Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



Courtesy of Lorihi i- i > liberies. Grass Valley, California 



An illustration showing one of the great trees in the grove of wild pyrus usuriensis near 

 the village of Shing-lung-shan. Chih-li Province, China. This was photographed by 

 Frank N. Meyer, who was sent by the Bureau of Plant Industry to locate groves of pyrus 

 usuriensis to gather seed for the growing of seedlings to be used as stocks upon which to 

 propagate the commercial varieties of pears. Standing near the tree is Mr. Chow, Meyer's 

 Chinese interpreter. The tree was more than two feet in diameter, nearly one hundred 

 feet in height and probably between two hundred and three liundred years old. 



has the fruit badly pitted. Again, some 

 varieties are attacked worse tlian 

 others. The Baldwin is a regular cus- 

 tomer. In fact, so much so that it is 

 doubtful if the Baldwin should be 

 grown in any part of the Northwest. 

 The Grimes is very seriously attacked 

 by this trouble, but with the Grimes, 

 Ortley and Winter Banana, the speci- 

 mens which seem to be attacked the 

 worst are the overgrown specimens. 

 In non-irrigated districts it would not 

 be feasible to follow the plan we have 

 used in the Hood River Valley, but all 

 that we can advise under such cases is 

 to avoid any practice which tends to 

 promote an abnormal condition in the 

 trees. Try to follow good practices in 

 tillage, pruning, etc., not allowing the 

 trees to suffer on the one hand or to 



over-stimulate them on the other, and 

 we believe that under such conditions 

 there would be a reduction of the fruit 

 pit. In irrigated districts where the 

 trees are bearing very heavily the 

 growing of some crop among the trees 

 and a careful study of irrigation will 

 go a long ways toward the control 

 of pit. 



There has been an enormous amount 

 of water coring in the West during the 

 past year. This trouble became so 

 severe in some districts that some of 

 the growers became greatly alarmed 

 and discouraged. Water coring is 

 found every year, especially in some 

 varieties. For example, the King of 

 Tompkins County is very subject to its 

 attacks and likewise the Wagener, 

 Gravenstein and Winter Banana are 



prclly regularly attacked l)y this 

 lioublc. Tlie late summer and early 

 fall varieties suflVr the most, and this 

 last year we foimd the trouble extend- 

 ing into the early winter and even the 

 late winter varieties. In water coring, 

 the cells fill with water and large 

 watery sections appear in the fruit. 

 Where the water coring is not very 

 bad and is confined to relatively small 

 areas it is somcwliat hard to detect 

 unless one cuts the fruit with a knife. 

 Wliere the water coring becomes bad it 

 begins to show on the outside of the 

 fruit. First, the skin of the apple be- 

 comes a little rough and the surface 

 slightly sunken, the fruit losing its 

 suKtoth contour. Later the trouble ad- 

 vances to the stage where the water 

 coring itself shows on the outside of 

 the fruit. 



Like the fruit pit, the largest speci- 

 mens are apt to be the first attacked. 

 Tlie studies we have been able to make 

 during the past years with this trouble 

 indicate that over-maturity is respon- 

 sible for much of the water coring in a 

 great deal of our fruit. Where varie- 

 ties are picked at the proper time the 

 water coring can be kept down to the 

 minimum, but where varieties like the 

 Wagener, for example, are allowed to 

 hang on the trees a week or so too long 

 then one can expect a great deal of 

 water coring to develop. Where any 

 signs of water coring begins to develop 

 the fruit should be picked off imme- 

 diately. If the water coring has not 

 been very bad much of it will disappear 

 in storage. Excessive irrigation or a 

 very heavy rain about the time the fruit 

 is maturing seems to also encourage it. 

 This has been often noted in the Pacific 

 Northwest. Growers should watch the 

 King, the Winter Banana and Wagener 

 very carefully, indeed, for the first indi- 

 cations of water core, as this is one of 

 the best signs that harvesting should 

 be well under way. 



A great many rots have developed in 

 the apples the past year. Most of these 

 can be attributed to one or two causes. 

 The anthracnose spots on the one 

 hand and the wormy apples on the 

 other. Both of these troubles can be 

 cured by spraying. Unfortunately, 

 however, this past year the weather 

 was so warm the codling moth seemed 

 to come out over a very long period, 

 the second brood appearing from early 

 August until well into September, so 

 that it was only with great difficulty 

 and care that one could keep down the 

 percentage of wormy apples. Many 

 growers were far too careless along 

 this line, and should they have gone 

 into their orchards and done some 

 spraying they could have saved much 

 money. Likewise, the leaf roller was 

 very bad on apples and even on some 

 varieties of pears, but this is not a 

 serious problem, as it can be controlled 

 by efficient spraying. There are sec- 

 tions of Oregon that will have to take 

 the leaf roller into account this coming 

 season. 



Pear growers of the Pacific North- 

 west have been experiencing some 

 trouble with their fruit. We have re- 

 cently been conducting certain invest!- 



