^3- 



Wev; England will decline in the near future. " ■ are able to compete success- 

 fully with other regions, and competition hac always determined the course 

 of the apple industry. There are competent grov/ers who might wisely take 

 advantage of the present situation by planting trees to replace unprofitable 

 varieties and thus bring about a better economic organization of the enter- 

 prise. But be careful of sites and so^ls. V'e have too many unprofitable 

 orchards planted on soils better suited to other uses. J. K. Shaw 



Clonal Rooted Apple Trees 



A few nurseries are offering apple trees propagated on numbered 

 Mailing rootstocks. Fruit grovv-ers should bear in mind that the different 

 rcotstocks produce variable degrees of dwarfing on the topworked variety. 

 At the present tim.e trees on only 3 or 4 of the 16 j.lalling rootstocks are 

 listed. Experimental and cooperative orchards in l.!assachusetts and other 

 states are expected to give much valuable information as to the usefulness 

 of clonal stocks for many apple varieties. Evidence to date indicates: 

 Mailing VIII and IX are very dv;arfing; Mailing I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and 

 VII are semi -dwarfing; Jlalling X and XIII are probably somewhat dwarfing bu-^ 

 evidence is conflicting, especially with },!. XIII; Mailing XII, Z7, ai'-d X/I 

 are vigorous. 



All clonal-rooted trees should be set with the union (of stock and 

 scion variety) slightly above the ground in order to forestall scion-rooting 

 which would tend to mask any stock effect. This is especially important 

 with trees on the dvmrfing t;,^es of stock. L. Southv.dck 



Bitter Pit of Apples (Stippen, Baldwin Spot, etc.) 



E'itter pit xhas been recognized for many years as a serious function- 

 al disease of apples* Yet, the real cause is still uncertain, and complete 

 control measures have not as yet been fcund. Li^;ter pit originates in the 

 orchard. It may be detected at harvest and nay develop in storage, especially 

 during the first three months. Affected fruits show brov.T., irregular, pitted 

 areas that are bitter to the taste. The flesh is primarily affected, and the 

 skin cells die follov;ing the collapse of the underlying cells. The apples 

 usually are not saleable. In Canada, the most susceptible varieties are re- 

 ported to be Stark, Baldwin, Blen'"eim, Nortnern Spy, and to a lesser extent 

 Ribston, Gravenstein, and Yellow ilewtovT.. In Vermont, the most seriously 

 affected varieties have been Arctic, Baldwin, Spy, and Sniawassee. Many other 

 varieties show pitting in some seasons. Mcintosh is about as immune as any 

 variety, although some pitting has been observed on some of its seedlings. 

 At Cornell, it has been observed that any treatment v/hich accentuates compe- 

 tition for water betveen leaves and fruits will increase susceptibility to this 

 disease. Such treatments as heavy nitrogen applications, shading, and gird- 

 ling tend to increase pitting. Few leaves per fruit on the tree and high 

 humidity in storage tend to inhibit bitter pit. L. Southwick 



This and That 



PhotosjTithesis . Studies at Cornell indicate that varieties may 

 behave differently with respect to tiie rate of photosynthesis at different 

 times of the day. "Tiereas Baldv/in seemed to be more active in the morning 

 than in the afternoon, Mcintosh seemed to be just about as active photos;,.Ti- 

 thetically during the late afternoon hours as in the early morning. 



