, 1876.