396 NEW JERSEY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 



by those who have overcome the "color impression" the yellow is 

 often preferred. The " Champion " comes into bearing earlier, and if 

 green fruits were excluded from the record there would not be much 

 in favor of the ' ' Sunrise. ' " 



This crop shows that fair crops of tomatoes may be grown continu- 

 ously upon the same land when the latter is kept in good tilth and 

 the plants are sprayed, and all diseased fruits are promptly removed 

 from the field. 



EXPERIMENTS IN CROSSING CUCUMBERS. 



From the crosses effected in 1899 between the "White Spine " upon 

 the "White Pearl," twelve plants were grown last season. The char- 

 acteristics of the fruit of this cross were shown in Plate 11. of the 

 report for 1900, along with those of the two parents. Seeds of the 

 fruits of the above cross were used to fill Plot IV., Series IV., there 

 being 36 hills. 



Barring the severe attack of the beetles when the plants were small 

 and saved from them only by timely vigilance, the use of insecticides, 

 net covers and hand-picking combined, the plants made a fine growth 

 and exhibited a vigor that wag satisfactory. When the fruits appeared 

 it was at once evident that the plot bore a motley lot of crossed plants. 

 Many of them produced fruits of all degrees of color, from the clear 

 white to a mottled, middle type and then on through all shades of 

 green to the greenest that are produced. In size and shape the varia- 

 tion was no less, for some were nearly round, while others were long 

 and slender. The type that was fairly uniform the previous year had 

 been broken up in the second generation, quite in keeping with the 

 general rule with crossed and hj^brid plants. 



In the midst of the season several of the more evident types of 

 marketable size were selected for photographing, and Plate IV. shows 

 the appearance of these in general form, but the shades of green are 

 only unsatisfactorily shown. 



One of the chief points in mind in this crossing was the removal of 

 the spines, and this has been quite fully accomplished in some in- 

 stances, while contrariwise other crossed plants produce fruits of 

 remarkable roughness. For example, if one makes a comparison 

 between Nos. 7 and 8 in the engraving (Plate IV.) with Nos. 14 and 

 15, he will be impressed with the spines upon the former and their 

 nearly entire absence from the latter. 



