-3- 



Dne 1946 nursery catalogue describes the St^^ Regis, an old, mediocre 

 red raspberry, as having very large berries, delicious flavor and bearing 

 TSITt inuously f rom mid-June until frost. Not one of these statements is cor- 

 r^^ct, but to convince the uninformed customer of the merits of this variety 

 they' show a picture of a cluster of fruits larger than Marcy, of about the 

 color and shape of Taylor, which is mislabeled St, Regis. The price is at 

 least twice what this old so-called everbearer is worth, even in v/ar time. 



A few other current offerings which, while they may be satisfactory 

 in other parts of the country, have not been found to be so at the State Col- 

 lege, include: 



Golden Muscat grape, v;hich fails to mature in our short season; 



Boysenberry, v;hich is not sufficiently winter hardy here; 



Indian Summer red ras pberry , which usually fails to mature its fall crop 



before freezing weather; 



Anoka apple, v/hich has very poor color and quality under our conditions. 



The Beta grape and Hansen's Bush Cherry may be good in extremely cold 



climates but are of little value v;here the usual varieties and kinds 



can be grovm. 



The fact that a variety was originated by a famous plant breeder or 

 that it has been granted a plant patent is no guarantee of its worth. 



It would seem that it is high time for the nursery industry to take 

 cognizance of the various experiment station reports on varieties and prac- 

 tice a bit of "truth in advertising" lest they kill the goose that lays the 

 golden egg. 



— A. P. French 



A LAND-USE PU.TFORM FOR ORCHARDISTS 



Orchardists are generally conceded to be among the most progressive 

 farmers; perhaps they are tops in this respect. They will doubtless sub- 

 scribe to the following 3-point platform for land use, which v/e have proposed; 



First, selective land use . This means selecting the best available soil 

 types for a given crop. Since an orchard is a long-time crop and an expen- 

 sive investment, this point is extremely important to the orchardist. Make 

 no mistake in selecting the orchard site. 



Second, soil improvement. Do whatever is necessary to improve soil productiv- 

 ity. It may mean the use of lime, fertilizer, manure, cover crops, or mulches; 

 it may be the drainage of wet spots. It may be a form of land improvement 

 such as the removal of stone walls in order to give larger and more easily 

 managed orchards. 



Third, soil conservation . Gains made in soil fertility should be held; that 

 is the object of soil conservation. Orchards in good sod and well-mulched 

 orchards rarely erode except in worn roadways. Contour planting of orchards 

 often makes for easier handling of equipment, checks road erosion in sod or- 

 chards, and general erosion in cultivated, orchards, and conserves moisture. 



