New cherry bulletins, videos

Two new publications on cherry production and several sweet cherry videos covering training systems and pruning are available free to growers.

Cherry Orchard Establishment in the Pacific ­Northwest (PNW 642), written by Lynn Long and Clive Kaiser, Oregon State University extension educators, discusses factors to consider before planting cherries. The 12-page bulletin covers orchard economics, site suitability, orchard establishment and horticultural practices, plant material, what’s involved in planting, and ­determining labor needs and sources.

The second publication, Sweet Cherry Cultivars for Brining, Freezing, and Canning in Oregon (EM 9056), rates the suitability of 13 cherry cultivars for processing and provides strategies for profitability. Authors are OSU’s Long and Jeff Olsen.

Videos recently posted on www.giselacherry.com and YouTube cover training techniques for high density Upright Fruiting Offshoots, KGB (Kym Green Bush system), tall spindle axe, and the super high density super spindle axe, which is a new training system developed in Italy. Video presenters include Dr. Greg Lang, Michigan State University; Jon Clements, University of Massachusetts; Win Cowgill, Rutgers University; and OSU’s Long. The videos are sponsored by www.giselacherry.com, a collaborative Web site project of the university team mentioned above and Gisela, Inc.

The videos can be found at giselacherry com, on YouTube (search for the Gisela Cherry channel), or on the OSU Wasco County Web site: http://extension.oregon state.edu/ wasco/horticulture.

The cherry publications can be downloaded for free. To obtain the Sweet Cherry Establishment bulletin, visit: http://ir.library.oregon state.edu/ xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/37092/pnw642.pdf. For the processed cherries bulletin, go to: http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/ bitstream/handle/1957/37032/em9056.pdf.

Justin Morrill Hall will reappear at MSU

The Michigan State University Board of Trustees has voted to rename Agriculture Hall the Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture.

Earlier this year, the existing Morrill Hall at MSU was vacated and is now slated for demolition. A wooden structure originally built in 1900, Morrill had deteriorated, and it was determined to be beyond ­reconstruction and restoration.

The buildings are named in honor of the man who, as a U.S. congressman from Vermont, brought about the establishment of land-grant universities. The Morrill Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862.

Michigan State University was established in 1855, along ­principles advocated by Morrill, and calls itself “the pioneer land-grant ­university.”

“The original Morrill Act spurred congressional action in funding agricultural experiment stations and cooperative extension services,” said Fred Poston, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “These pillars of the Morrill Act were at the time, and continue to be, central to MSU’s identity and mission. It is therefore fitting that the name Morrill Hall be attached to MSU’s agriculture building.”

Plans are under way for an early fall renaming ceremony.