March, 1933] Agric. Research in New Hampshire 11 



Fruit Farm Studies 



The organization of fruit farms has been studied by H. C. Wood- 

 worth and G. F. Potter from the data of the intensive orchard study. 

 It has been noted that with all operations except spraying and har- 

 vesting there is considerable leeway as to just when the work must 

 be done; consequently, the labor requirements on apples can be shifted 

 without detriment to the apple yield or quality. Three growers pro- 

 duced a limited acreage of strawberries supplementary to their apple 

 business. The only serious conflict for the operators' labor seemed to 

 be between spraying apples and setting out and hoeing strawberries. 

 The apple growers shifted the usual requirements on strawberries 

 somewhat and were able to take care of them at times when spray- 

 ing could not be done on account of rain or wind. Moreover, it was 

 found that the time of the spray crew could be used tO' better ad- 

 vantage if there was production work to do when weather conditions 

 were not suitable for spraying. 



On two farms practically no additional help except at harvest was 

 required to grow about an acre of strawberries supplementary to the 

 large orchard. On one fami three acres of strawberries required some 

 additional labor, but in the main the work on strawberries could be 

 fitted into the orchard enterprise. 



While noraially potatoes would conflict seriously with apples at 

 harvest time, one grower was able to harvest three acres of potatoes 

 between the picking of Wealthy and Baldwin apples. This enabled 

 him to find production work for his pickers and he could hold them 

 until the Baldwins were to be harvested. {Purnell Fund) 



Hope for New Contact Insecticide 



Hope that new contact insecticides will be devised which are capa- 

 ble of giving better and safer performance than materials hitherto 

 used is expressed by W. C. O'Kane as a result of studies indicating 

 the important relationship between intrinsic toxicity and dispersion 

 and physical state of a chemical. 



Further results of studies in this project were published during the 

 year in Technical Bulletins 48 and 51. The first concerned the sodium 

 soaps of the normal saturated fatty acids and their contact perform- 

 ance on paraffin and on the larva of the common meal worm. The 

 second had to do with the action of several contact agents on the 

 skin or covering of various insects representing 15 different species. 

 Contact agents used included sodium laurate, triethanolamine oleate, 

 saponin, and penetrol. 



Further inquiry was made as to the sensitive areas on the exposed 

 surfaces of the larva of the common meal worm. It was found that 

 an insect may be profoundly upset or even killed by the application 

 of a suitable chemical to such areas, apparently without access of the 

 chemical to the tracheal tubes. 



This study led to a new technique for the exploration of chemical 

 substances that might serve as contact insecticides. A description of 

 this new technique and the studies on which it is based will be pub- 

 lished shortly. {Purnell Fund) 



