-4- 



No damage. Vfashington, Oregon, Idaho, ggid California are more nearly on 

 schedule than the Midwest and East. 



probably in no previous year have so many expedients in frost pro- 

 tection measures been tried by growers as in the past few weeks. Few apple 

 orchards in the East and Midwest are equipped with burners, but all sorts 

 of improvised smudge producers have been used, including v;et baled hay 

 drenched with oil; oil pits in the ground v;ith gunny sack wicking; old tires; 

 old railroad ties; portable brush burners with smoky fuel. 



Reporting on frost damage in Monroe County, New 

 York orchards, one observer with a sense of humor 

 says: The injury must run from 2& to 50^ kill 

 of apple blossoms. It is irregular by trees, by 

 varieties, by elevation, by location on the tree 

 and by plain cussednesa. 



PROGRESS IN FRUIT I.IARKETING 



At a statewide marketing conference held in Cambridge March 12 and 

 13, seven items of importance to the fruit industry were outlined, two of 

 which vifere referred to the State College. A oonmittee has since met to 

 formulate a procedure as follows; 



I. Expansion of store-door delivery of apples. 



~ A. The Situation. (1) Store-door delivery of apples, by growers, 

 saves much trucking and handling with att'^ndant deterioration 

 and keeps grower and retailer in direct contact. This contact 

 opens the v;ay to mutually agreeable arrangements on such things 

 as grading, packaging, and handling in general. It shOLi.ld lead 

 to the solution of some of our most serious and difficult marketing 

 problems. (2) Some 5 to 10^ of Massachusetts apples are now de- 

 livered by grov:ers to retail stores. (3) Chain stores sell about 

 bOfo of the Massachusetts apple crop. All chains favor store-door 

 delivery by growers. (4) Many independent stores sell few or no 

 apples, but might merchandize apples effectively if assured a satis- 

 factory store-door supply. (5) Buyers would rather deal in volume 

 with large growers. Growers with smaller crops might have to as- 

 semble their apples at a central point to gain volume and uniformity. 

 (6) Any procedure for store-door delivery must be mutually profitable 

 and satisfactory, and it must fit the local situation. Details of 

 procedure must therefore be developed locally by agreement between 

 growers and retailers, 



B. Procedure. (1) Submit the idea to growers for careful consideration. 

 Retailers are already sold on the proposal. (a) Feature at twilight 

 orchard meetings through the summer. Invite retailers to attend, 

 (b) Take the afternoon session of the Farm and Home lleek Program 

 for a discussion of the problems of store-door delivery, (2) Final- 

 ly, bring growers and retailers together in neighborhoods where there 

 is the most interest, to develop satisfactory local arrangements. 



