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That the State of V/ashington takes first place in the production of 

 apples and second in pears? This state is also second in apricots and fil- 

 berts, third in cherries, prunes and plums, fourth in grapes, and sixth in 

 peaches. 



That bet\/een 2 and 2-^ million pounds of apple syrup will be produced 

 coimiercially this year from the U. S. and Canadian apple crop, thus opening 

 a nevj- market for apple growers? The ne-vi syrup has much the same qualities 

 as glycerine and is being extensively used in the manufacture of tobacco. 

 This nev; material will free millions of pounds of glycerine for use in the 

 manufacture of explosives. 



That plastic, self-lubricated bearings are now in use in large, 

 rotary fruit juice extractors? Faced v/ith a shortage of bronze bearings, 

 one machinery manufacturer found that a nev; type of "Lucite" bearing ivas 

 actually lubricated by contact v;ith citrus juices. The nev/ bearings are 

 equally resistant to orange, grapefruit and lemon juices. 



That a record grapefruit crop of 46 million boxes is indicated for 

 the present season compared v/ith 40 million boxes last season and 42 million 

 boxes the previous season? The quantity of Florida grapefruit handled by 

 commercial processors to the end of February this year is more than twice 

 as much as was handled up to that date last year. Texas also has a record 

 grapefruit crop, 16 million boxes, which is 14^o more than in 1942, 



That a thin film of water-miscible v;ax applied to apples during the 

 packing operation is now considered as a low cost method of prolonging stor- 

 age and market life of the fruit? This means of reducing losses from shrivel- 

 ing is being studied at the Maryland Experiment Station, using Grimes Golden 

 and Golden Delicious, both of which are very subject to shrivelling. 



That red currants nay not be as dangerous in the spread of v/hite 

 pine blister rust as is coiiimonly supposed? Recent studies show that white 

 pines become infected only rarely, even at short distances, from red currant 

 bushes. The necessity of removing red currant bushes v.'ithin 900 feet of 

 which pines has not apparently been conclusively demonstrated. 



That an unbelievable total of 27 million board feet of lumber may 

 be saved by making a fev/ simple adjustments in the thickness of apple box 

 boards? According to a committee in the Northwest, these suggested changes 

 will do the trick; Reduce the thiclcness of the ends from 25/32 inches to 

 11/16 inches; sides from 3/8 to 5/l6, and tops and bottoms from l/4 to 3/16 

 inches. It is claimed that the slight reduction in thickness of the sides 

 alone viould save 12 million board feet of luraber in a single year. 



That a gigantic machine for shredding orchard brush is now in use in 

 the VIenatchee district in YJashington? This brush shredder, purchased by a 

 group of 40 growers last year is capable of chewing brush at the rate of 6 

 acres per hour. The brush is first windrowed which enables the machine to 

 scoop up everything in its path, leaving a trail of finely ground wood chips 

 and splinters. 



