Part of this has already been planted. 

 Its performance will be an indication 

 of the progress made to date. 



L. J. HiGGINS 



Smooth Brome Grass 

 Strains Under Test 



Smooth brome grass is increasing 

 in importance as a forage crop in 

 New Hampshire. It is taking the 

 place of timothy in many seedings 

 and promises to assume a great deal 

 of acreage on dairy farms, particul- 

 arly when seeded with ladino clover 

 or alfalfa. 



New strains of smooth brome that 

 have been produced in plant breed- 

 ing programs in the northeast region 

 are being tested in New Hampshire. 

 During the summer of 1950, six syn- 

 thetic strains and 25 lots of seed 

 produced from promising smooth 

 brome families were seeded in small 

 plots on the Whenal farm in Green- 

 land, N. H. Each strain was repli- 

 cated four times in properly random- 

 ized plots and all are being com- 

 pared with Lincoln, the most popu- 

 lar southern brome variety, and a 

 Canadian or northern brome strain. 

 Two strains produced by the New 

 Hampshire Station are included also 

 in this series of plots. 



The synthetics are seeded alone, 

 and also with alfalfa in this test. 

 While no yield data are as yet avail- 

 able, by such testing it is hoped to 

 determine whether any of the new 

 lines are superior to those now being 

 used. If any are found that are su- 

 perior yielding or are better for 

 some other factor, such as disease 

 lesistance, steps will be taken to 

 multiply the seed for commercial use. 

 F. S. Prince 



Kennebec Most Promising 

 New Potato Variety 



Each year, twenty or more potato 

 varieties are grown in Durham, to 

 rate them for yielding ability. The 



more promising ones each year are 

 {produced in a tuber unit seed block 

 at Colebrook. The Kennebec, a new 

 variety originating in Maine, was the 

 highest yielding potato in the variety 

 testing program in 1950. It makes ex- 

 cellent potato chips, but is not so 

 mealy as the Green Mountain. 



Many new varieties of potatoes 

 are being released through the Na- 

 tional Potato Breeding Program. As 

 fast as these are released in this 

 area, either as numbered or named 

 varieties, they are subjected to test- 

 ing in our research program. Here 

 they are compared with Green Moun- 

 tain and other standard varieties. 



P. T. Blood 



Pototo Varieties for Chipping 



Twenty-two varieties were tested 

 for their suitability for chips during 

 the winter. These had all been pro- 

 duced in our variety testing program 

 at Durham. 



Some varieties such as Kennebec, 

 Mohawk and Russett consistently 

 make good marketing chips, while 

 others such as Essex and Cortland 

 just as consistently make poor chips. 

 A good chipping variety must not 

 contain an undue amount of reduc- 

 ing sugars. Since these varieties be- 

 have as they do, the amount of re- 

 ducing sugar in any variety must be 

 considered to be a genetic factor. 

 P. T. Blood 



Disease-Resistant Oats for 

 New Hampshire 



Until the early 1940's, oats were 

 not a "sure crop" for grain. Some 

 years, farmers harvested a 75-bushel 

 crop, and other years the same varie- 

 ty produced only 25 bushels. The 

 difference was generally due to dis- 

 ease; some years stem rust, crown 

 rust and smut were more prevalent 

 than in other years. 



In 1943, the Agronomy Depart- 

 ment, in cooperation with the U. S. 



15 



