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eral standards for citrus fruits but it is likely that such standards v/ill be 

 established in the near future under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug 

 Emd Cosmetic Act of 1938. Unofficial standards which were used as a guide 

 before the passage of new Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requires grapefruit to 

 contain 7 parts of soluble solids (which is roughly sugar) for each part of 

 acid. Oranges had to contain 8 parts of soluble solids to one part of acid. 



At. interesting story from Australia appears in a recent issue of the 

 Rural New Yorker. "Australians have shown the way to American producers v.'ho 

 are interested in seeing that proper standards are maintained for the fast 

 grov.'ing fruit juice industry. The Australian Apple and Pear Board proposes 

 to issue sealed certificates tc manufacturers whose goods are analyzed and come 

 up to the required standards. The Board will receive the cooperation of the 

 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research which will examine all juices 

 submitted and issue seals. If a product once approved fails to maintain the 

 required standards the certificate is v/ithdrawn. Publicity is to be under- 

 taken to acquaint the public ivith the reliability and availability of the 

 sealed products." This is a step in the right direction. There is too much 

 poor apple juice on the market. American packers and producers should get to- 

 gether and set up some scheme of standardization and certification of their 

 own. Standards for apple juice are now being developed by tlie Eastern Apple 

 Research Laboratory in Philadelphia under the supervision of J. J. Vrillaman. 



Semidwarf Apple Trees Doing V.^ell 



Our oldest apple trees en semidwarfing stocks in the College orchard 

 are now in their fourteenth year. They are about 12 feet tall and behave as 

 though they wrere not going much higher. The Mcintosh trees yielded about 3 bu. 

 per tree in their fifth year, and in their thirteenth year produced nearly 

 10 bu. per tree. This type of tree should be planted 25 or 30 feet apart. 

 Per acre yields promise to be greater than that of standard trees. They re- 

 quire a reasonably fertile soil and good fertilization. At the present time 

 we have several cooperative orchards of these semidv/arfing trees started v.dth 

 Massachusetts fruit grov/ers. If there are other growers interested in such 

 trees v.^e wdll be glad to hear from them by July 1 so that, in event of satis- 

 factory arrangements, we can bud the necessary trees during August, to be set 

 in the spring of 1943 or 1944. J. K. Shaw 



New Strawberry Varieties 



Three new strawberries have been named by the U. S., namely, Maytime, 

 Starbright and Redstar. Maytime is introduced as the earliest variety of high 

 quality in Maryland, originated as a cross between Missionary and Fairfax. 

 Starbright is introduced for trial as a midseason commercial and home garden 

 variety "of great beauty," originated from a cross between Chesapeake and 

 Fairfax. Redstar is introduced as a very late, firm, commercial and home- 

 garden variety "of exceptional beauty," originated from a cross between Chesa- 

 peake and Fairfax. 



