During the 1950's, we saw the advent of CA storage and reports 

 of apple holdings in this type of storage. There were 3 short 

 crops - 1952, 1954 and 1956, and 5 years with storage holdings in 

 excess of 2 million bushels. The excessively short crop in 1952 

 was primarily due to a lack of bloom and/or to unfavorable weather 

 at blossom time. Failure of many Mcintosh blocks to bloom in 1952 

 was apparently related to an excessive crop in 1951, coupled with 

 below average sunlight in June and July of that year which was un- 

 favorable for flower bud initiation. Poor weather for pollination 

 reduced crop size in 1954, and frost on May 25 reduced the crop in 

 1956. 



Massachusetts had its largest stored Mcintosh and stored crop 

 of all varieties on record in 1961. During 1965, 1968 and 1969, 

 more than 50% of the Mcintosh crop was stored in CA. But, during 

 the 1960's, there were only 2 years that the stored apple crop ex- 

 ceeded 2 million bushels. 



Storage holdings of apples grown in Massachusetts may never 

 again exceed 2 million bushels. If current trends continue, we 

 will probably experience a gradual decline in apple storage hold- 

 ings because orchard abandonment is not being offset by new plant- 

 ings. 



*************** 



LATE SUMMER FERTILIZATION OF STRAWBERRIES 



William J. Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



In Massachusetts, the June-bearing varieties of strawberries 

 initiate their flower buds in the fall. If conditions are favor- 

 able, many varieties produce several flower buds in each strawberry 

 crown and consequently produce several inflorescences per plant. 

 The extent of flower bud development seems to be influenced by the 

 supply of available nutrients, particularly nitrogen. 



A number of experiments have indicated an advantage of build' 

 ing up the nitrogen supply in the fall from the standpoint of in- 

 crease in flower bud formation. However, such factors as earli- 

 ness of runner plant rooting, quality of plants, soil moisture, 

 pest and weed control may have more effect on plant productivity 

 than the fertilizer applications. 



Many strawberry plantings would probably benefit from a mod- 

 erate application of a nitrogen-carrying fertilizer applied be- 

 tween the middle of August and the first of September. Approxi- 

 mately 30 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre should be adequate. 



