-4- 



Other equally revolutionary changes are taking place in orchard 

 soil nanagement. Five years ago, nagnosiun deficiency sy.Tiptoi:is in apple trees 

 were practically unrecognized. The characteristic leaf scorch v/as attributed 

 to spray injury or to dry weather. Today, we recognize this particular type 

 of leaf scorch along with an early dropping of leaves and fruit as due to a 

 shortage of the elenont magnesiur.u Applications of high magnesium line and 

 of niagnesiuin sulfate (Epson salts) in fruit plantings are becoming increasingly 

 comr.ion. 



The use of the bulldozer and the power shovel in the removal of 

 old, unwanted trees, boulders, stonev/alls ,etc» marks a real step in the 

 direction of more efficient orchard management. Stone walls are being buried, 

 old trees pushed out of the way and the orchard floor smoothed up through 

 the removal of boulders. These practices will reduce production costs and 

 will greatly facilitate the spray program. Contour planting of orchards is 

 becoming more com::ion« A selection of a good soil and a frost free location 

 are assuming much more importance than they did in the past. TiTe are also 

 beginning to appreciate the value of organic matter in the soil cjid the 

 necessity for bringing in additional mulch where trees are planted on lighter 

 soils. 



Ten years ago it v/as a common practice to place mouse bait in bait 

 stations, bottles or other containers. Today v.'e know that it is much more 

 effective to place the bait directly in the "run", and instead of relying 

 entirely upon strychnine baits we are using zinc phosphide very effectively. 

 The use of napthalene acetic acid to prevent preharvest dropping of Mcintosh 

 has become an established practice. Many growers apply this material in a 

 part of the orchard to extend the picking season. In some cases two appli- 

 cations are made to good advantage, Thore is now in prospect a very effective 

 means of preventing storage scald through the use of solid carbon dioxide. 

 The cause and prevention of storage scald is receiving attention in several 

 experiment stations and control measures are being carefully worked out. 



Other signs of change in the fruit business include: a trend tov/ard 

 consumer packages and the utilization of low grade fruits in by-products in- 

 stead of placing them on the retail markets High grade apple juice is replac- 

 ing "cider "(with its none too good a reputation). Methods of "firaiing" Mclnjiosh 

 apples for use in pies have been worked out. 



The forgoing examples by no means exhaust the list of changes in 

 the fi*uit business. They do suggest, however, that the growing and marketing 

 of fruits are undergoing vast changes. Any grower v/ho neglects to read of 

 nev; developments, to observe what is talcing place in other fruit enterprises, 

 and vj-ho is content to do things as they were done in grandfather's day, v;ill 

 find it increasingly difficult to compete in the fruit market. Yv'e are still 

 picking fruit by hand as was done in Grandf o.ther 's day but many other things 

 are being done by novi and improved methods. Still better things are just 

 around the comer. 



