92 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 388 



of overmaturity. Those kept at around 34° F. retained fair eating quality for at 

 least a month. A few fruits subsequently split open. 



During the summer certain leaks in this room were corrected, the coils were 

 removed, and a small automatic blower system was installed. This arrangement 

 allowed for the storage of 100 additional boxes. With the 300 bushels, mostly 

 Mcintosh, this room is now considered sufficiently full and gas-tight for effective 

 operation as a modified-atmosphere storage room. It was filled and temporarily 

 sealed up in October but later the apples were removed in order that som^e altera- 

 tions might be made. It was again filled and sealed on November 27. Previous 

 leakage tests indicated less than 5 percent leakage per 24 hours. At the time of 

 this writing (December 20), this storage is performing satisfactorih-. The ox>'gen 

 level is now down to 2 percent. 



It is entirely possible that modified-atmosphere storage, especially for Mcin- 

 tosh, ma\' shortly displace in some degree conventional cold storage methods. 

 It seems to offer advantages that are very desirable and perhaps necessary for the 

 continued prosperity of the industry. 



Study of "Bud Sports" of the Mcintosh Apple. (J. K. Shaw and L. Southwick.) 

 Trees of 21 so-called "bud sports" were planted in the spring of 1941. Three 

 of these have been propagated for several years, while the others are selections 

 from orchard trees. Half of these are on dwarfing and half on vigorous stocks. 

 The purpose of this planting is to maintain the selections and to see what color 

 type of apples they bear. Most of them are supposed or known to be non-striped 

 strains. 



Trees of six forms are ready for orchard planting next spring for the purpose 

 of measuring accurately not only the color type of the fruit but also the vigor, 

 productiveness, and other characteristics of both tree and fruit. 



Nutrition of the High bush Blueberry, Especially in Relation to Soil Reaction. 



(J. S. Bailey.) Mixing lime with the soil reduced the growth of blueberry plants. 

 Mixing 5 percent peat with the soil reduced slightly the bad effects of the lime. 

 This work was reported in the Proceedings of the American Society of Horticultural 

 Science 38, 1941. 



An experiment was started in the spring of 1941 to compare the value of cow, 

 horse, and hen manure as fertilizer for blueberries. Manures have been thought 

 to be harmful to blueberries, especially when applied on soils with a pH above 5. 

 To date the plants look fully as good as those fertilized with mineral fertilizer. 



Blueberry Culture. (J. S. Bailey.) During the summer a diversion ditch was 

 constructed around the experiment station blueberry planting so that trouble 

 from erosion should be reduced to a minimum. 



The plantings yielded a little over 3000 quarts as compared with 2000 quarts 

 in 1940. 



Experiments to control the cranberry fruit worm on blueberries by dusting 

 were continued. Because so few worms were present, even in the checks, the re- 

 sults were not conclusive. 



The budding work of 1940 was a complete failure. The bud shields stuck to 

 the stocks but the buds died. This work was repeated in 1941. The buds were 

 set low and protected for the winter by piles of sawdust. 



Since the war has cut off the supply of imported peat which has been quite 

 generally used for propagating blueberries, a substitute must be found. A com- 

 parative test of several domestic peats was started in the spring of 1940. Nothing 

 which is superior to the imported peat has been found. A leaf mold irom Massa- 

 chusetts and a sphagnum peat from Maine compare favorably with the im- 

 ported peat. 



