-6- 



A Bit of Liclntosh Hi story- All Massachusetts fruit growers should be inter- 

 ested in facts about the early history of the Mcintosh. Recent correspondence 

 with members of the Kclntosh family gives some interesting information. The 

 original tree was found by John llclntosh (born August 15, 1777, near Schenectady, 

 N. Y.) not in 1794 as generally believed, but sometime after 1811, the year when 

 he took possession of the farm in Dundas County, Ontario. The tree was injured 

 by the burning of the nearby dwelling in 1894. The tree borti its last apples in 

 1908, died shortly afterward and was finally removed in 1910 by a great grandson 

 of John Mcintosh, whose house burned in 19k;5 and vidth it the last wood of the 

 original li'clntosh tree. It is interesting to knovi/ that there are now trees 

 near the place of origin v/hich are believed to have been propagated from the 

 original tree, all bear apples of the blusned type. J. K. Snaw 



Apples for D etoxication. Dr. F. 'W. HofLlann of the Virginia Agricultural jijxpor- 

 imunt St-.tion makes this statement regarding the varied usos of apples. "The 

 malic acid in apples is clearly essential to a balance of the digestive juices 

 us woll as correcting certain digestive disorders due to abuse. Nothing satis- 

 fies a "hangover" of the inebriate the day following a so-called "bender" or 

 alcoholic debauch so well as a glass of sparkling apple cider. The malic acid 

 has a most beneficial, restorative and invigorating property." L. Southv^fick 



A Trend Tovmrd Diver si fi cat ion_. Grovv/ers ^.re seriously considering farm enter- 

 p~ioes other thai: fruit in the State of Washington. Poultry raising is heading 

 the list of ocher farm enterprises, nn agent for the Farm Security Administra- 

 tion recently reported 50 new applications from fariaers for diversification 

 assistance in Okanogan County while in Chelc.n County un extension worker reports 

 tn..t C-.ttle, chickens ^.nd general gardening are on the increase. 



Fruit-of-the-M onth Club. A fruit -of -tlie-month club, organized by a fruit grov.;- 

 ing comp.,.ny ^t Resed.., C-lif., is the latest thing in farm m-rketing. jiach month, 

 members of the club receive by parcel post a cont.aner of the Californi,. fruit 

 that is at its peak. This v.ries from guavas and nectarines to pomcgr -..nates ani 

 avocados. There is no memoership fee, members paying only the price of the fruit 

 they receive, plus postage. 



La nd C lassif ication. The State of i^'ew York is being divided into 7 classes viith 

 reference to the adaptation of the soil for agricultural purposes. Classes 1 and 

 2 have no agricultural value. Class 3, the lowest type of farm land, makes up 

 o8^o of the state, Class 4 makes up l/o, Class 5 (better farm land) 8,^, Class 6 

 (best farm land) l/o and Class 7 ^7/o) . In a tnorough going study of agricultural 

 resources it id found that 29/o of the land is now producing only 3j-/o of the ag- 

 ricultural crops in the state. The cost of making a detailed land study in the 

 average county is about .))lu,000. The labor income on Class 3 land is ;;i<i04 and 

 on Class 6 land if 1<^85 . It costs 50/o more to provide sclioolm^ for children 

 living on Class 2 land than on Class d or better. 



Interesting Lit erature on Bor on. h nev/ publication entitled, "Boron in Agri- 

 culture," is now available from a large cumi:!erci..^l concern dealing in that 

 material. This publication includes excelltsnt illustrations of vegeto>ble and 

 fruit crops showing boron deficiencies along with a fairly complete bibliography 

 of 49 references. Any grower interested in this nev; field of agricultural re- 

 search may obtain further details by dropping a postcard to the Department of 

 Pomology, M.S.C, Amherst, Mass. 



