-D- 



P^I.-H.'Sf^-yl'i.Jsy-?-^.^ ^ fruit telegraphic delivery service is nov; e.vailable 

 iri a loi'.^ list of cities .j.ncl even in sualler coixiunities in the United 

 States. Through this uev; service f8J(H-7 baskets i:iay be delivered :;rom-ptly 

 to individual consuners. Thus the fruit industry is starting a service 

 v/hich has been in cor.L-jon use aiaor.g florists for years » 



Low Te:.rjeratures Dana/,e^ Citrus Jruit s ■ Quotinc; from the January 27 issue 

 of The New York Packer, "Texas vegetable and citrus fruits appc.rently are 

 damaged severely and the temperature is still below freezing at 3ro\«iSville 

 V/ednesday morning (January 24). It is still too early to appraise tho ox- 

 tent of loss. Citrus fruits show ice crystals. I.iuch grapefruit is defi- 

 nitely ruined for fresh shipment and is being processed as rapidly >^.s 

 possible. Valencia oranges just corjing into production show lees danage 

 than other citrus fruits. It will be 10 days before loss of fx-uit can be 

 deterained and tv/o or three days after the weather noderates before the 

 extent of da;"i3-ge to vegetables is known." 



S^i^ikl3J:I'-L^Il32-^..!Ir.^i'^^^.' "A better product at a lov/er price" is the way 

 the v;orld states its deaandj v/hether it be for an autonobile or a pound 

 of apples. Thus H. B. Tukey expresses the situation in a recent issue of 

 the Rural New Yorker. Ke says that r.uch of our troubles begin because we 

 as producers try to resist this clianging situation by such natural ir.nulses 

 as denanding what we call "cost of production." He sites the exarq le of an 

 iceberg meeting a ship. "T.io iceberg goes on just the san;e." The iceberg 

 typifies the demand of tlie i/iarkot, and the ship, the producer who atteu^rts 

 to run crosswise to consuner deniand. 



Ty/Q _Poj.nt_ejr_s_ f r_on]_ _I_C'._euio_ - Glancing through the January News Letter of the 

 University of Idalio, we note those two suggestions, (l) Stressing the need 

 for using old strawstacks to best s,dvantage, a vrriter says "Don't burn theu 

 or let then stand out in the field. jJxperiivients show that straw mulched 

 fields hold 3 to 4 tines as :.:uch water as bare plots." Speaking of a snail 

 gully, the m-iter says "Seed it, fertilize it, mulch it, and v/atch the grass 

 choke the gully to death." (2) L. Verner of the Idalio Experiment Station 

 offers this advice about pruning raspberries. "Tlie previous behavior of 

 the plant, as indicated by its vigor, is the best index of how severely to 

 thin out and head back raspberry plants. Thin sxid head the weak ones rather 

 severely but give the strong ones plenty to do by leaving more fruiting 

 wood on which to bear." 



SjDi_lj__fpr__Blv\ebprri^^. In the last issue of the Rural hew Yorker, S. John- 

 son of Lichigan says, "Tlie blueberry plant is almost always found growing 

 naturally on sand or peat soil. However, it v/ill grow satisfactorily on 

 soil containing soaie clay if sufficiently acid. The soil ii^ist be very acid. 

 A pK range of 4.4 to 5.1 seems to be best. Blueberry plants vri.ll usually 

 survive a flooded soil but if too m.uch water is present after root grov.th 

 starts the pls-nts are likely to be injured and if excess v/ater is present 

 for too long a tine the plants vri.ll almost certainly die. Plants growing 

 in poorly drained areas are more subject to heaving and are more suscepti- 

 ble to frost injury < Too little moisture results in smaller growth and 

 decidedly lov/er yields. If sufficient moisture is not s-vailci.ble the plants 

 v;ill fail to -:roduce fruit buds." 



