FRUIT ilOTES - ]Iove:aber, 1940 



U. a. Tales 

 Extension ilcrticulturist 



Do You- Know 



That the ifassachusetts Horticultural Society v;as or- 

 gani::ed ..larch 17, 1829? Today this organization is said to possess 

 the finest and most extensive horticultural library in the world. 



That the position of the seed in stone fruits is the 

 reverse of that in apples and pears? In other words, the pointed 

 tip of a peach pit points av.ay from the stem while the tip of an 

 apple seed points in the opposite direction. 



That apple pectin coir.bined with nicotine to form nico- 

 tine pectinate is being used experimentally in apple pest control? 

 Perhaps we'll see future apple grov/ers using their culls, if any, 

 in the manufacture of a ''cull preventing" spray. 



That the grovvth rate of a young apple may be sufficiently 

 rapid around the first of June to result in a doubling of the 

 surface area in two days? This fact has an important bearing on 

 the control of pluai curculio since a protective film of spray ma- 

 terial is very soon outgrov/n. 



That more than 90^ of the Massachusetts apples sold to the 

 Surplus Marketing Administration up to November 4 v/ere of the Bal- 

 dwin variety? Sales to that date v/ere as follo\ s: Baldwin, 16,150 

 bushels, Mcintosh, 513, Spy, 352, ^'Vagener, 293, Cortland, 190, 

 Delicious, 63, and R. I. Greening, 44.; Total 17,585 bushels. 



That the use of nitrogen fertilizers in the U. S. prac- 

 tically doubled each 10 years bet\feon 1830 and 1910 when it reached 

 a total of 130,000 tons?' The 1937 figure was 433,000 tons. There 

 vjas a sharp drop during the depression years vjith a low of 233,000 

 tons in 1932. 



That the IJew York-New England area produces 16. .6^' of the 

 national apple crop and has 16.9^ of the population? From a market- 

 ing standpoint this gives our growers a real advantage. 



That the average price of apples received by farmers has 

 exceeded 80f. per bushel in only three of the past ten years, '34, 

 '36, and '38? These were years of relatively light crops, com- 

 mercial production amounting to approxi;,-iately one bushel for each 

 person ir^ the IJ. S. 



Issued by the Extension Service, V'iiiard ^.. ..iunsonj Director, 

 in furtherance of i-.cts of ..lay 8 and June 30, 1914 . uiassachusetts 

 State College United States Department of agriculture, and Ccinty 

 Extension Services cooperating. 



