Estimating Seasonal Changes in The Quantity of White Unsuberized Root on Fruit Trees

Abstract

A method of estimating the length of root visible in observation windows by counting the intersections between roots and the lines of a half-inch grid, marked on the glass, is described. Seasonal changes in the amounts of white, unsuberized root present varied between different kinds of apple trees growing in the same environmental and soil conditions. The cortex of apple roots often took three months to turn brown in the winter but this interval had decreased to an average of 2-3 weeks by May and remained fairly constant at this level until the end of September. Fluctuations in the quantities of white root present during the summer thus gave a fair indication of fluctuations in the production and growth of new roots.