one, and (2) a shortage of pickers which necessitates a lengthening the 

 picking season. Both of these points are debatable. In fact, they seem to 

 approach the problem from the wrong angle. 



In the first place, an excessive premature drop is one of the 

 symptoms of magnesium deficiency. And a shortage of that element can never 

 be supplied by advancing the date of harvest. The Mcintosh variety appears 

 to be very sensitive to deficiencies of certain essential elements. If boron 

 is lacking, internal cork appears. If magnesium is lacking, the fruit drops 

 with alarming suddenness, and under such conditions no response to the hormone, 

 naphthalene acetic acid, may bo expected. Only as the magnesium balance is 

 restored can we produce high colored, high quality Mcintosh. And only then 

 will the hormone be effective in holding the apples on the tree beyond the 

 normal date of harvest* 



Every observing grower knows that apples size up rapidly during 

 September unless the soil is unusually dry. An apple may gain a quarter of 

 an inch in diajneter during a two weeks period, and that means many extra 

 bushels in a ten acre orchard. Thus if the better colored apples are picked 

 first, the remaining apples will increase in size and become better colored. 

 And even if a few apples drop in the meantime, the drop apples v»ill sell 

 at a fair price while those which remain will gain in value more than enough 

 to offset the bruised condition of the drops, Thea too, if the tree is well 

 mulched, high colored drops will coimaand a better price than green, poor 

 quality apples picked from the tree. 



The drop question should be considered on a percentage basis. It 

 isn't so much the number of drops under a tree as it is the p-i-rcentage of the 

 whole crop, A bushel of drops under a single tree might seem to be excessive. 

 But if the tree has a crop of 20 bushels, the drops make up only b%, and that's 

 very reasonable. And v;hile some apples have dropped, thjso on the tree have 

 been developing the kind of color oxid flavor upon which the Mcintosh repu- 

 tation is based. If the truth v;ore kn^w/n their added siza might easily off- 

 set the bushel which appears to be lost as drops. 



ou 



Any Mcintosh grov/or interested in getting maximum color and quality 

 ght not to overlook the possibilities of using the hormone material as a 

 moans of holding the apples on the tree assuming, of course, that no magnesium 

 deficiency exists. The secret of success in applying the hormone spray or 

 dust seems to depend upon getting it on at just the right tine, covering the 

 tree thoroughly and under the right weather conditions. It requires about 

 24 hours for the hormone to take effect and, on Mcintosh, the effect tends to 

 wear off in ab mt 8 or 10 days. And since the material is abs >rbed thr:>ugh 

 the stem, a heavy application is needed to make sure that ev-^ry stf3m is cover- 

 ed. The temperature is also iiaportant. Better results are likely to follow 

 an application made around noon of a vmrm day than one made in the mTrning 

 or evening. One of the real values of the preharvest application is in extend- 

 ing the picking season. By treating half of the orchard just before a normal 

 drop occurs, those apples may be harvested a week later than the rest of the 

 orchard and with greatly improved color, size and quality. 



