always favorable even at higher elevations and there are growers 

 interested in giving "mother nature" a boost by using Promalin. 

 Our trials with Promalin are very limited and more work is needed 

 to determine the influences of temperature. However, it does 

 appear that a consistent favorable response from a Promalin spray 

 may not be likely. 



A number of growers purchased Promalin last year but for one 

 reason or another did not apply it. We certainly do not want to 

 discourage Promalin use in 1978 because we need to determine its 

 possible usefulness under our conditions. 



Our only suggestions concerning Promalin use other than 

 following the directions on the label are to add to the spray mix- 

 ture a surface active agent such as glyodin and to apply on a day 

 when temperatures are 60° or higher. 



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



NUTRITIONAL PROBLEMS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 

 FERTILIZATION OF APPLE TREES IN 1978''- 



W.J. Lord and Mack Drake 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



It should be recognized from the start that it is not possible 

 to give specific suggestions for fertilization in an article of this 

 nature. Therefore, the suggestions below merely serve as a guide to 

 the fruit grower for determining the fertilizer program in his orchard, 

 It is well to remember that foliar applications are merely supnle- 

 ments to soil applications. 



Nitrogen (N) : The trees severely winter injured in 1976 did 

 not recover as well as hoped in 1977 in spite of the supplemental 

 urea sprays. Some of these trees probably should receive an urea 

 spray (5 pounds/lOn gallons) at about first cover in May. Apply 

 as a separate application. 



Most orchards had only a medium-sized crop in 1977 while some 

 blocks of Delicious either had no crop or a light crop due to frost. 

 Trees which had no crop, or just a partial crop, in 1977 should 

 receive little or no N in 1978. To the contrary, trees that had a 

 large crop in 1977 may be low in available N for utilization this 

 spring. 



The best guide to N needs of your trees is leaf analysis 

 combined with observations of tree vigor, fruit set, and fruit 



■^Unless stated otherwise all photographs are by Louis Musante, Audio 

 Visual Dept. University of Massachusetts. 



