-5- 



The important thing is to get the problems of direct delivery 

 into the open where they can be dealt with, and to avoid unneces- 

 sary mistakes until a satisfactory procedure emerges with exper- 

 ience. If store-door delivery can be made mutually profitable 

 it will grow and spread fast enough. 



II. Reduction in sales of immature Mcintosh apples. 



A. The Situation* Green Mcintosh reach the market for a number of 

 reasons. Among them are: (1) There seems to be a limited consumer 

 demand for Mcintosh apples in late August and early September. To 

 the extent that early-picked Mcintosh are a response to this demand, 

 probably little can be done about it. (2) Aside from the pressure 

 of consumer-demand, Mcintosh apples are sometimes picked too early 

 through fear of a heavy drop before they can be harvested. A part 

 of this at least is grounded in experience and is not imagination. 

 Some of the real problems are: (a) A serious shortage of help at 

 harvest time. (b) Widespread shortages of magnesium and boron in 

 Massachusetts orchards. When symptoms of eithgr deficiency are ap- 

 parent, apples are likely to drop before coloring, regardless of 

 hormone applications. There is reason to believe that in years when 

 weather conditions do not result in deficiency symptoms, the apples 

 may still drop early and caWJiot be held on until they reach proper 

 maturity by hormone applications, (c) Mcintosh trees in Massachu- 

 setts are, in general, mature and so large that the shading problem 

 in crowded orchards has become serious. These shad»^rown apples on 

 the lower pairts of trees mature late or not at all. Inadequate prun- 

 ing due to shortage of help, high nitrogen in the trees in late sum- 

 mer, ajid unfavorable weather conditions ail aggravate the trouble. 



B. Procedure. (1) Urge growers to allow apples to reach a reasonable 

 stage of maturity before harvesting them, even if this means a 10 

 or 15 percent preharvest drop. Increased size and greatly improved 

 finish on the rest of the crop should more than offset the drop. 

 (2) Urge thinning of crowding trees and adequate pruning of remain- 

 ing trees. (3) Intensify the campaign looking to the correction of 

 mineral deficiencies in orchards. (4) Assist with the better adjust- 

 ment of nitrogen applications to fit individual orchards. (5) Urge 

 more effective use of hormone sprays where there is no mineral de- 

 ficiency. (6) Urge spot picking. (7) Continue assistance in finding 

 an adequate supply of harvest labor. (8) Urge the grading out and 

 disposal of green fruit in the Fall. It gets no better in storage. 



SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT APPLES 



The original Baldwin tree which grew on the old Baldwin Farm, Chestnut 

 Street, TJ'ilmington, is reported to have blovm down during a terrific storm 

 which occurred September 23, 1815. 



Apple seeds viere in the Memorandum of 1629 of seeds to be sent to the 

 Massachusetts Company. Thus it appears that the apple played a part in the 

 very early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 



