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with a venture so long-lived as an apple orchard, v/liat vie do this month v;ill influence 

 the crop 10 or 20 years hence* "Ten years after the cover crop fails, the trees vdll 

 fail", says one authority. In much less time v/e reap the results of neglect in mouse 

 control, failure to prune properly, lack of lime, mulch materials, or facilities for 

 cross pollination. The forvTard looking gro?rer has his goal of 500 bushels of good 

 apples, or 10,000 quarts of strav/berries per acre, and then sets out to reach that ob- 

 jective* He insures his results, so far as possible, not by a last minute use c£ fer- 

 tilizers or trial of new pesticide, but by preparation rf the soil far in advance and 

 by anticipating a year ahead the needs of his fruit planting,, Recurring emergencies 

 can be avoided by advance planning. Most of the serious troubles in a fruit planting 

 are preventable. Few are complete!^'- curable when once they occur. 



In an orchard there is an element of timeliness about most of the things vie doe 

 The best time to pick a given variety is this vreek, not week after next. Insects and 

 diseases are about the best examples of the need for being time-consciousf Apple scab 

 is prevented by being on the alert at just the right times, A delay of a fevr hours 

 may mean the difference between success and failure ^ House activities involve less 

 accurate timing, but delay of a few vreeks in the baiting program may be disastrous. 

 In contrast, there are a fev/ practices which lexid themselves very well to rainy days 

 or to the slack times which follovf a busy season. Repairing boxes, ladders, etc, are 

 good examples of rainy day jobsj Mulching, liming, drainage, ti-ee removal and road 

 improvement are examples of jobs for the slack seas on© 



¥ith the harvest completed, vihat next? In the hiirricane area, tree salvage and 

 mouse control should have priority. By mid-November every tree worth salvaging should 

 have received careful attentiono The stage is set for very heavy mouse damage during 

 the coming winter, A heavy mouse popiilation, a rank gror^th of grass and made-to-order 

 conditions for mice around tilted tru^iks and exposed roots make it imperative that 

 every precaution against tree girdling be taken,, Still fresh in mind is the grovrer 

 v/ho, about 1$ years ago, found in early spring that nearly 600 of his bearing apples 

 had been girdled by mice. 



Fall is an ideal time to apply high magnesium lime, but not nitrogenous ferti- 

 lizers o The liming program v;e. recommend is, first, a sufficient number of soil tests 

 in different blocks to reveal the actual acidity, Y/here acid-tolerant plants predom- 

 inate and there is reason to believe that the pH is beloiT 5^ a soil test is not so im- 

 portant, and 2 or 3 tons of lime per acre should be applied as soon as possible. Since 

 few farms get enough lime in any one year to give each field as much as it needs to 

 bring the soil up to a proper level, it seems advisable to make a liberal application 

 in one or ti/o blocks this year and follov; the same procedure in other blocks next year, 

 instead of using a ton or less per acre where 2 or 3 tons are needede Our best orchards 

 show an acidity above pH 5»5« Some are around pH 6«5» As mth liming, there is no 

 "closed season" on mulching. If hay^ soaked by rains and not suitable for feeding, is 

 available mthin easy hauling distance, fall is a good time to bring it into the orchard* 



This is also a good season to lay plans for relieving the crovj'ded condition in 

 those blocks found difficult to spray, A simple map is a good place to beginj A map 

 on cross section paper showing varieties, blank spaces, etCo, for a 5-acre block can 

 be prepared in t\7o hours, or lesso This will provide a basis for deciding iThich set 

 «f alternate diagonal rows should be removed or, in the case of moderate crowding, cut 

 back. Yifhere trees are to be removed, a start may be made as soon as more pressing 

 tasks are completed o The same is true of drainage facilities in those low areas where 

 the sprayer became mired last May and the leaves turned yellovT in mid-summer. Removal 

 of grass around the base of the trees and replacement vfith sand or gravel to exclude 

 mice from the area immediately surrounding the trunk, is another important fall tasko 



Fall should also be clean-up time, not only for the fruit but for all boxes. 



