-5- 



That detailed information is nov/ available on the freezing of fruits, 

 vegetables, and meats for home use? A mimeographed publication, Special Cir- 

 cular No. 1043, can be obtained ft-om your county agricultural agent or from the 

 State College. At least three new frozen food locker plants have been made 

 available in Mass. during the past season. In addition quite a number of in- 

 dividuals have installed lockers for private use. 



That complete immunity to ivy poisoning is rare? L. V/. Kephart of 

 the U.S.D.A. says, "l\'y poismLng is caused by a waxy or gummy substance present 

 in most parts of the poison ivy plant even after long drying. Direct contact 

 with this substance is necessary for poisoning to take place, but contact need 

 not necessarily be with the plant itself, since poisoning may occur by touch- 

 ing clothing, tools, dogs, horses, or other objects v/hich have been in contact 

 with poison ivy. Many persons b elieve themselves immune to ivy poisoning, but 

 complete immunity is rare. Severe poisoning frequently occurs after many years 

 of freedom from the disease, although the circumstances causing this change 

 are unknown." 



That an excellent series of articles on Rodent Control by Robert M. 

 Borg is nov/ appearing in the American Fruit Grower? A heavy mouse population, 

 amounting in one orchard to 94 per acre, threatens severe damage in Mass, 

 orchards. Now is the time to do something about it. To obtain the recommend- 

 ed material, zinc phosphide, and directions for its use, consult your county 

 agricultural agent. 



That the term, "ready to bear" fruit trees is a misnomer? Any nursery 

 advertising such nursery stock is deceiving the prospective buyer by inducing 

 him to believe that certain nursery trees, usually sold at a high price, will 

 bear a good crop the first year after planting. Any experienced fruit grower 

 knows that it takes considerable time for a fruit tree to become established 

 and that any fruit borne the first or second year is likely to be borne at 

 the expense of vegetative grovrth. The apple or two borne the first season 

 is less significant than the bushel or two v/hich it may bear at 8 years of 

 age. 



THE TIl'IE FACTOR IN FRUIT GR07JING 



Through the centuries poets and philosophers have stressed the import- 

 ance of grasping opportunities as they pass instead of lamenting their loss 

 afterwards. "There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, 

 leads on to fortune - -" . "Strike while the iron is hot." "Tim.e and tide 

 wait for no man." Nowhere is the truth of this philosophy better illustrated 

 than in the fruit business. The fruit grov;er cannot do in November what he 

 should have done in October. A few illustrations may be in order. Mouse bait 

 must be applied before the mice have turned from a diet of grass to a diet of 

 bark. If curculio are most active on May 30 it doesn't do much good to apply 

 a first cover epray on June 2. A hormone spray will be infinitely more effective 

 if applied a day before the Mcintosh crop shows a heavy drop than a few days — 

 later. Yife have all seen farmers who get around t o start haying operations in 

 mid- July while a thrifty neighbor- has his haying completed by July 1. As we 

 look forward to a busy 1944 we may well keep a calendar and so far as possible 

 do today those tasks v;hich should not be put off until tomorrow. 



