258 



Report of the Horticulturist op the 



two plants in the other row. The plants in pots were not grouped 

 as in the first test but were alternated with plants out of pots, 

 first a plant in a pot then a plant out of a pot and so on through- 

 out the house. This was done both with single-stem and with 

 three-stem plants. 



It was thought that in the first test the plants were crowded 

 too closely together, so in this test the single-stem plants were 

 set two feet apart in the row thus allowing each lAant 21 square 

 feet of bench surface. The three-stem plants were four feet apart 

 in the row thus giving each of them an area of 5f square feet. 



Adding soil to henches. — The mound of earth which was put 

 around the plants as they were transplanted to the benches was 

 covered with moss (sphagnum) to prevent the too rapid evapora- 

 tion of moisture. The moss served this purpose admirably. De- 

 cember 30, a layer of about an inch of soil was covered over all 

 the bench. In about a week the plants began to fill this new soil 

 with roots. • Another layer of about two inches of soil was added 

 to the benches March 16, and April 19 a third layer of about two 

 inches. June 1, all fruit, both green and ripe, was picked and 

 the experiment was closed. 



I 



Plants not in pots. — Of the thirty plants not in pots twenty 

 were trained to single-stem and ten to three stems. The single- 

 stem plants averaged 1.94 inches high when pricked off and 6.19 

 inches when benched. The plants for three-stem training aver- 

 aged 2.00 inches when pricked off and 7.20 inches when benched. 

 The more vigorous plants were assigned to three-stem training 

 yet eventually the single-stem plants gave the larger yield as 

 shown by the following table: 



Taule v. — Plants not in Pots. — Time of Ripening First Fruits, Average 

 Weight per Fjiuit and Yield per Square Foot of Bench. 



•See note. Table I. 



