
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 20, 1990                   TAG: 9004200160
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

ERRATIC TEMPERATURES BLAST FRUIT CROP AGAIN

Virginia's spring fruit crop has suffered significant damage from unsettled temperatures, the latest being a record low reading early Thursday at Dulles International Airport, officials say.

Temperatures fell to the low to mid-30s overnight across the state and dipped to 27 at the airport outside Washington, D.C., breaking the previous record low for the date of 29 degrees, set in 1979, the National Weather Service said.

Jack Rollins, a state fruit specialist at the Fruit Research Laboratory in Winchester, said apple orchardists there see significant damage. The greatest apple loss has been to red delicious, which blooms earlier than other varieties. Peaches, which bloom earlier than apples, have been hurt even more.

But some farmers have been aided by the cold, said Richard Nunnally, director of the extension service office in Chesterfield County.

"Wheat and small grains may be helped because the cold may kill some insects," Nunnally said.

by CNB