272 



STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



4. Early and late settmg. — Three lots of Ignotum, each containing- 

 twelve plants, were set in the j&eld at different times, for the purpose of 

 determining if the date of planting, within ordinary limits, greatly influ- 

 ences earliness and yield. The plants were all grown from seed sown 

 January 19, and they were vigorous and stocky when set in field. The 

 first lot, which may be designated No. 1, was set May 7. That night there 

 was a frost and the tips of the plants were killed. Another lot was there- 

 fore set May 9. For some days the weather was cold and raw, although 

 no frosts occurred, and for three weeks it was very wet. The third lot 

 was set at the general planting, June 1. 



Table VII. — Early and late setting. Total crop. 



Plot. 



No. 1. Set in field May 7. 



No. 2. 9- 



No. 3. " " June 1 



Date of first 

 picking. 



August 22. 



July 27... 



" 27... 



Avg. wt. of 



individual 



fruits. 



5.» 

 5.7 

 5.4 



The results are decidedly in favor of the second planting, made May 9. 

 Even the frosted lot nearly equaled the main planting, but the plants were 

 so checked that the first ripe fruits were three weeks later than in the 

 other lots. It will be noticed, however, that lot 2 was no earlier, so far as 

 first fruits are concerned, than the late planting, but the first pickings 

 were heavier in lot 2. In both lots, the flower buds had already appeared 

 when the plants were set, so that the first fruits were already determined; 

 in the earliest lot, these buds had been killed by frost. The following is a 

 detailed account of the behavior of the plants to frost: 



Table VIII. — Early and late setting. Detail record. 



- » 



It will be noticed that the lessened productiveness of lot 1 — the earliest 

 setting — as compared with the main setting in lot 3, was due to the delay 

 of fruiting caused by the injuries of the frost, for the pickings, when they 

 once began, averaged heavier than in the latest setting. The great advant- 

 age maintained by the second setting — lot 2 — was not due to absolute 

 earliness, but to early productiveness; and this supports the conclusions 

 which we have already drawn from our studies of fertilizers, that pro- 



