-5- 



the grccitost heat capacity. Most of us ri>_,ht new vrould be j^lad to feel tho 

 breeze that results from such a physical phenomenon. V/e need more 

 iria^ination in studying soiTie of the basic scientific principles in the 

 lit^ht of their relation to our everyday welfara and csivforti" 



Strawberries Sell At 4/ A Quart . In a Hartford, Michi(_;an newspaper dated 

 June 13, 1906, there appeared this statement: "Strawberries sold at 60j^ 

 a case (16-quart) Sunday ovenin,^ with prices cliubinc to ^1.10 a case on 

 the local narket last nijht." Forty years later strawberry i;rowers wore 

 payin^^ as nuch as 10/ a quart for pickinc. Incidentally, one Kev: Salon 

 woman picked 150 quarts of Catskills in an 8-hour day and thus earned 

 S15.00, 



RELATIGII OF 1946 FOLIAGE TO 1947 CROP . 



A few days ceo a grower raised the question "Shall I apply nitrate of 

 soda now to my Mcintosh trees which have practically lost their leaves 

 because of scab?" He had in nind growing; a new set of leaves to replace the 

 ones destroyed by scab. His plan v^ould probably fail for at least two 

 reasons. In the first place, the fev; nevj- leaves which he ini^ht induce the 

 tree to gr-ow in late suimnor would be likely to fare no better than the 

 early leaves as far as scab is concerned, because of the chance of infection 

 from the vast number of scabby leaves now on the tree. And secondly, late 

 suranier is no tine to stimulate a tree into vigorous, vogotative growth. But 

 the question indicates a growing conviction among fjruit growers that leaves 

 are important. And that in itself, means real progress in the fruit business, 

 Y/ithout healthy, green leaves until frusts occur in late fall, the tree is 

 not in condition to bear heavy c..;nual crops. 



By the magic process knovm as photosynthesis a normal leaf takes in COg 

 through its stomates and welds together the carbon viith the hydrogen and 

 oxygen frxi water, to forn starch. This carbohydrate is essential for both 

 vegetative gr^ovrth and fruit development. In fact, none of the vital 

 processes in a tree can proceed unless there is an ample supply of starch 

 available. 



Starch is required to grow new leaves in early spring and to develop 

 the blossoiAS as v/ell. And as might be expected these spring activities are 

 dependent on the starch manufactured the previous fall. If there v;ere few 

 leaves in September the tree v^ould start Jut in spring under a tremendous 

 handicap as regards its spring activities. But that isn't all. The fruit 

 buds responsible for the crop must of necessity have had access to growth 

 materials, including starch, from the time they wore initiated in mid-summer. 

 One needs only to remove all of the leaves from a tree in July to demonstrate 

 the dependence of the next season's bliss ^ims upon the vital material made in 

 the leaves. The mere diff erentiati'~in of fruit buds is n')t enough. They must 

 be nourished during the late summer and full and provided with st'ired aatorials 

 if they are to develop into blossoms the following spring, 



TiThat is happening in a tree which is now heavily infected v;ith scab? 

 Its leaves may average less than lO^o efficient, and by September even less, 

 because many have dried up or dropped off. The chrjicos of such a trtjo 



