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Three milliliters of chloropicrin injected 6" deep into moist soil will diffuse a cubic foot of soil volume in sufficient concentration to kill the Verticillium wilt fungus. This information—obtained from laboratory and greenhouse research—has been generally substantiated in commercial fumigation for Verticillium wilt control in chrysanthemums. It applies to soils varying from light sandy loams to moderately heavy clay loams; to soil temperatures of 45°F to 60°F; to soil moisture of a seedbed level extending to the soil surface; and to a completely pulverized soil tilth extending to at least a 9" depth.

Tested at Chowchilla, a new hybrid fig—the Conadria—showed such pronounced vigor of growth, crop production, and quality of fresh and dried fruit that one grower grafted ten acres of young trees to the new variety.

Tulelake—the largest late potato producing area in the state—holds most of the 8,000 acre crop for three to seven months as about half is seed potatoes for other areas. Tulelake also is the only area in the state that stores the crop in cellars requiring protection from cold as low as −30°F.

Overwinter storage of horseradish stecklings—slender roots usually 8" to 14" long and not over ½″ in diameter— from harvest until spring planting often results in heavy losses.

Late harvested walnuts in some areas of northern California—though not a common occurrence—have suffered considerable freezing injury to walnut kernels.

The navel orangeworm infestation in the 1955 walnut crop in northern California was less than it was in 1954, but whether the downward trend will continue in 1956 is unknown.

Production and quality of an important number of field, flower, fruit, ornamental, and vegetable crops—in many of the important growing areas of California—are adversely affected by air pollution.

Poor growth and a rough bark condition in a group of almond trees in the Paso Robles area attracted attention in 1952. Some trees showed considerable gumming of the trunks and lower parts of the main branches.

Diseases of gladioli—especially those carried on the planting stock—are the limiting factor in commercial production of gladioli in California.

A general increase in the economic importance of the citrus flat mite has occurred throughout the citrus-growing area of central California since 1952. Infestations of the mite on citrus have been reported from the Coachella Valley, and in 1955, heavy infestations were found severely scarring tangerines in the Imperial Valley.

The majority of the 1,125 buyers of the meat used in households interviewed in a survey of 15 large food stores in Berkeley preferred the U.S. Good grade over the U.S. Choice grade—when confronted with a sirloin steak and a rib roast of each grade—even though the prices were the same.