IvIASSACPIUSETTS STATE COLLEGE 

 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 AND COUNn E^'TENSION SERVICES IN AGRICULTURE AND 

 liOrJE ECONOMICS COOPERATING 



FRUIT NOTES ,JUWS 1936 



W. H. Thies 

 Extension Horticulturist 



VJhere Can_I Buy . 1^ ? 



Very frequently tlie fruit grower asks, "Miere can I buy 

 this or that piece of equipment?" The answer is easy. Consult 

 the Buyers' Guide in the June issue of American Fruit Grower. 

 Here will be found a very complete list of dealers in everything 

 needed for the fruit farm. The classified index lists everything 

 from apple corers to stiomp pullers. Here are the general index 

 headings: Canning, preserving, and juice extracting, commission 

 merchants and marketing agencies, fencing and trellises, fer- 

 tilizer, fruit farm home, insect and disease 'control, irrigation 

 and drainage, nursery stock, orchard instrujnents , packages and 

 packaging, packing house equipment, pic]<:ing, pollination, pruning 

 and grafting, storages, and tillage equipiiient. An idea of the 

 completeness of this list is indicated by a listing of 10 con- 

 cerns dealing in fruit presses, 17 in spray nozzles, 17 in 

 wettable sulfurs, 10 concerns dealing in grafting wax, and 24 in 

 'bees and bee supplies, Tlie publishers have gone so far as to 

 list dealers in thermometers, soil testing outfits, and dynamite. 

 This Buyers' Guide of the American Fruit Grower fills a long felt 

 need. Every fruit grower should have a copy for reference. 



The N ational JiPple__C_rop 



On June 1 it v/as estimated that the 1S36 apple crop in 

 the United States would be 43.7 percent of normal as compared with 

 71,3 percent last year and 67.8 percent for the 10 year average 

 prior to 1932. This is the lov/est June 1 estii.iate of apples since 

 1931. Present indications point to one of the smallest orops in 

 recent years. In the Pacific Northwest the set of fruit is only 

 fair, due to the severe freezes of last fall and winter and un- 

 favorable rainy weather during the blossoming period. New England 

 as a wholu has an estimated crop of 57.7 percent of normal as com- 

 pared to 76.3 percent last year. The estim.ate for Mass. is 62^ 

 compared v;ith Sl/b last year. And so it appears that the national 

 apple crop will be relatively small and that v;e in New England 

 are not as bad off as we might be. All things considered, this 

 may be the year to take better care of our app].e crop. Thinning 

 should be a profitable pi"'actice on Vfealthy, Delicious, and in some 

 cases on Baldwins. Mcintosh appears to have set lighter than 

 most other varieties. It costs about so much to harvest and pack 

 apples regardless of size or condition. It Is good business 

 judgment to eliminate the i.mfit apples of the tree before harves- 

 ting time. Thinning and a good spray program contribute to that 

 end. 



