on the other hand, reports very favorable results from this practice. In the 

 Decombur Fruit Grower, G- W. Kinkead says, "Application of commercial fertili- 

 zer in lato fall or early spring has,, in the opinion of many apple grov/ers, 

 given better results than late application or application just before blossom 

 time in the spring." In contrast, a recent letter from M. T. Hilborn of Maine 

 reports considerable injury to apple trees given a fall application of a com- 

 mon nitrogenous fertilizer. All things considered, it seems best for New Eng- 

 land fruit growers to play safe and apply nitrogenous fertilizers in early 

 spring, at least until we have further evidence concerning a more suitable time. 



A New Water Gun 



0. E. Robey of the Agricultural Engineering Department at Michigan 

 State College, has invented a new typu of gun to be used for irrigation. He 

 hopes to irrigate as much as six or seven acres at a time with this new piece 

 of equipment. He is working with a new type nozzle built to revolve as it 

 irrigates a square or irregular area. Through a motor driven device the nozzle 

 is to be slowed up and elevated slightly so that corners will get as much water 

 as the sides and interior parts of the area to be irrigated. The pump is mounted 

 on a chassis, so that the car motor runs not only the pump but can propel the 

 equipment to unwatei^d areas. 



Striped Vs. Blushod Mcintosh 



Some striking cases of variation in Mcintosh apples were observed in 

 Massachusetts this fall. In a Hold en orchard the writer noticed one tree whidh 

 bore a crop of beautifully blushed apples v;hile an adjoining tree bore a crop 

 which was decidedly striped. A similar observation was made in a Granville 

 orchard. Ther- is so much interest in this matter that the Pomology Department 

 at the State College is planning to assemble budding material from trees bearing 

 blushed apples in different orchards of the state. It is planned to obtain buds 

 from at least 10 sources for use in propagating trees for test purposes. Growers 

 who have observed two distinct types of apples in the orchard and are interested 

 in cooperating in the above test are invited to drop a line to the Pomology De- 

 partment, Massachusetts State College, Amherst, Mass. 



A New Kind of Shower 



The writer is just nov/ digging out from under a generous shower of 

 plaster which fell from the office ceiling a fev/ days ago. Fortunately, v;e 

 were out at the time so suffered nothing more than a badly disrupted head- 

 quarters. We mention this to explain the omission of certain items ^jiiich 

 should have been included in the December issue of Fruit Notes. 



