Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-04-15
HOW TO TREAT ORCHARDS
DAMAGED BY FROST

With fruit growers facing the ruin
of so to 100 per cent of their crop
in most sections of New Jersey, by
one of the most destructive freezes
in the history of the state, the State
Agricultural College makes some re-
Communications in orchard manage
ment, which if followed. should save
the growers money in handling the
orchard without injuring the trees.
Not only must the orchard be car
ried through this season. but the
1922 expenses must be met before
returns will again be forthcoming
ranges from total loss of the peach,
cherry, and pear crop in parts of
Central and South Jersey to only
partial injury in the northern section
while on apples early varieties will
suffer severe reductions, and in some
cases total loss.
Careful examination of the bios
som clusters of each variety in all
parts of the tree orchard, Is nes-
essary before a true estimate OF
the damage can be ascertained. Cut
open the buds to see if the centers
are blackened. and the new green
stem just at the base of the bios
som cluster to see If it is discolored.
Spraying peaches will probably be
Improbable if owe rs per cent of
the peach buds are killed. due to the
fact that many remaining blooms
will fail to set fruit through weak
ness caused by the cold weather. The
season is still early and danger of
further frost INJURY is probable.
However, if less than rs per cent of
the peach buds are killed, follow out
tho JIQIIa1 Snhad1JIa riuidly falxinc
care to put the petal-fall and shuck
fall sprays on at the right time. APP
ply the latter just after the chucks
split and before they are half off.
Discontinue spraying on apples il
all the blossoms are killed in a ma
jority of the clusters. If the clusters
have an average of one or more live
buds, apply the pink spray. On va
rites subject to scab, a fungicidal
spray put on at petal-fall time pro-
tects the foliage from scab even
though the buds are all killed.
Fertilization al be altered to fit
the condition of the crop. Where the
crop is lost apply acid phosphate
anyway, for the benefit of wood
growth and cover crop. Hold off ni:-
rogen on all injured orchards until
later developments show the amount
OIL INJURY. II the crop Is q total loss
omit it altogether, but on weak trees
it may be well to put it on before
blooming to stimulate growth or to
hold buds if some have not been in
jured.
Cultivate as usual, for neglec. of
this in apple and peach orchards on
light soils would seriously damage
the crop set for another year. On
apples subject to blight, or where
v crops are growing we'll, the
cultivation may be delayed two or
three weeks to good advantage, b,:t
on peaches the cultivation should
start Immediately.
Pruning is important on peaches.
On old high trees, cut the tops back
heavily, taking off three or four
years growth and making a few cuts
count. This will force out a new
low easily handled head. The meth
is rapid and a large area can be
covered in a short time. On younger
and more vigorous trees a moderate
cutting back and thinning out of tops
will be beneficial. On trees up to
five years old no further pruning
should be done than was done dur
ing the winter. This heavy pruning
on old trees can be done any time
in April.