FRUITNOTES - April l5, 19^3 

 CrlEMICAL THINNIIjO 



Wow that some grovrth of buds has taken place, it is very evident that apple 

 blocks -Thich carried a light crop in 19?2 but had good clean foliage are going to 

 blossom heavily. If the bloom period occurs somewhere near the average date and^ 

 temperatures at the time are reasonably warm, an overset is very apt to occur this 

 year. Peaches have suffered virtually no bud injury following a very mild winter 

 and are going to blossom heavily, also. 



For those of you who may be interested in chemical thinning of apples and 

 peaches, we have prepared Special Circular No. 189, entitled "Chemical Tliinning 

 of Apples and Peaches." It may be obtained from yo\ir County Agent or by writing 

 to the Pomology Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, kass. 



As you may recall from discussions of chemical thinning at the VJorcester and 

 county meetings, we believe the amide form of naphthaleneacetic acid may be a 

 valuable material for thinning some early varieties such as Duchess, Red Astracnan, 

 Transparent, and Gravenstein. Also, it may be a good material to try on Mcintosh 

 where the variety may need thinning. At the time our special circular on ^thinning 

 vras written it appeared that two manufacturers would be able to supply this area 

 with the amide form. It is now known that "Amid-Thin" will be the only amide form 

 on the market since the manufacturers of "Amid-Thin" hold patent rights to its 

 protection. Hence, the information with respect to "Apple-Thin" given in Special 

 Circular 189 should be disregarded. It will not be available . 



Also, the directions for use given on the containers of "Amide-Thin" are not 

 identical with ours. As you will note on the cans of this material (for all 

 varieties but Rome) it is suggested that "Amid-Tiiin" be applied at petal-fall 

 (calyx). Vie believe after-calyx treatments are advisable in some cases, however. 

 Hence, if you v^ish to follow our suggestions refer to the directions in Special 

 Circular No. 189 which deal with "Amid-Thin" rather than to those printed on the 

 container, 



I Vte still believe that the old material napthaleneacetic acid (or its sodium 



salt) as a spray or dust is valuable for chemical thinning apples. Those of you 

 vriio have had satisfactory results with them on certain varieties should probably 

 continue to use them and consider "Amid-Thin" on a trial basis. For a more detailod 

 discussion of this subject refer to Special Circular No. l89. 



— F. \.". Southwick 



I 



VjOODCHUCK CONTROL 



Spring is here and once again the farmers' burrowing boarder is active. Tliis 

 burrowing boarder, the woodchuck can be controlled satisfactorily. Here are a fev/ 

 pointers on the how and v;hy of Vj'OODCHUCK CONTROL. 



1. Gas cartridges are effective in controlling woodchucks. I'Jhen the fuse 

 of the gas cartridge is ignited and the cartridge is placed in a wood- 

 chuck burrow, it produces poisonous gases that kill the woodchuck. Laat 

 season many farmers experienced difficulty in getting the fuse to 

 ignite. This year a new fuse has been tested and found to give excel- 

 lent results, and all cartridges will be supplied with this new fuse. 



