-3- 



chusetts, A very serious cracking of the hp.rk hrd. occurred on the 

 trunks of Mcintosh pnd V/enlthy trees rbout eight yeprs of age. The 

 story is briefly this. In the spring of 1935 '^he soil In a. part of 

 the orchrrd tts fitted for the seeding of alfalfa by liming and 

 fertilizing rpther liberally, using both manure and a commercial 

 fertilizer. It ^'as then cultivated frequently until sometime in 

 July and seeded to alfalfa. The soil is naturally raolst, and as 

 might be expected under this treatment, the trees made a vigorous 

 grov'th. The unfortunate thing vas that they grev too late for their 

 ovm good, i-'ith the result that the first severe cold veather of the 

 follo^"ing winter found the trunks in an immature condition. Frost 

 cracks, in some cases practically surrounding the trunk vill require 

 serious attention if the trees are to be saved. Tlie late stimiula- 

 tlon theory finds support in the other portion of the orchard vrhere 

 cultivation v.'ps discontinued early in June. Here no T^'inter injury 

 vras in evidence. Apparently those extra v.'eeks of cultivation in 

 the part of the orchard seeded to alfalfa, "'as a determining factor, 

 since the other items of orchard management as veil as soil and var- 

 ieties i"ere similar in both cases. 



Suggestions on Toj^ G-raf ting 



With the season for top grafting only a, fe^^' ■p'eeks. avay, the 

 repetition of a fev fundamentals is in order. As regards the ideal 

 time, ne'd choose late March or April ^hen gro^i^th Is Just getting 

 under vay, but v;e like to have the scions practically dormant. It 

 is claimed that scions have been placed every month in the year and 

 made to grov. However, the practice of cutting the scion material 

 months ahead of the grafting operation is not advisable. The best 

 kind of scions are cut from medium sized terminal gro'-'ths of the 

 previous season vhere the vood is matured and the buds are ^ell de- 

 veloped. The selection of branches for the placing of scions is 

 very important. Only vigorous, rell placed branches should be 

 chosen. If secondary, shaded Ijranches are grafted, the scions can 

 be expected to make inferior groi'^'th. In most cases it is possible 

 by a i-'ise location of the "stubs" tro give the nev tree a better 

 framework than the original. It pays to use plenty of good grafting 

 V''BX. None is better than the old fashioned combination of rosin, 

 beesv'ax and linseed oil. For detailed directions and for additional 

 suggestions ask the Extension Service for a copy of bulletin #117, 

 "Top Grafting Fruit Trees." 



A New Interest in Fundamentals 



For several years I have attended occasionally meetings of 

 the study groups in different counties. I have noted ''■'ith much in- 

 terest the type of discussion in these meetings. G-ro^'ers are no 

 longer demanding specific directions hov to manage their orchards 

 but are digging into the fundamentals of soils, physiology, insect 

 behavior, and plant diseases. In some counties gro^''ers attending 

 these meetings have been supplied vith bulletins, reports, etc. for 

 study and review.' at the meeting. This is good. One can acquire 

 little of this basic knowledge by participating in a fev hours dis- 

 cussion. It calls for a lot of study in the long I'^inter evenings. 



(J. K. Sha^'O 



