ANNUAL REPORT, 1941 83 



had its effect, but our plants were irrigated and did not suffer for water. The 

 earliness was not affected but there was a general lack of vigor and insufficient 

 foliage. 



A number of hybrids were made in the greenhouse last year in order to intro- 

 duce certain characters of quality, also to test other varieties as to their value in 

 combining with our strain to produce a satisfactory hybrid. One of the varieties 

 used was Victor, a new determinate type, early, with uniform ripening of the 

 fruit. At that time it was thought that the uniform ripening character was a 

 desirable one for our strains. The hybrids of this cross did not have the usual 

 vigor of the other tomato hybrids. The stems were weak and small. Insufficient 

 replicates were grown to make possible an accurate determination of yield but 

 the yield of early fruit was not so heav^^ as would be expected. During the season 

 observations were made of the way the fruit of the Victor, and other varieties 

 having uniform ripening character, colored and there is now a question whether 

 this character is desirable in our trellis types. A cross between Trellis No. 22 and 

 a late, vigorous Comet was much later than would be expected. This cross was 

 made to obtain more foliage for a tomato of the No. 22 tj'pe. 



From the behavior of these and other hybrids, it would seem that our trellis 

 type tomatoes exert very little effect on the hybrids in which they are used. 



It has recently been reported that the hybrid vigor of summer squash exhibited 

 in the Fi generation was carried over into the F2 population. This F2 lot of 

 plants, while showing segregation as to size and shape, still had earliness and yield. 

 If this fact should be true for tomatoes, it would be easy to produce the F2 popula- 

 tion from a few hand-pollinated hybrid fruits. To determine whether tomatoes 

 will behave in this way several plots were grown of the parents Fi and F2 of 

 Waltham Forcing X Early Rutgers. The poor crop made it difficult to evaluate 

 the results but it would seem that the F2 of this hybrid was about as good in 

 production as the Fi. Further study will be made of this factor and a rating of 

 the desirability of other varieties as parents in such a program. 



During winter meetings with the growers the question has been asked as to 

 the value of using early started tomato plants. Certain growers felt that an older 

 plant will produce earlier. To test this contention seed of the Waltham Forcing 

 tomato was sown on February 15. The plants were carried along slowly and trans- 

 planted several times, but at setting time they were really overgrown. They 

 were not potted but dug out of the bed with a ball of soil. These plants had 

 %-inch fruits at setting time. The regular crop was started April 1 and trans- 

 planted in a bed in the greenhouse 2X2 inches, then to the coldframe 4 X4 inches. 

 These plants also were set with a ball of soil. It is true that the early started plants 

 had ripe fruits very early, but they were small; during the first three pickings 

 they produced an average of 8.5 fruits that weighed .92 pound per plant, com- 

 pared to 11.3 fruits weighing 1.6 pound per plant obtained fron the regular 

 crop. The total yield from the early started plants was 1.95 pounds compared 

 to 2.69 pounds from the plants started at the regular time, and from these results 

 it would seem that if plants are to be started early they must be grown in pots 

 or baskets. These plants were very slow to start growth after setting. 



Greenhouse Tomatoes. During the year trials of various hybrid tomatoes have 

 been made to see which will combine with the Waltham Forcing and Bay State 

 to produce a good tomato with hybrid vigor. An F2 generation of a cross between 

 Waltham Forcing and Michigan State Forcing was also grown, and the results 

 indicate that the F2 plants are vigorous. The yield was very high although the 

 fruit was not very uniform. 



A discovery that may make the production of hybrid seed much easier is that 

 the tall non-productive plants that have frequently been found in the Waltham 

 Forcing strain in the greenhouse are only partiall}' sterile. Pollen from good 



