The following "Items from Here and There" are reprinted from 

 Fruit Notes, June and Augfust, 1939. 



Items From Here and There 



William H. Ties 



Department of Pomology, Massachusetts State College 



Granville Grower Solves 

 Deer Problem 



Karl Hanson, who owns an orchard in the town of 

 Granville, has constructed a wire fence which seems to 

 exclude deer in a section where much damage has been 

 done in previous years. Mr. Hanson had to replace 

 many of the trees in his orchard and found it impossible 

 to get satisfactory tree growth before the deer were 

 fenced out. The construction is briefly as follows. A 

 barbed wire is stretched along the ground to prevent 

 deer from getting underneath, and about 4 inches 

 above that is stretched a section of woven wire, 39 

 inches high. The top and bottom strands are number 

 10 wire and the rest number 13. Above the top of the 

 woven wire are 4 strands of heavy wire such as is used 

 in growing covered tobacco, these strands being spaced 

 as follows. The first, 8 inches above the top of the 

 woven wire, the others 10, 12, and 14 inches, respec- 

 tively. This makes a fence about 7 feet high. Mr. 

 Hanson has found no evidence of deer jumping such a 

 fence, although other growers have reported them 

 jumping as high as 8 or 9 feet. There are still plenty of 

 deer in that locality, although this orchard has been 

 unmolested since the fence was built 4 years ago. 



Two Interesting Gadgets 



Yankee ingenuity is still fairly common in Massa- 

 chusetts. Lee Rice of Wilbraham has devised a spray 

 tank filler by mounting a small pump, similar to that 

 used by the telephone company, on the front bumper of 

 his truck which carries a supply tank. The pump is 

 attached to the truck motor and makes possible the 

 filling of the tank from a brook or pond in short order. 

 Raymond Fiske of Lunenburg, instead of using a 

 wooden frame or barrel for support in spraying from 

 the top of the tank, has mounted an automobile tire at 

 that point, thus providing a rubber bumper effect for 

 weary bones. 



A Square Deal Without 

 "Square Apples" 



A campaign is underway in the Wenatchee district 

 to do away with "unnecessary and unwarranted mash- 

 ing of apples in the packing shed." An attempt is being 

 made to prevent a higher and higher bulge as the fruit 

 leaves the packing house. The contention is made that 

 there isn't the slightest reason for putting 45 lbs. of 

 apples into a box and then stamping them with a 40 lb. 

 stamp. Veiy often apples are not of uniform firmness 

 and when they are squeezed together in the lidding 

 process, the harder ones make virtually square apples 

 out of the softer ones. 



Mcintosh Color Requirements 

 are Too Low 



The color requirements for Mcintosh are too low, 

 according to Cornell Memoir 220, "Joint Correlation 

 Applied to the Quality and Price of Mcintosh Apples," 

 published in March, 1939. After a detailed study of the 

 various factors which surround a Mcintosh apple and 

 of their relation to market price, the author, J. R. 

 Raeburn, says, "The relationships of color to price 

 indicated that apples with less than 67% of their skin a 

 good red characteristic of the variety should not be 

 permitted in the United States Elxtra Fancy grade, and 

 those with less than 33% should not be permitted in the 

 United States No. 1 grade." 



Red Sports are Often Picked 

 Too Early 



W. E. Piper reports a well known Boston dealer as 

 saying "A green Red Grav is worse than a green Green 

 one." This seems to suggest a tendency among growers 

 to pick red sports too early. If we harvest a Red Grav, 

 Richared or other red sport as soon as it takes on a red 

 color, we are sure to have a less edible apple than the 

 color would indicate and about the only thing worth 

 less than an immature, rubbery apple is two such 

 apples. 



Fruit Notes, Summer, 1989 



13 



