apples were also kept, and again those which failed to develop bitterness 

 were selected for seed production. Seed from these selected carrots was 

 planted in the field during 1956. The 1956 crop from storage has been 

 sampled once more and the development of the bitter principle has been 

 only 1/4 that of the standard red-cored Chantenay. Seed is being grown 

 again from carrots selected for their good flavor. Eventually a strain may 

 be produced which will not become bitter in storage. 



Other Carrot Breeding 



At the present time, there seems to be a preference by consumers for a 

 long slender carrot of good table quality. The ideal type might be a 

 cylinderical root, or nearly so, about eight inches long with bright orange 

 outside color and with crisp, sweet flesh that rates excellent flavor when 

 cooked. Crispness and fine table quality are found in the Nantes variety. A 

 carrot from Japan grown in the variety trials was found to have very long 

 slender bright orange roots. This oriental carrot also had strong vigorous 

 tops. All of the desired characteristics for an ideal new variety seemed to 

 be found in these two varieties, so crosses have been made between them. 

 Even after fully utilizing the greenhouse facilities and the techniques for 

 carrot breeding as already outlined, it will still be several years before 

 this project can be completed. 



Cocheco Sweet Corn 



In 1947, a cross was made between the extra early, yellow, sweet corn 

 variety, Golden Gem. and a flint corn. Fort Kent by name. This field corn 

 from the Maritime Provinces of Canada is extremely early. The objective 

 of the cross was to produce a sweet corn fully as early as the Fort Kent 

 corn. The resulting variety, Cocheco. is earlier than any other sweet corn 

 we have grown at Durham, New Hampshire, is yellow in color, but has 

 only fair table quality. Cocheco has short stalks; in fact, such short stalks 

 that the ears are sometimes picked at by crows standing on the ground. 

 The ears have mostly eight to ten rows of kernels. Cocheco has merit for 

 its extreme earliness as a yellow sweet corn. It should be of use to plant 

 breeders who want these characteristics as a starting point for producing 

 an early variety for the commercial gardeners. Cocheco can be grown by 

 home gardeners where other varieties are too late to mature. 



Eggplant Breeding 



The New Hampshire eggplant described in Station Bulletin 380 is a popular 

 early, large, black variety for northern states. Only one other kind has been 

 earlier than the New Hampshire eggplant at Durham, New Hampshire. It 

 is a variety with tomato-shaped, green-striped, immature fruits that ripen 

 a brilliant scarlet red color. This variety is called Chinese Red or Oriental 

 Scarlet. It belongs, however, to the species, Solanum integrifoHum, which 

 finds use primarily as an ornamental plant in this country. 



Reciprocal crosses were made between the Chinese Red and New Hamp- 

 shire eggplants in an attempt to get an extremely early variety from this 



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