-i?- 



the Stnte Department of A^^riculture . That office handles all the 

 regulatory v^ork in connection with the inspection of fruit, orchardr 

 nurseries, etc. The orchard, if reported as neglected, is first 

 Inspected in the early spring for scale, and if San Jose scale is 

 found, the owner is given fifteen days in i"hich to apply the dor- 

 nnnt spray. If the ov/ner does not apply the spray, the county has 

 a. right to do so and apply the cost to the property just the sa.me 

 as taxes are assessed against the property in question. Very much 

 the sane procedure occurs if the orchard becomes neglected during 

 the summer and codling moth larvae are found. In this case, how- 

 ever, a ten day limit is usually given for the orchard to he sprayed 

 or the infected fruit removed. 



During recent years the problem of cleaning ur> the neglectec 

 orchard is handicapped by lack of county funds, and, in some cases, 

 the Infected orchard has been allowed to go unsrirayed. In the case 

 of the orchard so completely neglected that It has to be condemned. 



law gives the horticultural office considerable authority, but when 

 it comes to going to court, it is ra.ther a long drawn-out procedure 

 and this method is seldom resorted to. Pressure is usually out on 

 the owner or mortgage holder to give waivers for tree removal '"hen 

 such is necessary. (The foregoing statement about, neglected or- 

 chards was supolled by W. A. Luce of Washington, a former resident 

 of Massachusetts. ) 



D amage to Peach B u ds Extremely Variable 



Samples of peach buds from many different orchards have 

 been sectioned to determine the extent of killing due to the cold 

 spell in January. Injury varying from none at all to almost 100^ 

 has been noted. Following are some of the findings of J. S. Bailey 

 concerning samples submitted by different growers: 



It appears from the limited amount of information 

 avdlable that the 193^ peach crop prospects are good in most 

 places In the State in spite of dangerously low tem-oeratures on 

 seven occasions. Orchards situated in unfavorable locations 

 where cold air could collect on still nights lost most of their 

 fruit buds. Massachusetts Is situated so near the northern 

 limit of peach growing that the choice of a site '"Ith good air 

 and water drainage becomes of first Importance. Keeo the peaches 

 out of the liollows '"here cold air collects on still cold nights 

 and away from slopes '"here cold air can drain down through the 

 orchards from above. 



