-8- 



Allocation Committee, Director jiunson replied immediately on March 10 as followss 



"Three thousand, two hundred fifty one tons is the 5-year average sales 

 of urjnixed nitrate of soda reported by the Experiment Station for Massa- 

 chusetts. If nitrate were available, probably consumers would order at 

 least as much tonnage as the 5-year average. Nitrate of soda is used in 

 Massachusetts on orchard lands, grassland, vegetable and tobacco crops. 

 Probably 90 per cent of it is applied before the middle of May. Conse- 

 quently, to be of benefit to Massachusetts farmers, nitrate of soda 

 should be allocated for distribution principally in March and April." 



Indications are that at least 50/o or more of tlie average tonnage will 

 be released to Massachusetts dependent upon O.P.A., and that equitable dis- 

 tribution is believed most likely to occur tiirough established dealer-customer 

 channels. r, v;. Donaldson 



Is the Production of Apple Trees Industry or Agriculture? 



The National Labor Relations Board conducted a hearing in Washington, 

 D. C., March 3, t'^ decide this important question. Present at the hearing 

 were representatives of the National Grange, American Farm Bureau Federation, 

 and the International Apple Association. The case hinges on a proposal made 

 by an N.L.R.B. 3xaminer that a budded or grafted tree is xiot an agricultural 

 plant, that it is not a natural plant, that its production is industry. If 

 this contention is sustained, then, since all our fruit trees are budded or 

 grafted, all engaged in growing these trees for fruit production are not en- 

 gaged in agriculture but in industry, and the agricultural exemption will not 

 apply to these employees. All organizations represented at the hearing asked 

 that the Examiner's report be set aside as incorrect, not in accord with the 

 intent of Congress and not in accord with the common understanding of the 

 word "agriculture*" 



The history of grafting and budding was covered at the hearing from 

 Theophrastus in 600 B.C., and the planting of grafted trees in England in 

 the reign of Henry VIII was mentioned as evidence of the antiquity and com- 

 mon usage of the grafted tree. Under the proposal of the Examiner many of 

 our farm animals are not in his or her natural state. A mule is not a 

 "natural" animal for usually it cannot reproduce itself, and all employees 

 on farms on which such animals are kept are not employed in agriculture but 

 in industry. 



The only definition of "agricultural labor" provided by Congress is 

 the one written into the statute at the time of the passat,e of the National 

 Labor Relations Act. This definition is too long to be repeated in Fruit 

 Notes. The complete definition will be supplied if any reader is interested. 

 V;'e scarcely need to mention that this case is involved and far reaching. 

 (Details of this hearing were furnished by H. P. Gilmore of V.'estboro. ) 



Minutemen Rep ort on F arm Supplies 



From reports recently summarized, approximately b2^i of the Massachu- 

 setts farmers visited by Minutemen have ordered their repair parts; 51^j, seeds; 

 5G,J, fertilizers, w'hile only 37fo have ordered spray materials. Sixty percent 

 of those who have scrap iron, have sold it. As a second assignment, Minutemen 



