
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280549
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WINCHESTER                                LENGTH: Short

FROSTS MAY DAMAGE SOME PEACH CROPS

Two consecutive days of frost could virtually wipe out the peach crop in Frederick County, the state's biggest peach growing area, agricultural officials said.

The unusually warm weather in recent weeks has coaxed peach blossoms out three to four weeks early this year, leaving them subject to damage from cold spells, said Gary DeOms, county agent with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service.

The peach crop has already been significantly harmed by periods of cold weather, including Tuesday morning's freeze when the temperature dropped to 22 degrees, DeOms said.

Temperatures in the area this morning were in the high 20s to about 30.

Jack Rollins of the Winchester Fruit Research Laboratory said there was still a chance for a full peach crop this year prior to Tuesday's freeze. He said a peach tree can yield a full crop with as few as 10 percent of its buds.

- Associated Press

by CNB