V 



considerable distances. Experiments at the Ohio Station, hov/- 

 ever, shov; that \,'hen potash and superphosphate ivere placed in 

 holes IS inches deep and 1 inch in diameter, the potash moved 

 out 6-9 inches while phosphorus moved only an inch or two in 

 three years. This suggests why it is difficult to get phosphorus 

 fertilizers into the tree. In California it was found that plac- 

 ing 10 Its. treh] <=; superphosphate in the planting hole greatly im- 

 proveti the f;rowth of nev/ly set trees on a phorpiiorus deficient 

 soil. It has not been shovm that Massachusetts soils are suf- 

 ficiently low in phosphorus to interfere with the growth of fruit 

 trees. j. K. Shaw 



A Kote on Peach Prospects 



The danger of fruit bud killing in peaches is nearlj^ 

 past and there probably remain in most peach orchards, enough 

 live buds for a satisfactory crop. Studies at the rlew Jersey 

 Station show that winter bud killing is not the \7iiole story of 

 crop prospects. Some varieties set more buds per foot tiian 

 others. Greensboro and Cumberland are among the varieties that 

 form many buds while Siberia forms relatively few. Most var- 

 ieties are intermediate but var:.^ greatly among themselves. The 

 bud set of a given variety varies with growth conditions. 



J. K. Shaw 



Fruit Sales in Hew York City 



According to a U.S.B.A. report, the sales of leading 

 varieties of apples in percent of total sales in rlew York City 

 in i!ovember, 1939, v/ere as follows: luclntosh 33/^> Delicious 18^, 

 R. I. Greening 1^.%, Cortland 7jj, Baldwin 6fu, Rome Beauty 5/o, 

 York Imperial 2%, liorthern Spy 2't. These eight varieties made 

 up 87/'- of the total sales. 



The retailers' "mark up'' on western apples varied from 

 24/0 to 35/3 and on eastern apples from 30fo to 45,f^ of the retail 

 price, according to the type of store. The "mark up" on Cali- 

 fornia oranges varied from 24/^ to 30/=; ^on Florida oranges from 

 20/S to 35/0, and bananas from 13/^ to 395^o. Spoilage was as follows: 

 eastern apples, 2.4^ to 3.9/^; western apples, 2.6^ to 'ji'9foi 

 California ^oranges, 3-3% to 4.2^; Florida oranges, 1.8,^ to 3.9/^; 

 bananas, 7i% to 7.3/?. The total apple sales of the retail outlets 

 surveyed were 952,664 lbs. weekly. j ^i s-^aw 



The Retailer Speaks 



The following notes from the Springfield School for 

 Retail Grocers represent the unanimous or alm.ost unanimous 

 opinion of 40 or more apple salesmen. 



1. "\7e could sell apples fi-ster if tiiey \/ere all graded, - 



at least ^.ith the poorer grades separated." 



2. "V.'e could sell apples better if they were all sized to 



quarter inches. V,T:ien tliey are mixed, people keep pick- 

 ing them over and that ruins them." 



3. "If ;^'ou could give us good apples only, we could sell all 



3''ou grow." (Can't take this too literallj^, but tliere 

 is something in it) . 



