-4- 



The present tolerances are .05 grains per lb. for lead and .025 

 grains per lb. for arsenic. Massachusetts growers who follov/ the reco:nmenda- 

 tions on the official Spray Chart for Apples, especially with respect to the 

 5rd and 4th Cover applications, should have no difficulty meeting the require- 

 ments of the present tolerance. 0. C. Roberts 



Mulc hing Proves Effective in Michigan 



More good results from mulching. A recent bulletin from Michigan 

 reports results from a twenty-year-old orchard of five varieties. One-half 

 nf the area was managed on the cultivation-cover crop system. The other half 

 was seeded to clover, which came into bluegrass after four or five years. 

 Straw, daiiiaged hay or weeds was added to the cut grass grovdng among the trees 

 at the rate of about two tons per acre annually. Annual applications of ni- 

 trogenous fertilizer were made in equal amounts to the trees in both areas. 

 Soil moisture v,ras considerably higher under the mulch. Depth of freezing was 

 less and the mulch material prevented erosion. The trees in cultivation grew 

 faster and produced better through the first 10 years. Later, the mulched 

 trees bore heavier crops of better apples. The Michigan investigators recom- 

 mend cultivation for young orchards, with due regard to preventing soil ero- 

 sion, followed by sod with added mulch at the age of perhaps 10 to 15 years. 

 The maintenance costs of the two systems did not differ widely. J.K.Shaw 



Variation in Yield of Cional Stocks 



A new stock bed for growing clonal stocks yielded its first crop of 

 rooted stocks this spring. Calculated on an acre basis, the yields of the more 

 comraon Mailing stocks varied from about 7,000 Mailing II to 22,000 Mailing XVI. 

 Others were Mailing I, 11,000; IV, 16,000; IX, 6,000. Doubtless one reason 

 for these rather vride differences is due to soil and season. But some stocks 

 send up shoots more freely than others and there are differences in the root 

 forming ability of the shoots. Yields are expected to increase as the bed gets 

 older. Dwarfing stocks sell for about (l^SO per thousand compared with $15 for 

 seedling stocks. A yield of 15,000 dvmrfing stocks per acre would give a gross 

 return of $450 per acre. Here is another way to get rich (?). J.K.Shaw 



Deep Placement of Fertilizers 



In studies of sub-surface placement of commercial fertilizers and man- 

 ure, a Mcintosh orchard at Geneva, N. Y. gave no better response over a 3-2''ear 

 period to any method of deep placement than to the usual surface broadcast ap- 

 plication* The conclusion is drawn that until more is knovm concerning the 

 problem the greater expense of placing fertilizers in the root zone of trees 

 is unjustified. In some of the tests, the fertilizer was placed in equal amounts 

 in each of 20 holes made v;ith an iron bar some 20 inches deep in a circle near 

 the ends of the outer branches. In others, four large post holes were dug to 

 a depth of 24 inches, equidistant around the tree, near the ends of the outer 

 branches. The fertilizer v/as then mixed v/ith the soil from each hole so that 

 the mixture rested from 12-24 inches below the surface. (This work is reported 

 in Geneva, N, Y., Bulletin ^^691. ) 



Storage of App les i n Mo dified Atmo sp here 



The objective in modified atmosphere storage for apples is simply 

 better preservation. It is generally agreed that many New England apples, and 



