ning, and other factors on apple fruit 

 bud formation. Two statistical tech- 

 niques applied to his data in 1922 — 

 probable error and correlation coeffi- 

 cients — appear to be the first time 

 statistics were used by scientists in the 

 Experiment Station. E. J. Rasmussen 

 and others in a series of experiments 

 on changes in apples during storage 

 observed that pre-cooling Mcintosh in 

 the first five days following picking 

 aids keeping quality, that 30° (F) tem- 

 peratures (cold storage) kills apple 

 maggot larvae and that scab spots in- 

 crease on apples stored between No- 

 vember and July. During the 1930s, an 

 interest in pollination led L. P. Latimer 

 to the finding that Cortland and Early 

 Mcintosh varieties are cross-incom- 

 patible because pollen tube growth is 

 inhibited in the style. Several triploid 

 varieties (those having 3 sets of chro- 

 mosomes) of apples were found to be 

 undependable pollinators. J. R. Hepler 

 and others conducted extensive vari- 

 ety tests of vegetables. With interest in 

 the cultivation of high bush blueberries 

 increasing, W. W. Smith initiated a 

 selection and hybridization program, 

 later continued by E. M. Meader, and 

 investigated techniques of propagation 

 of the plants. 



A. F. Yeager was appointed as 

 Horticulture head following Potter's 

 resignation in August, 1938. Follow- 

 ing nine years as head of Horticulture 

 at North Dakota State and two years at 

 Michigan State he came to New Hamp- 

 shire in 1939. His employment marked 

 the beginning of a lengthy and produc- 

 tive period of plant breeding research 

 in this department. 



Poultry Husbandry 



Station supported research in poultry 

 began in 1926 with the appointment of 

 E. M. Gildow, veterinarian, as Assis- 

 tant Poultryman, but the Poultry De- 



partment in the college had been es- 

 tablished in 1916 with R. V. Mitchell 

 as head. In 1918 pullorum disease was 

 causing excessive chick mortality, and 

 control and that of other contagious 

 diseases were important if the indus- 

 try was to develop. A blood testing 

 program to identify reactor chickens, 

 conducted by the department, in 10 

 years drastically reduced flock infec- 

 tion from the pullorum organism in 

 the state permitting breeding flock size 

 to increase and the industry to expand. 

 It is virtually eradicated today. 



The first research report on poul- 

 try was Station Circular No. 27 (1928) 

 by E. M. Gildow (D.V.M.) and W. 

 Wisnicky , poultry pathologist, entitled 

 Coccidiosis in Chickens. Three other 

 Station Circulars on poultry research 

 quickly followed: No. 28 by H. O. 

 Stuart, assistant poultry husbandman 

 (1928), "Anti-Rickitic Value of Cod 

 Liver Oil, Cod Liver Meal and Fish 

 Meal"; No. 29 by H. O. Stuart (1929). 

 "Certification in Poultry"; and No. 30 

 by Gildow and C. A. Bottorff, veteri- 

 narian, "Vaccination for Prevention of 

 Fowl Pox." 



A. W. (Red) Richardson was ap- 

 pointed head of Poultry Husbandry in 

 1918 and under his dynamic leader- 

 ship, poultry breeders in the state, using 

 the Rhode Island Red breed as founda- 

 tion stock, selected for desired broiler 

 qualities — rapid growth and early 

 feathering — ultimately developing a 

 breed called New Hampshires which 

 achieved official recognition by the 

 American Poultry Association in 1935. 



P. I. Fitts, an instructor in Poultry 

 from 1922-1924, was later appointed as 

 N.H. Commissioner of Agriculture, a 

 position he held for many years. As 

 Commissioner he was a member of the 

 University Board of Trustees. 



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