Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-06-10
WINTER INJURY TO THE APPLE
TREES AND WHAT TO Be DONE
Evidence that More or Less Winter-killing o.
Cured in Maine Apple Orchards in the Win
ter of 1914-15 - eco lamentations from the
Maine Experiment Station

which to prevent entirely this diff
Guilty or to at least cure it after it
has occurred. A man may take certain
precautions to prevent lightning strik-
ing his buildings, but 1t is beyond his
power to eliminate this source Of dan
ger entirely. Similarly if the lightning
sets them on fire, he may, If fortunate
and energetic, save some Of his prop
erty or even prevent the complete de-
struction Of his buildings, but there
| is no way Of repairing the damage ex-
cept by replacing the destroyed or
badly injured parts with new.
Winter injury to fruit trees in one
sense belongs to the same category
| with the lightning stroke. BY only
planting the varieties which have
proven the most hardy for the locality,
| by proper drainage Of the soil. by
avoiding too late forcing of the trees
| in the fall and by paying attention to
certain other factors, a considerable
part Of the danger from winter injury
sometimes can be eliminated. But
no matter how skillful an orchardist
may be he cannot always avoid the
| trouble.
, Much can be done to repair the dam
age and to prevent the after effects
which are often more severe than the
winter injury itself. but the only way to
ever get an entirely sound tree in place
Of one where large patches of bark on
the trunk, larger limbs and in the
crotches have been destroyed is te
set a new one. This does not mean
however, that it is not possible fire.
quently to repair badly injured tree
through the assistance of time and ma
ture, so that it may be preserved for
many years of usefulness.
| While severe pruning and cutting
back Immediately following winter in
jury is not advocated, all dead wood
and bark as soon as it can be detect
/ ed should be removed and cut back to
a place somewhat beyond it's junction
with the healthy tissues. Numerous
forms of fungi which normally grow
only on dead or decaying wood soor
| gam entrance to the injured bark or
various parts of the tree and to the
wood of small limbs. If allowed &c
grow they gradually work back into
the uninjured tissue, killing 1t, and il
left alone lead to the final destruction
of the tree. The smaller wounds serve
as places for the entrance of the more
strictly parasitic fungi, which pro.
duce true cankerS in the wood anG
bark, spreading each year until the at.
| fected portion of the trunk or branch
is girdled and killed.
! The Station has always recommend
cd fbat after dead fiSSroS vore
entirely removed that the wounds thus
made be disinfected with a solution
consisting of one ounce of copper sui.
plate in a gallon of water and Their
painted with a pure white lead an6
oil. From the results of certain ex-
periments recently published by the
New York Agricultural Experimen,
| Station, it is claimed that no particu.
lar advantage is gained by painting
the wounds or covering them with wax
or other protective material. In fact
many of the protective materials ap-
piled caused injury and the wounds
healed more slowly than where moth
ing was used. OF the paints, including
coal tar, etc, white lead was the more
satisfactory. Ordinarily shellac pro.
duced no injury and seemed to produce
stimulating effect the first year. 1,
did not, however, adhere to the wounds
as we'll as the other materials. These
experiments had to do with ordinar,
pruning wounds. 1t would still seen
| that large patches Of wood laid bare
by the killing of the bark should be
protected by white lead or at leas,
| shellac.