ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS 



BUSINESS CONTINUES 

 TO GROW 



Mass. Natural Fertilizer Co., locat- 

 ed at Westminster Farms on Bean 

 Porridge Hill in the town of West- 

 minster, just south of the New 

 Hampshire border, has grown to 

 become the largest composting 

 facility in Massachusetts. 



Its product is a "premium quality 

 organic (no sewage sludge or muni- 

 cipal waste) compost that contains 

 a concentrated supply of organic 

 matter and plant nutrients." The 

 mix includes cranberry waste from 

 the Ocean Spray production facili- 

 ties on Cape Cod, fruit waste from 

 VeryFine Corp. (Littleton, MA), 

 short paper fibers from James River 

 in Fepperell, sterilized animal 

 bedding waste from the Charles 

 River Breeding Laboratories, and 

 chicken manure from Westminster 

 Farm's 50,000 chickens. 



A 35 -day composting process is 

 based on a carefully calculated reci- 

 pe. Temperature, pH, moisture 

 level, and oxygen content — all are 

 monitored daily to show "exactly 

 what's going on in each pile." 



Material to be bagged is trucked to 

 New Hampshire (to Brochu's in 

 Concord) because zoning laws in 

 Westminster prohibit a bagging 

 operation on the farm. From 

 Brochu's, it's shipped to retailers. 



Marketed under the name "Ma- 

 son"s Choice" (Mason owns the 

 business), Mass. Natural's products 

 include an enriched topsoil, a cow 

 manure organic compost, a natural 

 soil organic compost, and potting 

 soil. All but the cow manure (only 

 40 lb. bags of that) are available in 

 twenty and forty pound bags and by 

 the trailer-load. 



The company "does about double" 

 what it did when it began four years 

 ago. It continues to expand. Last 

 fall, in a pilot project, the facility 

 was accepting leaves being collect- 

 ed at a local landfill. The future 

 may bring new sites and other 

 materials. 



For information, contact Jon 

 Nillson at (508) 874-0744. 



FIFRA AMENDMENTS 

 INTRODUCED 



Legislation known as the "Federal- 

 State Pesticide Regulation Act oi 

 1 99 1" was introduced in both the 

 US House and Senate late last year. 

 If passed, these acts would provide 

 that no local government, regard- 

 less of its status as a city, county, 

 township, or district, shall be 

 allowed to enact its own regulations 

 concerning the use of pesticides. 

 These bills do not prohibit a state 

 from enacting such regulations. 



This act was designed to address 

 possible problems created by the 

 Supreme Court's decision in the 

 Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. 

 Mcrrna case . This decision upheld 

 the rights oi individual 

 communities to regulate the use of 

 pesticides within their own borders. 



BEETLE VS. WHITEFLY 



Reprinted from Nursery Business 

 Grower, December, i991. 

 University of California, Davis, 

 researchers say a predatory black 

 beetle Delphastus pusillus sent to 

 them by Florida scientists could 

 prove to be an effective ally in their 

 fight to eradicate the pesticide-re- 

 sistant sweetpotato whitefly. This 

 whitetly has caused an estimated 

 $82 million in losses in the melon 

 and leafy vegetable crops in 

 California, Arizona, and Mexico. 



For the past two years. University 

 of Florida Entomologist Dr. Lance 

 Osborne and Dr. Kim Hoelmer, a 

 USDA scientist located in Os- 

 borne's Apopka laboratory, have 

 been studying the potential of this 

 beetle to control outbreaks of the 

 whitefly. Growers Earl and Bryan 

 Nelson of Apopka brought the 

 beetle to Osborne's attention after 

 they noticed in the summer of 1987 

 how the beetle controlled the 

 whitefly in their ornamental crops. 



The report from California is 

 encouraging: "the beetles are alive 

 and reproducing at a fairly high 

 rate. And the plants look good 

 where the beetles were released." 



INTERNATIONAL 

 GERANIUM CONFERENCE 



The Third International Geranium 

 Conference will be held in the 

 Hans Christian Anderson Confer- 

 ence Center on August 3 1 through 

 September 4, 1992, in Odense, 

 Denmark. Previous Conferences 

 were held at the University of 

 Pennsylvania in 1982 and 1987. 



The Conference will include tech- 

 nical sessions and grower sessions, 

 industry tours and social events. A 

 new geranium manual being pre- 

 pared for the conference will in- 

 clude the most up-to-date informa- 

 tion on geraniums, ivies, and regals 

 for growers, researchers, and 

 students. 



For information, contact Gary 

 Olsen of The Pennsylvania Flower 

 Growers at (814) 726-3779. 



NEW INTRODUCTIONS 



Reprrintedfrom Greenhouse 

 Manager, December, J 99 1. 

 Two new cultivars — an alstroe- 

 meria with extra-large blossoms 

 and a tissue-cultured phalaenopsis 

 orchid — have been developed by 

 Dutch breeders. 



Alstroemeria 'White Swan' has 

 white -petalled flowers that change 

 to pink in the calyx, while the 

 heart shows a vivid red-speckled 

 pattern. Stem and leaves are pale 

 green. 



Stems of 'White Swan' are 3-3 1/2" 

 long; flowers measure up to 3" a- 

 cross and — given proper pre-treat- 

 ment — should have a vase life of at 

 least two weeks. 



Phalaenopsis orchid 'Lippe' is a uni- 

 form reddish-purple with flowers 

 closely bunched together on the 

 stalk. Each stalk bears 6-8 blooms; 

 the number increases as the plants 

 age. The use of meristemic propa- 

 gation insures uniformity of 'Lippe' 

 blossoms, developers say. 



For more: Flower Council of Hol- 

 land, 250 W 57th St., Suite 629, 

 New York, NY 10019; phone (212) 

 307-1818;fax: (212) 246-5173**- 



February/March 1992 U 



