80 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 388 



Also important among the newer vegetables was the "Yankee Hybrid" summer 

 squash. This variety is from three to seven days earlier than standard varieties. 

 It has a straight neck, good quality, uniformity, and gives an exceptionally high 

 yield over a long season. The "Delicious" and "Golden Delicious" varieties of 

 winter squash were outstanding in quality and store moderately well. 



Shape Index Studies of Tomatoes. (W. H. Lachman.) Five years ago a quan- 

 tity of seed was obtained of eight varieties of tomatoes that displayed major 

 differences in the shape of their fruits. Each year small plantings have been made 

 from the original stocks of seed to determine the effect of the various weather 

 conditions in modifying the shape of tomato fruits. While considerable data 

 have been collected, it is felt that more information is necessary before the results 

 are summarized. 



Tomato Breeding. (W. H. Lachman and G. B. Snyder.) The tomato breeding 

 project has been confined to the problem of incorporating the uniform ripening 

 gene into otherwise desirable tomato varieties. The uniform ripening character 

 is inherited in a simple manner and is dependent upon one pair of genes for its 

 expression. During the past season an F2 population of 293 individuals was 

 grown and the ratio was 3.37 normal green-shouldered individuals to one of the 

 uniform ripening. The uniform character appears to be a recessive, and these 

 results agree with the work of other investigators. 



Many single plant lines have been established, some of which are in the Fe 

 generation. The main difficulty has been to obtain lines which have sufficient 

 foliage to provide an ample coverage for the fruits and thus prevent sunburning. 

 Many of the original lines were determinate in habit of growth; that is, the main 

 stem grew for a short distance and then was terminated by a blossom cluster. 

 Any subsequent growth was made by lateral branches. 



Most of the more recent selections made have been indeterminate in habit 

 and thus the coverage of foliage is much better. Also, this type of plant can be 

 pruned and trained to a much greater degree of satisfaction. It is planned to 

 multiply the seed of the three best lines so that they can be sent out for trial 

 among a number of vegetable growers. 



Sweet Corn Breeding. (W. H. Lachman.) The object of the corn breeding 

 program has been to develop a hybrid which would provide earliness, produc- 

 tivity, disease resistance, and quality. During the past five years a system of 

 inbreeding has been practiced in an effort to obtain superior inbred lines with 

 characteristics which are sought in the hybrid. Approximately 100 such inbred 

 lines have been obtained and the work now consists of testing the inbreds in 

 various combinations of crosses to ascertain which of the combinations are most 

 desirable. 



During the past summer 40 such combinations were planted and carefully 

 studied during the growing period. Five of these performed especially well and 

 have been recommended for further trial. If they grow and produce as well in 

 another season, the seed stock will be multiplied and sent out for trial among a 

 number of vegetable growers. More combinations of the inbreds have been 

 made and will be tested further. 



Hybrid Sweet Corn Trials. (W. H. Lachman.) Hybrid corn has taken the 

 country by storm. Many varieties have been introduced lately and the list 

 grows longer each year. It has been recognized, however, that each hybrid has 

 a narrow range of adaptability because they are susceptible to very small changes 

 in environment. Hence, regional tests must be made before any hybrid can be 

 recommended for production within very narrow limits or localities. 



