A study was undertaken to identify key factors associated with storage disorders in three commercially important apple cultivars in British Columbia and to determine how early in the season associations could be measured. Fruit mass, density, and concentrations of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and dry matter were determined for `McIntosh', `Spartan', and `Golden Delicious' apples (Malus ×domestica Borkh) from ≈30 commercial orchards 9, 6, 3, and 0 weeks before harvest. Storage samples were collected at commercial harvest and evaluated for the development of internal breakdown (`McIntosh' and `Spartan') or bitter pit (`Golden Delicious') after 4 and 6 months of 0 °C air storage. Mass and [Ca] and the mass/[Ca] and [K]/[Ca] ratios were the factors most often significantly correlated with storage disorders within each year for all three cultivars. Correlations were as frequently significant 6 and 3 weeks before harvest as they were at harvest. Mass of `McIntosh' and `Spartan' was the only variable consistently related with breakdown in all 3 years of the study. There were no variables with a consistent relationship to bitter pit in `Golden Delicious'. Fruit [Ca] was associated with the relative levels of disorders within years but could not be associated with specific levels of disorders across all years.

(SOa)3 and H2SO4). A field study was carried out on the same soil. Finely divided and bentonitic granuiated S were applied at 4.5t ha-r on the grass surface or incorporated to a depth of 15 cm.Incorporated fine S was oxidized to a much greater extent during a 2-yr period than was incorporated grandulated S. However, when surface applied, they were oxidized equally but slowly.

soil management on soil temperature and apple tree nutrition. Can For personal use only.

Own-rooted, glasshouse-grown `Chardonnay' vines (Vitis vinifera L.) were planted in a sand medium to which was added one of five levels of granular Gro-Mate (GM), a commercial humate (0, 8, 16, 32, 64 g/pot; 0 to 35 g a.i./pot). Two other treatments consisted of weekly (1× W) or twice-weekly (2× W) applications of liquid GM, whose cumulative addition over the 28 weeks of the experiment totaled 6.7 and 13.4 g a.i., respectively. Shoot length responded to increasing level of GM in a predominantly cubic fashion, with 32 g/pot resulting in the longest shoots. Fresh and dry weights of leaves, shoots, and roots, as well as leaf count and area, exhibited increasing linear or quadratic trends in response to increased level of granular GM. GM increased soil organic matter, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Na, and S and also increased petiole Fe and lamina P, K, and Fe. Liquid treatment resulted in lower soil pH, organic matter, bulk density, and Fe and higher soil conductivity, NO3, P, K, Mg, Cu, Zn, Na, and S than the granular treatments, as well as higher petiole and lamina N and K, lower petiole and lamina P, and lower petiole Zn. Compared to the 1× W treatment, the 2× W produced lower soil bulk density and higher P, lower lamina K, Mn, and Fe; lower petiole Mn; and higher petiole Cu. Plant tissues contained extremely high levels of Mn irrespective of treatment, whereas liquid treatments resulted in high soil NO3 levels. Although liquid GM cannot be recommended for young grapevines under an application regime such as described here, preplant applications of granular GM may have potential for improving growth of young vines in coarse-textured soils. High granular or excessive liquid applications may result in leaf necrosis and retarded growth.

Hocue, E. J., Nnrr-srN, G. H., MesoN

Many soils in orchards in southern British Columbia are acidic, especially those with sandy texture. Most orchards have vegetative ground cover. A field experiment was therefore undertaken on a sandy soil to determine the most effective method of getting lime into the rooting zone of fruit trees without damaging their roots. Applying lime on the grass surface at 3.6 t ha−1 was as effective in reducing soil acidity of the 0- to 25-cm horizon as incorporating lime into the soil. Calcium hydroxide, calcite and dolomite were all equally effective in raising soil pH. Doubling the liming rate greatly increased the downward neutralization of soil acidity and movement of Ca and Mg. The pH was raised by about 1 unit throughout the profile by the higher rate of Ca(OH)2, (7.2 t ha−1). Ammonium sulphate detracted from the benefits of liming, with the 200 kg N ha−1 rate causing a significant depression in pH at the 0- to 20-cm depth. Ammonium nitrate had a smaller adverse effect. Hence, neutralization of soil acidity in the upper rooting zone of fruit trees can be accomplished in only a few years by applying high rates of lime on the grass surface and by using the lesser acidifying N fertilizers. Key words: Liming materials, application methods, N fertilizer

In 1975, hydrated lime and calcium sulfate were applied to a Rutland gravelly sandy loam under the canopy of mature apple trees (Malus domestica Borkh. ’Spartan’) on M16 at 3000, 6000, 3 × 2000 and at 3000, 6000, 3 × 4000 kg/ha, respectively, pH and exchangeable Ca, Mg and Mn were measured in the soil sampled in 1979 at 10-cm intervals to a 60-cm depth for each of the check, 6000 kg/ha Ca(OH)2 and 12 000 kg/ha gypsum treatments. The acidity of the surface soil was decreased significantly in the 6000 kg/ha Ca(OH)2 treatment. Negligible soil Ca accumulation occurred below the surface 10-cm depth for any treatment. Soil Mn was decreased from the surface to the 20-cm level in the Ca(OH)2 treatment while soil Mg was decreased from the surface to the 30-cm level in the gypsum treatment. Fruit Ca concentration at harvest, 1975–1979 was not increased by soil Ca treatments. Leaf Mg was often reduced by soil gpysum applications in excess of 3000 kg/ha. Leaf Mn reduction did not occur until the 4th and 5th yr of the experiment in the 6000 and the 3 × 2000 kg/ha Ca(OH)2 treatments.

Soil columns were used to study downward movement of calcite and dolomite applied at two rates on the soil surface or incorporated 0–5 cm deep in combinations with gypsum and surface-applied N fertilizer. The columns were irrigated with 800 mm of deionized water applied over 3 wk. Incorporation of the liming materials greatly accelerated their downward movement in soil. Calcite and dolomite were equally effective in raising soil pH at the lower depths. Neither gypsum nor fertilizer nor doubling the liming rate had much effect on lime movement. Key words: Lime movement, calcite, dolomite, gypsum