horizontally and vertically in roughly circular patches and samp- 

 ling is generally a compromise hoping to truly estimate the popu- 

 lation without collecting an unreasonable amount of soil. 



When to collect : Any time of year, although populations are larg- 

 est during late summer. 



Where to collect : If a field is being sampled prior to treatment, 

 a systematic sampling should be made of future planting sites. 

 Established trees should be sampled at the drip line. 



What to collect : An ideal sample would consist of 20 cores, 1 inch 

 diameter by 12 inches long, taken in a zig-zag pattern from an area 

 10 X 100 feet. This much soil should fit into 2 1-quart plastic 

 bags. Include any roots that may be present. For a large orchard, 

 additional 1000 sq. ft. strips should be sampled separately. 



Send : Samples sealed in a plastic bag or container. Dry samples 

 such as those collected for chemical analysis are useless. Ordin- 

 ary temperatures won't hurt but don't leave samples in a hot car 

 trunk. Massachusetts fruit growers can bring or mail the samples 

 to: R.A. Rohde, Department of Plant Pathology, Fernald Hall, Univ. 

 of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. 01002. 



POSTHARVEST DIPS OF APPLES IN CALCIUM CHLORIDE SOLUTION 



Heather A. Betts and William J. Bramlage 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



In recent years, there has been a growing recognition world- 

 wide that calcium (Ca) can play an important role in protecting 

 apples from different physiological disorders -- on the tree, but 

 especially off the tree during and following storage. We have 

 been finding during the past few years that Massachusetts apples, 

 too, are often Ca-deficient and that this is contributing to stor- 

 age problems. Consequently, we have been investigating ways of 

 correcting this problem. 



One approach to the problem is the use of postharvest dips in 

 Ca-containing solutions. A number of researchers have tested dips, 

 and have generally found them to be relatively effective. However, 

 there are many factors that might influence the successful use of 

 Ca dips, and these effects are very poorly understood. During the 

 past year, we conducted an intensive study of factors affecting ab- 

 sorption of Ca from a postharvest dip solution, results of which 

 we report here. 



