NEW H A M P 



New Crop Mix 



Pleasant View Gardens will continue 

 to grow finished 4 1/2-inch Fischer 

 geraniums, but will discontinue grow- 

 ing rooted cuttings of Fischers and, 

 because of demand, concentrate in- 

 stead on rooted cuttings of Proven 

 Winners and Kientzler New Guineas 

 For information: Henry Huntington at 

 1-800-343-4784. 



Transition 



"Incredible," is the word used by Rob 

 Carpenter, General Manager, to de- 

 scribe the results of biological pest 

 control at Carpenters Olde English 

 Greenhouse, 220 South Main Street in 

 Newmarket, 



Done partly in reaction to the new 

 EPA reentry regulations, partly out of 

 Rob's personal preference not to be 

 spraying and his concern for the safety 

 of his children playing in the green- 

 houses, the transition to biological 

 controls began in lanuary in the 900- 

 square foot retail area, then moved 

 into a 4500-square foot production 

 house (bedding plants and hanging 

 fuchsia). Since then, he has begun us- 

 ing biological controls "actively" in 

 about half of the 60,000 square foot fa- 

 cility and "some" throughout the entire 

 range. 



Working with Mike Cherim (The 

 Green Spot, Ltd., Barrington), a pro- 

 gram was devised to cover a wide 

 range of pests, the transition has gone 

 smoothly ("The most difficult thing was 

 to learn not to expect instant results"). 

 The only failure was aphid control in 

 his Easter lily crop — in the cooler 

 weather, pests multiplied while the 

 predators went dormant and Rob had 

 to spray. And there are trade-offs — it 

 was initially expensive and there's not 

 really much time saved — time once 

 spent spraying is now spent scouting — 

 but "this year we grew the nicest fuch- 

 sia ever... spectacular ivies with no 

 sign of thrips damage incredible an- 

 nuals..." 



Carpenter's is not the first commer- 

 cial grower in the state to work with 

 biological controls, but may be an in- 

 dication of growers' willingness to ex- 



periment with techniques that would 

 have been seen as impractical a few 

 years ago. He hasn't yet utilized the 

 fact in his marketing (although he's 

 talked about what he's doing to tours 

 of grade school childreni — right now 

 he's simply "enjoying the pleasure of 

 seeing a hungry ladybug bite into the 

 back of a fleeing aphid." 



For more, Rob Carpenter at b03- 

 b'5Q-33Ql 



Changes... 



You may already be aware that the 

 Analytical Services Lab at Nesmith 

 Hall in Durham was nearly eliminated 

 during the recent round of budget cuts 

 at UNH. However, it will remain 

 open — as long as it is "self-suffi- 

 cient" — which means it must make up 

 through increased fees the S3b,000 in 

 Agricultural Experiment Station Funds 

 which were cut In addition, it was re- 

 cently learned that UNH will not pay 

 benefits to Lab employees from the 

 "central pool" and that it will need to 

 add an additional $15,000 to its bud- 

 get to accommodate benefits 



To do this, there are some fee in- 

 creases The basic test — pH, buffer pH 

 (for commercial crops only), texture, 

 Ca, Mg, K, and P) will be $10. This ba- 

 sic test plus N03-N, NH4-N, and 

 soluble salts will be $18, a basic com- 

 post test is $36; tests for individual 

 components will range from two to six 

 dollars. 



But the Lab also needs to increase 

 volume And to do this, two new ser- 

 vices are being announced The first is 

 a soil testing kit specifically targeted 

 toward home owners This new kit, 

 which includes a business reply enve- 

 lope, smaller sample bag, and stream- 

 lined form, is designed to make sub- 

 mission of a home owner test as 

 simple and convenient as possible. 

 This test will cost $12.00 and will be 

 the focal point of spring and fall ad- 

 vertising 



The Lab is also announcing the 

 availability of a "Plant Tissue Test." It 

 has done plant tissue tests for years, 

 but has never advertised the service 

 and it is hoped that awareness will in- 

 crease volume There will be bro- 



chures describing this test 



It is hoped that these changes will 

 result in a financially stable lab that 

 will continue to serve New Hampshire 

 agriculture For information, contact 

 Stuart Blanchard at 603-862-3212. 



Seminars... 



On October 12-13 at Yoken's Confer- 

 ence Center in Portsmouth, Dr Alex 

 Shigo, one of the better-known names 

 in tree biology, will present a two-day 

 seminar on the basic science of trees 

 and tree maintenance. The seminar 

 "will explain the basic biology and 

 chemistry of the living tree system; 

 how the system is affected by pesti- 

 cides, herbicides, and fertilizers; wood 

 anatomy; how roots work; how trees 

 are affected by placement and prun- 

 ing He will use this information to ex- 

 plain practical solutions to the most 

 common problems in growing and 

 maintaining trees." 



The cost is $98 for one day or $176 

 for both. For information, contact John 

 Kirkland, Tree Care Educators, 605 SE 

 70th Avenue, Portland, Oregon Q7215. 

 The phone number is 503-254-0482. 



Another — more specialized — seminar 

 is a Campground Owner/Business Man- 

 agers Conference on October 20 at the 

 Margate in Laconia. The focus in the 

 morning will be on "industry trends/ 

 issues, increasing visitors and site mar- 

 keting;" in the afternoon, it's on 

 "campground environment, managing 

 natural resources and services." 



As the state's farms and nurseries 

 market their products more and more 

 with petting zoos and hands-on tours, 

 some of the topics offered — develop- 

 ing nature trails and walks, basic 

 grounds maintenance, use of low-main- 

 tenance grasses and plantings — may 

 give new ideas about ways to utilize 

 and maintain unfarmed land without 

 destroying the character of the land it- 

 self. 



For information and a brochure, 

 contact Mike Sciabarrasi at 603-862- 

 1700. Steve Turaj (603-788-4Q61 ) and 

 Dave Sorensen (603-447-5Q22I were 

 also involved in the planning 



The Planlsmnn 



