-3- 



Some O b Gerv.-^ tio nG n t Bejl tsville , I'iprylnnd 



It 'VfiG the writf^r'G privilege n fe"" dnyc pgo to visit 

 the U.S.D.A. Experiment Stption at Beltnville, Maryland and ob- 

 serve the interesting '-"ork plong fruit lines being conducted by 

 J. R. IvIagnesG snd hie nccociptes. A fe'" glimpces pre noted beloi':'. 



(1) Ovn-rooted trees are being developed by first vrrpp- 

 ping a piece of mulching paper about 6 inches in '."idth around the 

 terminal bud and allo'-ang it to remain until August. The bud 

 developo in partial d.'-rkness as a. result of "^hich root development 

 is stiiaulated. The paper is attached as gro^'^'th begins in April. 

 The cutting made at the end of the growing season is rilaced in the 

 ground and rooting takes place in a large percentage of cases. 



(2) A pear variety '-'hich is apparently blight resistant. 

 V^ien Keiffffr pear trees show about 100^^ blight this ne"' variety 

 shov's about 2^. The quality is reasonably good, being a cross 

 bet'"een Bartlett and Keiffer. The blossoms appear to be some'^hat 

 more resistant to frost. 



(3) A peach orchard on relatively lo''-^ land fr-;ezes out 

 about t'VQ years out of three. Another orchard of similar vprieties 

 at an elevation 90 feet higher comrs through each year '"ith a cro _ . 

 The temperature in the latter block is often 10 degrees higher. 

 This may mean the difference between minus 2 degrees and minus 



12 degrees in the t^"o blocks sometime during the '"inter. Alter- 

 nate cultivr'tion or strip cultivation seems to benefit -neach trees 

 almost as much as comnlete cultivation. Very little di;^fprence 

 'i^as evld.ent '"here these t"'o systems of cultivation i"ere -prncticed. 



{k-) Mulching of Latham raspberry olants showc a striking 

 dlfffrenoe as corn-pared '-'ith clean cultivation. The m.ulched plant i 

 are much larger, more vigorous, and sho"' many more young oanes. 

 Under these particular soil conditions mulching is by far the best 

 cu''.tural practice. 



{^>) In the greenhouse apple trees are beins: gro'-'n in 

 quartz sand for the purpose of stud,ylng nitrogen intake during 

 the dormant season. The rate of intake at the different nitrogen 

 levels and at different tempt-;ratures ^•'L'^.l be determined. 



(6) A m.ost unusual case of incompatability is found ^"here 

 G-olden Delicious is grafted on Jonathan or on Delicious i^herever 

 a particular stock (Spy 227) ^'-^ used. The grafted variety is 

 apparently causing the death of the entire tree. The reason has 

 not yet been ceterm.lned. 



Apnle Co nf erenc e in V/ .-'Shington, D . C.^ 



About 20 states '"ere represented at a c:)nference called 

 by Director C. V/ . '.Varburton on June- 6 and 7 to discuss various 

 problems of the apple industry. Follo"ang is a brief outline of 

 the program. Abstracts of the more important papers ^"11'' be pre- 

 sented In early issues of Fruit Notes. If details of ^ particu- 

 lar talk are desired by any reader of Fruit Notes, correspondence 

 in Invited. 



Mon d ay. June 6 

 9:30 a.m. Introduction and Purpose of Conference - 



C. W. Warburton, Director of Extension Work. 

 10:00 a.m. V/hat Is Our Apple Market - 



E. VV. Eraun, G-eneral Crops Section, A. A. A. 



