THE BITTER ROT IN APPLE. 



If the tree makes good growth but does 

 not fruit well, on no account apply nitrate .5f 

 soda, or other nitrogeneous manure. In this 

 case potash may be useful, but the best plan 

 is to omit all manure and summer prune, al- 

 lowing no shoots to grow more than a few 

 inches. Not only nip off the shoots, but rub 

 off all that are too close together. 



For trees which bear, but the fruit is not 



as fine as you think it ought to be, an appli- 

 cation of nitrate of soda, superphosphite, 

 and sulphate of potash may be desirable. 

 For a tree, say 6 ft. to 8 ft. high, and as far 

 across, perhaps i lb. nitrate, 3 to 6 lb. super- 

 phosphate and I lb. potash may be scattered 

 over the ground round the tree from 3 ft. 

 to 5 ft. from the trunk, and forked in. — 

 Garden and Field. 



STEADY GROWTH OF TOMATO INDUSTRY. 



IN response to an inquiry about the extent 

 of the canning industry in his country, 

 the American Agriculturist has received the 

 following fromW. G. Dawson, vice-president 

 of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society: 

 Since 1870, when the first canning house 

 was established in Dorchester county, Md., 

 the industry has steadily grown, and in 1902 

 there were twenty-four canneries in opera- 

 tion. Peas and tomatoes constitute the bulk 

 of the pack. It is hard to understand why 

 a large amount of corn is not packed in a 

 section so well suited for growing this crop. 

 It is interesting and instructive to consider 

 briefly this canning industry, which has as- 

 sumed such large proportions in many sec- 

 tions of the country. Let us take, for ex- 

 ample, the one Maryland county just men- 

 tioned, and the one item of tomatoes. 



During the past packing season the out- 

 put was 500,000 cases, or 12,000,000 cans. 

 A conservative estimate of the value of this 

 product is $850,000. To obtain the neces- 

 sary fruit, there were 5,000 acres cultivated 

 in tomatoes, under contract between grow- 

 er and canner. The actual packing is all 

 done in about two months. In this particu- 

 lar section the crop is contracted at so much 

 per ton. Usually the price is $6 per ton, 

 though $8 to $9 per ton was given the past 

 season. The yield has a large range — all 

 the way from three to fifteen tons per acre. 

 As the entire Delaware and Maryland pen- 

 insula, comprising twelve counties, is very 

 largely interested in this canning industry, 

 this one example gives some clue to the 

 magnitude of the business. 



THE BITTER ROT IN APPLE. 



THIS evil, to which reference was 

 made in our December number of 

 last year, is a serious one in some 

 sections, and alarming because progressive. 

 A few years ago we observed the first indi- 

 cations of the pit marks upon some fine large 

 Baldwin apples grown in our lake shore r- 

 chard at Maplehurst. We thought little of 

 it then, supposing it would soon pass away ; 

 but each year since its first appearance it has 

 been spreading, until now it has shown itself 



over about forty acres of orchard, rendering 

 unsaleable a large quantity of the very finest 

 samples of Baldwins, Spys and Kings. 



Like the apple spot, at first it seemed to 

 be confined to a certain limited number of 

 varieties ; but alas ! it has now attacked 

 many sorts vvhich we counted immune from 

 its ravages. Ben Davis, for example, 

 which is such a vigorous grower, and so lit- 

 tle subject to codling moth with us. is not 

 exempt from bitter rot, nor yet the Hunts- 



