THE PROGRAM BEHIND APPLES 





V_JOOD apples no longer grow 

 of their own accord. 



New Hampshire's rocky hill- 

 sides have always put superior 

 color and flavor into the fruit; 

 but at the turn of the century 

 few growers were prepared to 

 face the competition of culti- 

 vated orchards and the battle 

 with disease and insect pests. 

 Research at the New Hamp- 

 shire Station has changed all 

 that. Perhaps the most im- 

 portant contribution was the 

 establishment of the fact that 

 nitrates are lacking under sod. 

 From this discovery grew the 

 present sod-mulch system. 



Point by point the details of 

 a definite program for efficient 



orchard management have been worked out: 



Nitrate applications. Under our soil conditions it has been Indicated 



that in most instances growers need not spend money for fertilizer 



elements other than nitrogen. The annual saving is conservatively 



figured at lo cents per tree; on the 350,000 trees in the commercial 



orchards of the state, this means 135,000. 



Efficiency spray program. The facts as to scab, apple maggot, and 



other pests have been determined, and a workable control program 



evolved. Emphasis on adequate equipment such as the three-four or 



six-nozzle brooms has cut the labor requirement for spraying more 



than i^c^ per cent. 



Pollination. The discovery that the triploid pollen of Baldwin is 



unsuitable for Mcintosh has saved many growers from serious 



mistakes 



Storage. A special technique for handling Mcintosh to improve its 



keeping qualities has been developed, adding several months to the 



season. 



As a result of this and other research new life has been put into 



the state's orchard industry. Instead of tapering off, commercial 



production has doubled since [910. In 1933 it reached a peak of 



850,000 bu hels. 



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