9 - 



Research : The Swiss Federal Research Station for fruit growing, 

 viticulture and horticulture is located at Wadenswil, which is about 

 a half hour by train south of Zurich and on the edge of Lake Zurich. 

 The research station has laboratory buildings for chemistry, pomol- 

 ogy, entomology, plant pathology, microbiology, food technology, 

 growth chambers, and radiation. There are cold storages, green- 

 houses, a winery and 2 experimental farms at Wadenswil. Five other 

 experimental farms are located in the important cherry, apple, and 

 grape producing areas and there is one farm for the production of 

 virus-free apple rootstocks and scions. 



The purpose of the Federal Research Station is to improve agri- 

 cultural production and the quality of the fresh and processed prod- 

 ucts through: (a) evaluation of fertilizers, pesticides, growth 

 regulators, and preservation agents; (b) evaluation of cultural 

 and storage techniques; (c) providing nurseries with healthy grape- 

 vines, virus-free apple rootstocks and scions, virus-free or healthy 

 small fruits plants, and high quality vegetable seeds; (d) intro- 

 duction of new varieties; (e) study of technology, microbiology and 

 chemistry of beverages; and (f) providing pure yeast cultures for 

 wineries. All fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and pres- 

 ervf.tion agents must undergo tests at Wadenswil and collaborating 

 institutes in Switzerland before they can be marketed. 



Fruit research deals specifically with farm management, effi- 

 ciency, physiology, and nursery and fruit growing techniques. Ex- 

 tensive tests of chemical thinners, varieties, rootstock grafting 

 methods for cherries, walnut propagation, growth regulators, and 

 storage techniques have been and continue to be conducted. The in- 

 fluence of growth regulators on fruit development of sweet cherry, 

 the flowering of apple, on shoot and root development of fruit 

 trees, and the mechanical harvesting of cherries has been studied 

 extensively by Dr. Robert Schumacher and Fritz Fankhauser. 



Problems currently receiving considerable attention are calcium 

 rCa) nutrition of apples, development of biological methods of pest 

 control, and prevention of bird damage. The Ca problem in Switzer- 

 land is not caused by the lack of this element, but by an excess 

 potassium (K) . There is much adverse public opinion concerning 

 pesticide usage and some individuals have expressed the need for a 

 research station for biological controls. Therefore, the pomolo- 

 gists, whenever possible, are including a treatment testing a bio- 

 logical technique when designing experiments. Bird depredation is 

 serious in small fruit plantings and on early-maturing sweet cherry 

 varieties. To combat this problem, plastic nettings and plastic 

 strips attached to wires which are propelled slowly over the tops 

 Of the trees are being tested. Plastic sheets and nettings also 

 are being evaluated to determine their effectiveness in prevent- 

 ing hail damage and splitting of sweet cherries and grapes caused 

 by rain near harvest. 



