- 6 - 



Time to Look Fo r Mouse In.'j ury . V/ith a very heavy mouse population in 



many orchards last fall, there is reason to expect considerable girdling 

 except where the poison bait was thoroughly distributed. Hurricane damaged 

 trees have offered an unusual opportunity for mice to work below the ground 

 level. We advise every orchardist with trees surrounded by grass covur to 

 examine tree trunks for mouse injury at the earliest opportunity. 6Q often 

 tnis kind of damage is not suspected until late summer when the foliage ap- 

 pears "off color." That mcuns a ye-.r's delay in bridge gr.-fting and ,. re- 

 sulting weakening of the tree. Mouse injury is not such a serious thing if 

 we find it promptly and do a thorough job of bridge grafting. Surly spring 

 is the idei.l time to do both these things. 



New Leaflet on X-Disease. 0. C. Boyd, Extension Plant Pathologist, hr.s re- 

 Cantly prepL,red a 3 page publication covering the so-c-llod X-Disease of 

 peach trees. He outlines the c^-use and manner of spread, symptoms and nc^ture 

 of injury together with a se'^isonal liistory of the disease and then tells how 

 the disec^S'j rar.y bo controlled. Any one interested in grov/ing peftchcs should 

 look over this new public-^tion. A copy may be h-d by dropping a post card to 

 the ._uthor. 



Yvhy^ S ome Trees Fail to Grow. Wo often s^e apple trees making pr-cticdly no 

 terminal grovrth throughout the top, or in some Cc^ses on one side only. In- 

 stead of terminal gro^/ths of varying lengths normally found on bearing trees 

 practically all growing points are developing into spurs. It is not uncomn.on 

 for such trees to bloom very heavily every other year. The reason for this 

 abnormal condition may generally be found in injury to the trunk or main roots 

 near or below the ground level. Obscure mouse injury, or in some cases vi/inter 

 injury, should be suspected particularly where a tree fulls to respond to 

 fertilizer applications. And if the above mentioned spur growth is well de- 

 veloped it is a Sv^fe bet that tnc injury dates back two years or more. 



Effect of Radio V/aves on Insects. T. J- Heudlcc of the N.J .Agr .iixp.Sta. , 

 discusses this intriguing subject in N. J. Bulletin 568. He has made an 

 extensive study looking toward the elimination of certdn insect pests by 

 electrical means. Obviously, such a method would Soera more practical where 

 plaints are clesely confined, as for exr.mple, in the greenhouse, than in a 

 commercial orchard. He says, "Insects respond so much more readily to radio 

 waves th^.n do pl^.nts that in muny cses insects may be destroyed and plj.nts 

 be left unh-.rm.od by the same treatment." 



The Sp r fty Conc entrate Met hod o f Con trolling Pests. A new method of applying 

 spray mixtures is being studied in the stute of \iV<.vshington. It involves the 

 use ef spray chemicals in the form .f a ready-mixed concentrate :-.nd the in- 

 jection of such a concentrate into the suction line of a. high pressure spray 

 pump. Advantages claimed are elimination of agitation of the finished spray 

 mixture, increased accuracy of application by metered flow, and a saving in 

 labor. This v;ork is described in Bulletin 367 of the VJash. Agr . Exp. St^. . 

 at Pullman. 



Synthetic Growth S ubstances . K. D. Erase of the Geneva Agr. Exp. Sta. in a 

 recent issue ^f Farm Research tells ef recent experimental results v/ith 4k num- 

 ber of cheraic .1 cerapeunds, including certain acids (indole-acetic , indolc- 

 butyric, etc.) dS stimulators uf reets in cuttings. Ho s-^ys, "It is apparent 

 that different species and ■^v^n Vw».rioties within the some species respond in 

 different ways to treatments with synthetic growth substances." 



