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A new method of packing oranges—called rapid pack—was in operation during the 1957 season on a citrus ranch near Santa Paula.

Organic manures or cover crops in southern California citrus orchards have—to a large extent—been abandoned. Scarcity, increased costs, rapid disappearance of organic matter in many soils, and a lack of strong evidence as to its actual benefit to the tree, are among the factors that have limited their use.

Malformed bud unions on young citrus trees—particularly lemons—budded upon Cleopatra mandarin and Sampson tangelo rootstocks vary in relation to the height of the budding. The reasons for the variations in bud union reaction with height of budding are not known but approximately 8″ seems to be the critical height.

The first of a series of reports of a survey of characteristics of retail grocery stores in five counties in California made cooperatively by Departments of Home Economics, University of California, Berkeley and Davis, and the United States Department of Agriculture, under the authority of the Research and Marketing Act as part of Western Regional Research Project WM-26.

Flavor and sweetness are closely related factors—especially in fruit products—but there exists a level at which added sucrose ceases to enhance the flavor of the product and the relationship between sweetness and flavor is influenced by acidity.

The most destructive species of spider mites—found in localities where experimental investigations were conducted in 1956—was the European red mite. Infestations of the Pacific spider mite and the two-spotted spider mite were limited and noneconomic.

The use of geese to clean fields of tough perennial grasses—such as Johnson, Bermuda, and nutgrass—has expanded in recent years to include nearly all broadleaf crops.

Studies have shown that various aspects of agricultural production can dispose of large quantities of sewage sludge.

Developed—primarily—for use in vegetable crops, labor transport machines consist essentially of a frame mounted across the rear of a wheel tractor to extend outward far enough to carry several laborers who ride in a prone position and perform such operations as thinning, weeding, trimming and planting. The length of the frame can be varied to carry as many as eight men—one man per row. The beds for the workers can be moved to match the row spacing of the crop. The frame is attached to the power lift of the tractor to permit the operator to adjust its height above the ground.