-11- 



One of the more serious problems with which this grower has to contend is the 

 loss of berries by the birds. Robins and Cedar vVaxwings appear to be the chief 

 offender. This grower had one other complaint and that was the competition that 

 blueberry growers in that area are having with berries from the state of Maine. I 

 didn't embarrass him by telling him that I am a native of Maine. 



After a most interestii:ig visit in the Puyallup area our next stop of pomological 

 interest was at Salem, Oregon which I v;ill describe in the next chapter, 



— 0. C.(Toby) Roberts 



POMOLOGICi.L PARAGRAPHS 



Says Dr. Iviax Brunk of Cornell University, reporting on his outstanding research 

 on apple selling over Nev/ York State Se pt. -thru- Jan. :- "This year we had a short 

 crop and we sold everything on the trees but the leaves. Last year vre had a big 

 crop and the leaves were worth about as much as the apples. We get reports on the 

 volume handled by some large grocery organizations and the volume sold in the tavo 

 years does not reflect the difference in the ci'op estimate. This year the stores 

 have sold 93.5 per cent as many apples as were sold Lhe previous year and the 

 customers trading in these stores have spent 26.8 per cent more total dollars for 

 apples this year tlian they did last year. Take into consideration the lower 

 qualities that have been thrown on the market this ynar and you will realize that 

 it is possible to market at a profit a lot more apples than we had this year. 



I hope you will remember this when it comes time to sell next years crop 

 because there will be a lot of talk next fall of how much lajrger the crop is than 

 it was in the fall of 1952. This can result in a bad psychological situation which 

 can seriously but needlessly depress the market. It's very hard to sell something 

 for more than you think it's worth. Experience this year has demonstrated that we 

 can sell a large quantity at profitable prices." 



— From Appalachian Apple Service 



Virginia Loses lli^ of Apple Trees — 1/3 ".iillion — in Three Years . Commercial 

 apple orchards of Virginia at the close of 1952 had 2,3b«,600 trees, or 377,200 

 fewer than in 19ii9: a drop of 13,6 percent, finds Virginia Department of Agricul- 

 ture. During this 3-year period 18,2 percent of the trees in the orchards were 

 removed or abandoned and new plantings amounted to U,6 percent of the 19U9 total, 

 ITiese results are based upon 5U percent of Virginia's 19^9 apple tree census. A 

 larger percentage of small orchards have been abandoned during the past three years 

 than the larger orchards . 



The "middle" of the Virginia Belt took the big cut. The North Valley (Frederick, 

 Clark, Shenandoah and Rockingham counties) decreased about 8 percent; the South 

 Valley Area, including Augusta and Rockbridge, and the Piedmont Area (Albemarle, 

 Amherst, Nelson etc.) declined nearly 30 percent; the North Piedmont and Roanoke 

 Areas both had a reduction of 11 percent. 



