Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1909-06-18

the bud at 2s degrees. in bloom at
30 degrees. in setting fruit at 80 de-
grees. Another authority says: And
while the growth Of the pistii Is most
ly after Fertilization II is, however.
true that during the time when 1t Is
receptive to the pollen IL Is most sus-
ceptible to cold inc other conditions
and 1t is the portion OF the peach bud
that first manifests injury from frosts
or other exposures" The tempera-
ture at which "a peach blossom is KILL
ed depends OF n number Of conditions.
the age of the tree. the stage of de-
velopment OF the blossom, the degree
OF cold. and the length of time to
which the buds are exposed TO the low
temperature.
Observations on the injury of peach
blossoms by cold We're made at the
experiment station peach orchard
In a three year old peach orchard.
The trees are exceptionally vigorous
and they bloomed very heavily. Mini
mum self registering thermometers
were placed in the orchard close TO
the peach trees. The winter of 1905
. was quite mild. During January
the exceptionally warm weather caus-
ed the peach buds to swell consider
ably. BY the end Gf March such IA
wrieties as the Elberta n Salway
were beginning to bloom. These va
rieties were in fun bloom by the 10th
of March. when there was a snowfall
of about six inches. For the next
two days after the snow the temper
AZURE dropped down to 16 degrees.
This low temperature killed all of the
buds that were out in fun bloom and
those that were about to open. Again.
this cold spell caused all of the
varieties which were not out at this
time TO be retarded considerably. II
is estimated that on account of the
cold spell such varieties as the Tex
as King, alberta, Hyne's Surprise, and
Sneed bloomed two TO three weeks
later. These varieiies were beginning
10 bloom on March cath and they
werc IN full bloom April 9Th. On
March 31st the weather was quite
cool and on the morning of April lst
the temperature dropped to 90 de-
grees. In places close to the orchard
where there was a little water a thin
film IF ice was found. After having
read the self registering thermome-
ter in the orchard 1t was thought
that all the fruit had been killed. In
the afternoon Of April LIST a thorough
examination was made of the trees
in bloom and it was found that there
were about two per cent. of the BIOS
SONS killed by the low temperature
of 20 degrees. Why this low temper-
allure did not do any more injury is
due perhaps to the fact that 1t did
not last at that degree but an in
slant. Had that temperature lasted
for an hour or so there is no ques-
ton but hat a very large per cent, OF
the buds would have been killed. on
the morning of April sth the temper
allure dropped to "a degrees. This low
temperature lasted for over an hour
The result was very disastrous, In
the afternoon all of the peach varie-
ties out in bloom were examined and
it was found that the injury had been
very great. In order to find out more
or less the per cent. of injury done
to the fruit already set, to the buds
which We're out in full bloom, and to
the buds about to open, n count a
made of a hundred of each taken
promiscuously from different trees
and from different varieties.
The buds which had been open for
time and which were setting
fruit seemed 10 be more delicate than
the recently opened buds or those
to open. This is contrary to
the general belief and also to the
opinion of some of our horticultural
authorities. 1t was thought that the
opened buds were more deli
cate than the ones which were set
ting the fruit. On the morning OF
April 9th the minimum temperature
registered in the orchard was 30 "a
degrees. Though this temperature
for about ten minutes there
were no injurious results from 1t.
While all of these observations are
only preliminary at the same time a
number of interesting facts seem to
have been brought out. In the first
place it seems that the opened buds
will not be killed by a freezing tenn
perature OF four degrees provided ii
does not last long; tina even a tenn
perature of 26 TO "a degrees when it
lasts for over an hour will not kill
Ill of the freshly opened buds or tho
buds that are about to open The
opened buds seem to be
more cold resistant than the older
buds or those which have lost the
The killing temperatures as q
rule take place early in the morning.
four o'clock to six O'Clock is the
Time when the spring killing frosts
are expected.
FABIAN GARCIA. i
June s. 1909.