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in making jams and preserves destroys much of the Vitamin C, but food 

 freezers make it possible to conserve the Vit?min C for winter use. 

 Even after long storage frozen stravirberriet; are a valuable source of 

 Vitamin C« 



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VriNTER HARDINESS OF APPLE TREES IN REIATION TO FAIi APPLICATIONS OF NITROGEN 



For the past several years vre have not advocated fall applications of nitro-^en 

 to apple orchards because of the possibility of fall fertilized trees becomin,'^ less 

 resistant to co3.d winter temperatures. Previous experience in Massachusetts and obl'.er 

 New England states has indicated that fall fertilized trees can in some years exper- 

 ience severe mnter injury in the form of bark splitting and separation of the bark 

 from the trunk of the tree, 



A recent report from the New York Agricultural Expei^iraent Station tells hovT 

 fall fertilized Cortland trees had their resistance to \Tinter injiury seriously re- 

 duced « la'ature Cortland trees which r ecoived 3 and 7 pounds of ammonium nitrate in 

 October and November shov/ed significantly more cold injury than the unfertilized check 

 trees 8 



In view of these latest findings on the effect of fall applications of nitro- 

 gen, it seems desirable to again call attention to the risk which the practice of fall 

 fertilization involves, 



U.Del/eeks 



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Increase In Use of Commercial F ert iliz ers - For the first time in 

 history the total amount invested by American farmers in commer- 

 cial fertilizers exceeded, in 19^2, one billion dollars. The 1953 

 total was a few millions higher. Figures covering a UO-year period, 

 1911-19^1* shovr annual expenditures for fertilizers ranging between 

 k and 6/0 of the previous year's income o But since 1951 the annual 

 expenditure has each year amounted to more than ^% of the previous 

 year's income. For the past tyj'o years it has been 7iiQ%» Heavy pro- 

 duction costs can best be offset by large per acre yields <i This is as 

 true for apples as alfalfa. An adequate fertilizer program goes hand 

 in hand viith good yields. 



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"Plant Foods" In The Soil - IVhat vre often call "plant foods" 

 are certain mineral elements in the soil, such as nitrogen; 

 phosphorus and potassium. They are not present in the form 

 of elements, but are in a combined form, such as salts. 

 Plants use small amounts of these mineral elements as raw 

 materials to build their own foods j but the bulk of the raw 

 materials are hydrogen and oxygen from water, and carbon 

 from carbon dioxide in the air. 



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Hovf High Is A High Yfater Table? - Most grovrers are unaware of the waterlogged condi- 

 tion of tV.e soil in parts of the orchard » They are conscious of getting mired with 



