-10- 



Trapping is a useful adjunct to any gassing program. In a large orchard 

 there may be a few rock heaps or stonewalls that are so loosely piled that the 

 gases are not contained in the burrow in toxic concentration. A No . 2, Coil 

 Spring, Steel Trap is recommended for its high grip and strength, for the woodchuck 

 frequently escapes the jaws of smaller traps. The trap may be set in the trails 

 leading between burrow openings. The woodchuck is quite unconcerned about walking 

 into a trap. Some provision should be made, utilizing sticks, rocks, or natural 

 barriers, to obstruct progress each side of the trap; for the 'chuck will walk 

 around it if that is the easiest thing to do. Traps may be set down in burrow 

 openings if there is fear of catching pets, but frequently this may lead to a 

 fine catch of belly fur. 



The necessity of area - wide control cannot be over emphasized. Removal of 

 only a few woodchucks from an orchard sometimes resulfis in the operator becoming 

 discouraged or losing faith in the control practice. It will be found that those 

 woodchucks overlooked in the gassing will reopen the burrows without actually 

 reoccupying them. Thus, it becomes difficult to estimate the efficiency of the 

 control program. 



---W. R. Jones 

 I I I I I I I I I I I 11 I I I 



CHEMICAL THIIWING OF APPLES 



The 1957 revision of the Chemical Thinning Circular is available. If you 

 desire a copy request Special Circular #189 entitled, "Chemical Thinning of 

 Apples", revised March, 1957 from your County Extension Service or the Mailing 

 Room, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 



F. W. Southwick 



I I I I I I I U I I I I I I I 



THE INFLUENCE OF PREHARVEST DROP CONTROL MATERIALS 



ON THE AMOUNT OF INTERML BREAKDOWN OF McINTOSH 



One of the problems of the 1956-57 storage season was the development of 

 considerable amounts of internal breakdown in many apple varieties. In some 

 late varieties such as Delicious and Spy susceptibility to breakdown was greatly 

 increased by the presence at harvesttime of considerable amounts of water core. 

 Also, temperatures in the high teens and low twenties, prior to picking some late 

 varieties, in mid-October may have frozen some apples and increased their amount 

 of storage breakdown. However, Mcintosh which in many instances were picked before 

 temperatures were low enough to freeze the fruit and which showed no signs of water 

 core developed considerable amounts of internal breakdorm while in cold storage. 



Since most growers are using preharvest drop control materials on their 

 Mcintosh some people have wondered vhat influence they may have had on the develop- 

 ment of internal breakdown. In the fall of 1956 experiments comparing the effective- 

 ness of several preharvest drop materials were conducted in two orchards. Samples 

 of fruit from all trees in these experiments were placed in storage at harvesttime. 



