Arizona Acricultural Exi'i:ki.mi:n r Station' 455 



CORN 



The work with corn this year has been confined to that part of 

 the project relating to the resistance of the pollen, to heat and dry 

 air. Apparently varieties difTer in this respect. Methods for the 

 artificial germination of corn pollen have been successfully tested 

 out and a beginning of systematic research is being developed on 

 the part of the project. 



The Papago sweet corn put out by this department (See Bul- 

 letin No. 75) has now found its way into the regular seed trade and 

 is becoming popular in many parts of the Southwest. An unex- 

 pected development for this variety is its high promises as an 

 ensilage corn in the high altitudes of northern Arizona, and in 

 parts of the middle and eastern states where it has been tested. 



DATES 



The orchard of seedling Deglet Noor dates planted at the 

 Tempe Date Garden, April 1-25, 1912, bloomed and bore fruit for 

 the first time during the present season (1917). At this time 235 

 trees are alive and in a healthy growing condition. Of the 49 trees 

 blooming, 22 were females and 27 were males; 21 females bore 

 fruit. Careful notes were made upon these October 24th, at which 

 time the fruits on a number of the trees were ripening. It is inter- 

 esting to note that 10 of the 21 females bore fruit as light in color 

 as the Deglet Noor female parent, whereas, the other 11 had fruits 

 which were deep red when matured, and black when ripe. These 

 facts offer the first step in the genetic analyses of the Deglet Noor 

 date, for they indicate that the Deglet Noor variety is homozygous 

 for the light colored fruit, whereas, the Deglet Noor male seedling 

 used as a parent in this cross, had for a male parent some dark 

 colored date. They furthermore indicate that the dark color of 

 certain dates (Plyani, Perdy, etc.) is a unit character. As to quality 

 of fruit, date of ripening and response to the stimulus of heat in 

 artificial ripening, these seedlings varied widely. The quality was 

 for the most part poor, a fact which further emphasizes the futility 

 of attempting to start commercial date orchards from seedling 

 trees. There were, however, one or two rather promising trees 

 which indicate the possibility that by the time all of the 235 trees 

 have proven their characters, an amply sufficient number may be 

 found well worthy of selection for breeding stock in the further 

 I'rf)secution of this ])r()ject outlined in 23rd .Annual Report, p. 384. 



