Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1895 — How Frost Kills Vegetation. [ARTICLE]

How Frost Kills Vegetation.

It has long been the belief of practical men iu America that frost acts iu two ways in the killing of vegetation. In soft, succulent shoots the liquids are expanded, aud the tissue •rout aiid destroyed. Tn other cases the cell tissue contracts during the winter season, aud the liquids either do uot congeal, or, if they do. Hie shrinkage of the tissue gives room for expansion, without any disruption of the coating of the cell. In the latter case death results from the evaporation of the juices. It is said that when a tree usually hardy dies, death results from the drying out of plant juices. It has been found, for instance, that a tree quite hardy under the moist climate of England is killed under the same temperature in the drier climate of Northeastern America. The moist atmospheric conditions aid in checking the drying out experienced here. Mr. Alven Nelson, of the Wyoming Expert* meut Station, finds that atmospheric pressure lias much to do with this evaporation which results in tree killing. The less atmospheric pressure, the greater the evaporation.