~D' 



Two plr>nt explorers,. H. L. Westover nnd F. L. Wellman, 

 of the U.S.D.A. , recently spent g months in Asiatic Turkey vhere 

 a. civilization existed 6,000 ye-^rs pgo. They brought back 500 

 samples of farm crops, vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants 

 vrhich rill be tested for possible vplue in this country. If, out 

 of this mnss of ne^' materirl, one plpnt of Montmorency cherry or 

 Mcintosh apple caliber should develop, the effort '-ill have been 

 very much rorth^^hile. 



In a study of 20-yepr~old npple trees in the Ozprk re- 

 gion of Missouri and Ark.-msas, A. T. Sveet of the U.S.D.A,, found 

 such trees utilizing the moisture and plpnt food of nt least 

 5,000 cubic feet of soil vhere the subsoil "'as porous and open. 

 Where the subsoil is tiglit, he states, a.nple trees do not groy 

 "'ell, produce nbunclrntly, or live an long. 



Many gro^'erc have psked about the possibilities of pre- 

 venting "bitter pit" in Bald^vin nnd Northern Spy by the use of 

 boron. Following is b statement made by M, 3. Davis, Dominion 

 Horticulturist, of Ottawa, Canada. "In the case of bitter r)it, 

 none of us are as yet in a position to state (definitely that it 

 can be cured by boron amplications, hut we ^.r^ve. been able to 

 cure it by reducing: the nitrogen. It is a trouble which is ap- 

 parently induced on vprieties like Northern Qryy by high nitrogen 

 applications, and in several instances we have been able to n:"e- 

 vent it by withholding the nitrogen and building up the m.ineral 

 content of the soil." If bitter nit, as commonly supposed, is 

 due to fluctuations in f^^e moisture sunply, it is easy to see 

 how the excessive use of nitrogen may increase the demand for 

 water by a heavy increase in leaf area. Thus we find heavily 

 stimulated Baldwins and Spies on droughty soils very subject to 

 bitter pit. 



Quoting from a recent article by F, A, Beach of Ohio 

 published in Nursery Notes, "On sites and soils where the exper- 

 ience of recent yenrs has revealed serious damage to apples from 

 winter injury, it is urged that attention be given to the oppor- 

 tunities of developing better, longer lived trees by to-o working 

 on hardy understocks such as Hibernal, Virginia. Crab and Tolman. 

 Virginia Crab has a. splendid record as an understock for G-rimes. 

 W-iere hardy understocks are used, it is advised that the variety 

 be budded or grafted out on the scaffold limbs at least IS inches 

 from the trunk after the young tree is well established in the 

 orchard, in order to get full advantage of hardy crotches and*, 

 trunk. Varieties which have sho^vn extrem.e susceptibility to 

 winter injury are Baldwin, V/agener, Delicious, King, Winter Bana- 

 na, York, Jonathan, G-olden Delicious and Grimes." Under Massa- 

 chusetts conditions there is reason to believe that the Mcintosh 

 will provide a good stock on which to graft in case a gro"'er sees 

 fit to change part of his Mcintosh planting to another variety. 



Color in an apple is important to both grower and con- 

 su.mer. For the grower, there is the -practical .advantage that 

 well colored apples eve. not nearly so subject to injury by storage 

 scald as are ar>-ples in which color is Derfectly develooect. For 



