-.3- 



A cr.rbidc flash gun is being us&d quite succossfully in preventing 

 robin daxoagc in Michigan cherry orchards. H. A. C-.rdinGll of iGLchigp.n State 

 College, v/riting in Better Fruit Magazine, counted an average of 90 robins per 

 aero where no exploder was in operation, v/hereas in tvra other orchards \/here ex- 

 ploders v/cro on duty throughout tho day there was an average of only nine robins 

 per acre. The essential bird baffling features are (l) a Icud report every two 

 to five rainutos -.nd (2) a sudden motion cf the device which swings around several 

 tines at each explosion. 



Recent storage tests show that apples of the Richared and Starking var- 

 ieties keep just as well as tho Dclicieus if allowed to rx.ture properly before 

 picking. If harvested two weeks before nr.turo, severe storage scald v.iay follow 

 and the fruit is apt to have a texture so tough, and a taste so astringent, as 

 to be considered practically inedible. Unfortunately, the very qualities v;hich 

 are the basis of so nuch norit in these red sports are bein^ used to jeopardize 

 their future because early coloring is so often follov/ed by early picking. 



A proper selection of varieties is still tho cornerstone lT the fruit 

 industry, according to C Yif. Ellenwjod of the Ohio Exporinent Station. He states 

 that quality cf fruit, productiveness and hardiness of tree are th^ prinoipal 

 factors which enable a variety to persist in corx:orcial orch..rding. Reporting 

 the average annual yield of 40-yoar-old trees cf diiforent varieties given tho 

 sauG treatuent over a 24 year period, ho finds that the yield varied fron 6.6 

 bushels in the case ^f Winesap, to 21.8 bushels in tho case of Nortrnveotorn 

 Greening. V/inter Banana and York I:.;perial 'were in sec^jnd and third plac-s v/ith 

 18 and 17.9 bushels cousocutivoly . Wealthy v;as next to the lowest vri.th 8.4 

 bushels . 



Fcr the full understanding of a fruit tree, it is essential to know 

 not only where the roots arc located, when they gro\/, and how they roact to 

 various factcro, according to W. S. Rogers of tho East Lhlling (England) Research 

 Station. He points cut that the roots exercice iuportant control over tree pcr- 

 forniance, including vigor, productiveness, diooaoo resist^ncu, utc. By the use 

 of standardized stocV. kept true by vegetativci reproduction, a definite standard 

 of tree perf or:-!ance can be obtained. 



Actual ncasurenents of soil and v/ater losses, taken at an exporinent 

 station in Texas, show that ono cxtrcr..ely heavy rain swept soil away from a 

 cotton field at the rate of 63 tuns per acre and 31 per cent of the rainfall 

 v/o.s lost as irni'^cdiatc run off. During tho sar.ie rain, no soil wo.s washed away 

 fron an adjoining field of grass, and only .3 of one per cent of the rain was 

 loot as run-off. In another exporinent conducted in Indiana it is shown that 

 plant food renoval through sheet erosion is as large or larger than the renoval 

 in crops. This is true even en very gentle slopes representing the average of 

 much of tho best corn land in that section. Tho results indicate that on slopes 

 as low as 8 per cent . careless cropping uethods vri.ll cause the loss of the entire 

 seven inches ci" surfaco soil in 15 r 20 years. 



Final sigr...ng of th^-. $52,b00 appropriation bill to establish and equip 

 an orchard laboratory cr experinjnt station at Wonatchce, Vi/'ashington, is the 

 culnination of years or prelxninary efforts on tho part of horticulturists co- 

 operating with variou? organii-aticns , including the Washington State College. 

 Tlio money is to be spent to acquire a suitable site, consoruot the necessary 

 buildings and buy tho laboratory and other equipncnt needed do operato a station. 



Frost service is ago.in available in Wonatchee and Okanogan districts 

 in Washington this spring. This will be the sixth soasun cf frost forecasting 

 in Wonatchee and tho seventh season in Oka.nogan. The service also includes 

 spray inf ornatii-n. 



