"Quality Plus Apple Club" 



This is the name of a nev/ honorary fraternity of fruit 

 growers in Inuiana for which four growers qualifiea last fall, by 

 proQucing crops graaing over 90% U. S. No. 1. V. V. Clarke of 

 Bristol, Indiana, haa the highest rating with an average of 9^^o in 

 the U. lb. No. 1 class on four varieties, Jonathan, Starking, Vvinter 

 Banana anu Grimes. Tree run samples were checkea by i'eueral-btate 

 inspectors at the orchara. Another club of recent origin in Indi- 

 ana is the xilue Ribbon Strawberry Club. Meaals are a"waraea to club 

 members v^rho show a yield rate of 225 or more crates of U. S. No. 1 

 strawberries per acre. 



Vigorous Trees Tena to Bear Annually 



The follov/ing information published by L. Greene of the 

 Inuiana department of Horticulture bears out our observations that 

 healtxhy, vigorous apple trees show a tendency to bloom ana set . 

 fruit every year while weak trees are decidedly biennial, (.quoting 

 from Hoosier Horticulture, "Fruit growers are always interestea in 

 any recora of factors which influence the annual blossoming ana 

 fruit sotting of apple trees. In the orchara soli management plots 

 at Lafayette a heavy crop was borne on most trees in 19^)7. The most 

 vigorous trees set a gooa bloom in 1938 following the heavy crop in 

 19o7. Vv'eaker trees were distinct biennial bearers in their response 

 to the 1937 crop, while the .veakest trees set a light bloom in 1938 

 even though they core a lignt crop in 1937" . 



Lime Benefits the Soil 



"All plants need calcium to ouild up their tissues. It 

 has long been considerea among the first 10 elements essential to 

 the grov/th of practically all green plants. All soils contain some 

 of it, often in the form of carbonate of lime. Soil water, holaing 

 carbon aioxiae in solution, dissolves this carbonate of lime for 

 reaay use \^y plants; ana yet this solubility makes lime rather eas- 

 il:'- lost byXleaching into the subsoil or by arainage" . These state- 

 ments are found in a new farmers' Bulletin No. 1845, "The Liming of 

 Soils", a revision of a former publication. The benefits of lime 

 are these: "It neutralizes acias in the soil and stimulates the 

 proper aecomposition of organic matter, improves the physical con- 

 aition of heavy soils, supplies calcium ana promotes bacterial act- 

 ivity in the soil, making other elements available to growing plants 

 ana generally increases the efficiency of manures ana fertilizers. 

 It facilitates the proauction of green manure crops gro-Aoi for soil 

 improvement . 



Some Fertilizer Facts Worth oonsiaer ing 



A reason for the graaual swing toward high graae or 

 aouble strength fertilizers is founa in South Carolina circular No. 

 60 vvhich aeals vdth fertilizer ana liming practices. We read: 

 "South Carolina farmers have been paying one million aollars an- 

 nually for sand ana other inert materials mixea in fertilizers. Why 

 not divert this non-proauctive expenditure into much needed lime ma- 

 terials and make it possible to have a more diversified live-at- 

 home system, of agriculture? The soil acidity problem in South Caro- 

 lina is the limiting factor in determining a alversified system of 

 agriculture. The rninimiim total plant nutrient content of mixed fer- 

 tilizer should be around 20". 



