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That a sav/dust xnulch tends to steal nitroj^en from nearby trees or shrubs? 

 The reason is briefly this; Sav;dust is hi^^h in carbon and very low/' in nitrogen. 

 The organisms responsible for the decay of sawdust themselves require nitrO(;;en. 

 They take it from the soil and thus they offer strong competition to nearby 

 plants, A tree or shrub mulched v/ith sav.'dust and given <i, j cxtrl. iiitTt;gon -jfcLy show 

 yellovdsh leaves and make poor grav/th, Eut if additional nitrogen is used, the 

 sav/dust exerts a beneficial influence, particularly in stabilizing the moisture 

 supply, Bluoborrios mulched with savi/'dust are likely to require -cvico the normal 

 application of nitrogen. 



That the apples in the top of a tree have better color not alone because they 

 receive more sunlight but because the leaves from which the apples obtain needed 

 gr"!vvth materials are bottfir exposed to light than the leaves on the inside of the 

 tree? Thoso topmost apples have other advantages. The v;ood on v.liicl: they gr^Av 

 is, in general, younger. It tlicrcf orcj has a better conducting system than the 

 older, shaded, drooping parts of the treo,# Such apples are literally "looking, 

 up" in more ways than one. In pruning a bearing tree mo strive to olininatc, so 

 far as . possiblrj, the poorly located br-ancnos instead of cutting uut the vigorous 

 parts if th?i tree in tho hope -"if invigorating th'j others. 



That an inconvenient v/ater supply is one of the biggest drawbacks in the 

 entire spray prograr:!? Vfi'ien v/e buy a po'.ver sprayer vie invest a considerable sum 

 of money for one purpose, namely, to apply spray materials. It is not a suitable 

 piece of equipment for hauling water. If we must go dor.n the road half a mile to 

 fill the spray tank we are wasting very valuable time, A nearby water hole, or a 

 supply ttinl: used for nothing but hauling v.cter to the sprayer, helps greatly to 

 increase the efficiency of the spraying equipment. An apple orchard should be 

 completely covered in not to exce<id three days* Spraying time may often be cut in 

 half by bringing the v;ater to i:ho sprayer instead of using it as a veliicle for 

 cruising the countrvsidc in soarcn of suiter , 



That thero may bo as many as 8 brooas of red mite in a single season? In hot 

 v;eather a brood may ccmpieto its lif.: cycle in as short a time as 11 days • This 

 h-;lps to explain the heavy build-up in som^j orchards even though relatively f-jv; 

 over-twintering eggs v/ore obsorvf.d. Throe factors seem to influence the summer 

 buildup -- number of overw inter-id eggs, natural enemies, and weather. 



That an applo tree v;ith a "sxiOT/ball bloom" may set a heavy crop evon tiioiAgh 

 no more xhan ^% (1 in 25) of the blossoms set fruit? This assvuiies 5 blossoms 

 to the spur. One good apple on ovory fifth spur may be all the trees should 

 carry, A spacing of 3 or 10 ixiches is quite ideal. 



That purification .>f the air in an apple storage is a practical means of 



preventing storage scald? Canisters i"f activated charcoal havs been found highly 



effective for this purp )se. Dotviils of this new drjv-lopment will bo presented 

 in an early issue '^f FR^'IT NOTES . 



That the red brmded leaf r-'illor, 1 '-ng considered a minor apple p:;st in 

 Massachusetts, has suddenly bee ^nc a ;aaJor pest in many orchards? In 1947 this 

 insect v/as m ;ro tr 'mblesome, in general, than codling moth. It to..)k a hoavy t.ill 

 in some of th^ orchards in the i:ash-;ba area, A thorough applicati >n of load 

 arsenate in the calyx arid the first covur sprays, paying particular attention to 

 the underside ./f the leavos on tJio inside of the tree, is ;m effective ntocu'is of 

 combatting tho first br^od. 



Nev/s Item . Joe liclntosh of Scabville has f 'juiid a long-looked-for helping 

 hand ----- at the end '^f his own arm. 



