-4- 



grown on rather heavy soil without any commercial fertilizer. The land did have 

 manure and green crop residues ploughed under the previous year. The plants were 

 set on raised beds which prevented water from standing on the plants at any time 

 during the growing period. These raised beds also prevented ice formation over 

 the plants, a condition which proved fatal to so many plantings even on light soil 

 during the winter of 1958-59. Also, the plants were mulched early, before the 

 hard freezes that occurred iti December of 1958. These early mulched plants were 

 not injured. This checks with the experience of another grower who mulched early, 

 but failed to cover a fifty foot by fifty foot section of plants. A good crop was 

 produced on the mulched area. On the area not mulched the plants survived but 

 produced virtually no berries. 



Another grower set plants on new land broken up two years before. A month 

 later half of these plants had died or were dying. Soil test and a check on his 

 fertilizer practice showed the plants were damaged by an excess of soluble salts 

 that had not leached away the previous winter. The presence of the salts was 

 due to very large quantities of commercial fertilizer applied to vegetable crops 

 the previous two years. This grower decided to salvage what plants he could by 

 moving all surviving plants from 20 rows into 10 rows. Heavy rains leached out 

 the salts, and the plants took hold and made up good fruiting rows which should 

 yield well in 1960. 



I have set plants successfully in every month except January and February, 

 so that, I know with the right conditions, it can be done. However, I have seen 

 a number of cases in widely scattered locations where plants set in late April, 

 twenty four hours or less before a bad freeze, failed to survive, while other 

 plants set two weeks earlier survived as if there were no freezing weather. 



To sum this all up, I believe it is desirable, especially on heavier soils 

 or areas where land is flat to: 



1. Use raised beds for drainage. 



2. Mulch thoroughly and earlier than we have been accustomed to doing before 

 heavy freezes. 



3. Avoid excessive use of commercial fertilizer ahead of, or at time of setting 

 new plants. 



4. When weather is liable to be severe, in either spring or fall, watch the 

 forecasts and do not set plants unless you are sure of 48 hours of tem- 

 perature above freezing. 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



APPLE POWDERY MILDEVJ EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN MSSACHUSETTS IN 1960 



Indications are that there will be more apple powdery mildew in Massachusetts 

 orchards this year than in 1959. The winter has been relatively mild so that very 

 little mildew which wintered in the terminal buds has been killed. 



