124 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



9-10 EDWARD VII., A. 1910 

 Selection from Field for Earliest Ripe Fruit. 



It will be seen from the above tables that in a selection from individual plants 

 each year the selection for earliness has resulted in plants which bear ripe fruit nine- 

 teen days earlier than the plants from the selection which has been made for produc- 

 tiveness, whereas, on the other hand, the plants from the selection for earliness and 

 uniformity without regard to productiveness, yielded 20- 45 per cent less than the 

 plants selected for productiveness, but the amount of ripe fruit up to August 18 was 

 46-11 per cent greater in the selection for earliness than that for productiveness. 



Comparing the selection for earliness from the individual plant each year with 

 that where the selection was made from the first ripe fruit in the plot or field, it will 

 be seen that the average date of first ripe fruit is five days earlier where the selection 

 was made from the individual plant, although by August 18 the yield of fruit was 

 somewhat more from the field selection. The total yields were almost the same. At 

 each picking of tomatoes the relative uniformity of the crop was gauged by the eye, 

 three, two, one, and no asterisks being given according to the uniformity of the fruit. 

 "While this method could not give perfectly accurate results, it should be fairly reli- 

 able. The selection for uniformity for several years has not so far shown as marked 

 results as the selection for earliness. No check plots of unselected plants have been 

 used in this experiment. 



SPRAYING. 



Spraying to control insect pests and fungous diseases is now a regular practice 

 with the best fruit growers, but there is still a large proportion of the men that grow 



