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Notes From the Western Mr-ine Fruit Grower s' C onvention. Lewlnton. 



:..nlre - J an uary 19-S O. 193 ^- 



TT^;enty-tvo Maine fruit gro^'ers p-oplied for inspections 

 in the 90,^ Glenn Apple Club in 1937 ^^'^ everyone qualified on nt 

 least one variety. The highest grrde was S^-^% Clean fruit. 

 Three p;ro^vers qualified after applying only three nprnys, and 

 one of them apolied only two sprays on a part of his orchard. 

 In order to apply his pre-blossom sprays, one grower was compelled 

 to lay planks between each second row of trees in order to get his 

 spray rig through the orchard. 



One of the more important minor insect pests in some 

 Maine orchards is the Apple Seed Chalcis. In the apple inspec- 

 tions this little known insect was found to have da.maged 2S% of 

 the fruit in one block. Since it is the habit of this insect to 

 lay its eggs in the apple seeds, it usually is found only in 

 small apples such as Lady apples and crabapples. In Maine, how- 

 ever, it has been particularly troublesome in BellefloT'er and has 

 been found in other varieties. 



Since the severe injury to Baldwin trees during the cold 

 winter of 1933"3^^> Maine orchardists have been concerned about the 

 future of the Baldwin and are still wonderin.Q- what varieties should 

 be planted as a substitute. At triis meeting, Cortland and Spy were 

 the lea.ding candidates, and the Cortland was the favorite by a wide 

 margin especially if the fruit was placed in cold storage. Al- 

 though it "'as stated that many commission buyers were cold toward 

 this variety, there v/ere several favorable reports regarding the 

 salability of Cortland in markets where it is known. 



Specimens of moose damage to anple trees were shown. 

 Branches up to 1/2 inch in diameter were bitten off cleanly, and 

 it vras reported that many larger branches •'•'ere yanked off or brok- 

 en so that small trees were ruined or severely injured. 



Attempts to remove the necessity for thinning Wealthy 

 apples by severe limb pruning have resulted in a greatly reduced 

 vitality to the trees, and many of them finally died. 



Liquid or dry lime sulfur are the approved fungicides 

 for ap-ple scab in Maine and their use is supported by grower's 

 experiences as well as experimental results. Wettable culfurs 

 have not been accepted but there are a few exponents of dusting. 

 The use of fresh high-calcium lime to reduce spray Injury by lead 

 arsenate-lime sulfur mixtures seemed to be a new thought. It wpg 

 apparent that weather conditions favored the use of lime sulfur 

 without folin.ge injury, and that fewer applications of a fungicide 

 would give better control of scab than we could expect in Massa- 

 chusetts. ^_ j3_ Wh.itcomb. 



N otes on Fruit Insects from the ^enevp Station 



In the Annual Report of the G-eneva Station for the year 

 ending January 30, 1937 -"^^^ summarized some of the results of fielfl 

 experiments against fruit pests. 



In the Hudson Valley orchards, codling moth was the out- 

 standing apple pest. Tests "'ere run in tv-o orchards: one in 

 which there v/a.s only a moderate infestation; the second, a very 

 heavy infestation. Lead arsenate, three calcium arsenates, basic 

 zinc arsenate, and phenothiazine were tested in eacli. In the first 



