REMARKS 



This month proved a httle reluctant to usher in the spring season. 

 After a high for the month of 74° on the 4th it was a full two weeks be- 

 fore any 70^ temperature again appeared. The low of 22° on the first 

 reached the mean lowest temperature for the month and the mean 

 daily of 43.8° was nearly two degrees below the average. House- 

 holders continued to feel the dregs of winter as 637 degree days of 

 heating load accumulated the seasonal total of 6105 degree days. 



Ihe 3.64 inches of precipitation added nearly 3 inch over the 

 mean to the moisture reserve for the coming growing season. 



W. H. Thies, Extension Professor of Horticulture, contributes the 

 following report: "Cool weather during April, with its retarding effect 

 on fruit buds, has been favorable to fruit crops in Massachusetts. 

 This applies to fruits of all kinds. The situation may be summed up 

 as follows: The stage of bud development is about 10 da\s behind that 

 of certain seasons in the recent past. Mcintosh apple buds, now in the 

 Pre-Pink stage in some areas, are better able to withstand freezing 

 temperatures that if they were approaching full bloom. At these two 

 stages there is a difference of at least 3° or 4° in susceptibility to frost 

 damage. This may mean a big difference in the number of blossoms 

 setting fruit. Mcintosh records in Amherst show full bloom occurring, 

 on the average, around May lo with a range of nearly 10 days in either 

 direction. May 20 is the estimated date of full bloom this year. 



As this is being written, there has been negligible low temperature 

 damage to apple buds, and the stage is set for at least a normal crop. 

 Peach buds suffered severely during the winter in some orchards. This 

 must be expected occasionally since we are near the northern limit of 

 the peach belt, and peaches are among the most tender of the fruits 

 grown in this area. In well located orchards, however, there were 

 still enough live peach buds of certain varieties on May 1 to provide at 

 least a light crop. 



Strawberry plants in mulched plantings came through the winter 

 in good condition. Rloom is likely to be delayed enough to escape 

 appreciable frost damage. Even though a few of the early blossoms 

 do show black centers, it will mean only the loss of the earliest berries 

 and not any extensive reduction in the number of cjuarts per acre." 



