-2- 



sandy soil, and they may be present in clean cultivated orchards. Fruit growers 

 suspecting presence of this rodent are advised to contact the Biological Survey 

 at 410 Federal Building, Vi/orcester ." 



Twil i ght Mee tings 



Again the "seven o'clock orchard clinic" is in full swing among Massa- 

 chusetts orchardists. Eight such meetings were held during the week of liay 15, 

 of which the viiriter was able to attend four. Attendance and interest have been 

 excellent. Follovi/mg is a partial list of sessions scheduled during the next 

 few Weeks. 



jijssex County - May 25 , Greycroft Farm, Wenham. June 1 , Gilbert Wallace, 

 Bradford. June 8 , Ellis Orchards, Melrose. June 15 , Livingston Orchards, 

 And over. June 22 , Norris Orchards, Lynnfield. 



I.'liddlesex Coun ty - ivlay 24 , Charles Raddin, Groton. May 31 , H. A. Priest, 

 Gleasondale. June 7 , Harland Tuttle, Acton. June 14 , Alfred Green, Ashland. 

 J une 21 , Joseph Decatur, Wayland. 



Worcester County - May 24 , Wilbur V/arren, Northboro. Iiiay 31 , Ralph 

 Easterbrooks , Dudley. June 1 , T. B. Morse, Paxton. (Several others to be 

 announced.) 



Bristol County - June 21 , Burnl^^y Orchards, Seekonk. Other meetings 

 being scheduled include two in Franklin County on June 19 and July 17 . Nor- 

 folk County on Jun e 20 and Plymouth County on June 2 2 • 



Farm and Home Vfeek - July 24-28 



The F & H V/eek fruit grower's meetings will be held this year on 

 Thursday and Friday (July 27 and 28) instead of Tuesday and Wednesday as in 

 several years past. The program i,\dll include two talks by l/i'. H- Upshall of 

 Ontario on "Recent Developments in the Fruit Industry" and "Making Peach 

 Growing Profitable." G. G- Hitchings will tell us "Some Things I Have Learned 

 in a Half Century of Orcharding," and J. B. Abbott will discuss "Better Pro- 

 duction Through Soil Improvement." There will be a fruit growers' dinner at 

 the Masonic Hall Phursdci^y evening v/ith a talk on "Hopes c.nd Headaches in 

 Western Horticulture" by L. R. Tucker. 



Why Ha ven't My Tre es Begun t o Bear? 



The failure of trees to bear when they seem to be old enough and l>^rge 

 enough to produce considerable fruit is u. question brought to us often. There 

 are v„.rious re-isons and sometimes it is difficult to be sure just wht^t is the 

 trouble. 



1. The trj ^ is not old e nough. Wliile some apple v^.rieties may fruit 

 at 3 or 4 years of uge, other Vc^rioties may not beur until they are 12 or 15 

 yuars old. Northern Spy is a good example, it cun hcrdly be expected to pro- 

 duce much until it is of this age. Most v<..rieties should bear at least a 

 small crop at 10 years or earlier. Most other tree fruits bear as early or 

 earlier than apples. 



2. Lack of cross pollination. Lost fruit varieties require pollen 

 from a different variety. If this is lacking, the tree blooms but fails to 

 Set fruit. If no other variety is near at hand the probability of lack of 

 pollination is supported. 



3. Fruit bud k illing frora winter cold or spring frosts. Peach buds 

 j.re vdnter killed rather often. Spring frosts are rather rare except in or- 



