The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1920-01-29

mously with the variety and species,
the age and conditions Of the tree.
The condition of the tree will depend
very largely on the soil. the subsoil,
drainage and moisture conditions, as
we'll as on location and air drainage.
IL also depends upon the kind Of cover
crops, cultivation. irrigation, etc
Another important thing | should
and larger branches may be severely
blackened without the tree necessarily
being ruined. If the eambium layer is
killed and the bark remains alive the
tree may continue to flourish and bear,
even more heavily than normally, for
Il few years. These severely injured
trees, of course, will have tendency
TO become rotten hearted and short
lived, but they are far too valuable to
destroy. The bark and the cambium
are apt TO be the last structures killed
II the trees are perfectly dormant. and
nave no' oeel eE rCsea 20 excess We
moisture conditions. seepage, nitrogen
or mild winter weather. We have in
formation about this feeze from other
sources. andsour understanding is that
your trees were in a thoroughly dor
mant condition. at least were generally
so. Strange to say. when the trees
are not thoroughly dormant the cam
blum is one of the first things killed.
The effects in other words are exactly
reversed. This may come from the
trees not being ripened in the fall
which is possible, but not probable in
thai no, o4n
into growth again by mild winter wea-
ther. The cambium is an extremely
thin line in cross section. 1t forms a
layer as thin as the thnnest tissue
paper. Right under the cainbium is
the youngest Of the apple wood formed
the previous summer. These layers
are easiest killed and often show a
black streak which deceives one into
thinking that the cambium is killed
while it is this young wood instead.
''ln general | want to caution you
that the trees may not be as badly
injured as they appear There are a
great many types of frost injury, in
cluding the killing of the water sprouts
and young tips, down to root winter
injury. If you had 80 inches of snow
on the ground that removed root injuy
and IN fact injuries at the base or col
lar of the trunk from consideration.
Snow is a great protection. should
expect on your trees that you would
find the worst injury on the trunk Just
at the snow line, extending a few
inches below it but mostly above the
snow line and diminishing upward to-
ward the tops of the trees, except in
the case Of young. unripened wood
The plth of one year wood and younger
branches or little rings of wood i'm
mediately surrounding the pith are the
first things to blacken and.discolor.
This, however, has little effect as it
appears chronically in the northern
Mississippi Valley apple orchards most
every winter.
Frost injured trees make such re
markable recovery that feel like
cautiOning you to give all doubtful
cases an opportunity to show what
they can do. If the bark and cambum
remain alive. the orchard should be
given only moderate or normal prun-
ing, should be given extra good cult
walton and horticultural care next
spring and summer, and the decision
reached as to how badly the trees are
hurt should as rule be postponed un-
til next June or midsummer.
Leroy Childs declares Mr.. Waite
letter cheering to local growers. Loc-
al effects of the freeze seem to have
been limited to the trunks and larger
limbs around the snow line Observa-
tions have shown the trees to be al
ready recovering from the blackened
effects of the frost damage to the
young wood under bark and camblum.
Ralph Hinrichs. West Side orchard
ist reported Sunday that he did not
consider the damage to pears or cher
rles as of any consequence. Mr.. Hin
richs Immediately after the freeze cut
branches of both cherries and pears.
| He has forced these in a hot room and
they have bloomed as on normal years