written weekly during the primary scab season, and in 

 response to observed problems thereafter. Messages were 

 transmitted via the INFONET computerized bulletin 

 board system (BBS). The 3 regional fruit agents again 

 distributed messages as weekly newsletters and via 24-hour 

 code-a-phoncs. Recorded code-a-phone messages contin- 

 ued to be used by growers at levels comparable to past 

 years. A few growers accessed the INFONET BBS directly 

 from their own computers. 



Entomology and Plant Pathology staff members 

 made a combined total of approximately 150 orchard site 

 visits during the year, assessing pest problems faced by 

 large and small commercial orchardists. Staff assisted 

 pomologists with apple maturity assessments during har- 

 vest using the starch-iodine test, and this information was 

 disseminated via INFONET and newsletters. Maturity 

 alerts provided an important harvest management tool for 

 growers, especially when less daminozide (AlarTM) was 

 used. 



Staff members gave a total of 28 talks at grower 

 and other group meetings and authored or co-aulhorcd 6 

 Fniit Notes articles, 20 journal articles, and 1 proceedings 

 article. Entomologyand Plant Pathologystaff also collabo- 

 rated with Dr. Rick Weires, Hudson Valley Lab, on the 

 annual March Message. 



In 1987 we completed year 2 of a cooperative 

 agreement with the U.S.Dept. of the Interior, National 

 Park Service, which seeks to implement IPM in historic 

 orchards at the Adams National Historic Site (NHS), 

 Quincy, MA, at the Roosevelt/Vanderbilt NHS, Hyde 

 Park, NY, and at the Morristown NHS, Morristown, NJ. 

 Under our direction, park staff pruned trees, monitored 

 insects, recorded temperature and leaf wetness, and ap- 

 plied pesticides based on scouting. The Adams Historic 

 orchard shows the most completely developed pest man- 

 agement plan, and produced a crop of good quality apples 

 this season for the first time in recent history. 



A Training Workshop held at the University of 

 Massachusetts February 24-26, 1987, as part of the USDI- 

 -NPS cooperative agreement was attended by 22 National 

 Park Service staff from throughout the U.S., and provided 

 training in concepts and techniques of 1PM for historic 

 orchards, including lectures by several University faculty 

 and staff. Participants identified 26 historic fruil plantings 

 in the NPS system, the earliest site dating from 1752. 

 Evaluations indicated highly positive response to work- 

 shop structure and content. 



Insect and Mite Status, 1987 



Tarnished plant bug (TPB) was again the single 

 most important cause of fruit injury noted at harvest in 

 Massachusetts orchards (Table 1), and TPB remains a 

 difficult pest to manage. The goal of predicting the optimal 

 liming of TPB sprays still eludes us. However, we rarely 

 observe severe fruit distortion from TPB feeding in com- 

 mercial orchards. Thus, much of the injury we see has 

 comparatively little effect on grade. 



European apple sawfiv (EAS) activity was very 

 high in 1987 throughout Massachusetts and in other parts 

 of the Northeast. Activity began shortly before bloom (5/ 

 14 to 5/21) in most areas, although a few EAS were caught 

 on white plant bug traps a week before bloom. Record 

 captures of EAS were noted, especially in a Wilbraham 

 block wherein cumulative average captures exceeded 39 

 per trap by 5/14. The highest single trap capture was 89 

 EAS, a new "record" for us, although Lorraine Los at the 

 University of Connecticut has us beat, with her report of up 

 to 100 EAS per trap! Numerous EAS-scarred or -infested 

 fruit were seen in orchards in June, but most fell from the 

 tree, and harvest surveys showed only an average amount 

 of EAS fruit injury (Table 1). 



A pple maggot fiv (AMF) was first reported on 7/ 

 6 on a red sphere in Westborogh, and activity was early and 



16 



