physiological efficiency in nutrient use 

 should improve productivity and 

 economy of fertilizer use. Research 

 with wood ashes on corn soils indi- 

 cated that dairy farmers, using manure 

 and wood ashes supplemented with 

 small amounts of phosphorus, could 

 reduce costs and improve efficiency. J. 

 R. Mitchell (Cooperative Extension 

 agronomist) and Estes determined that 

 manure plus starter fertilizer gave high 

 corn yields and reduced the need for 

 nitrogen — the most important oper- 

 ating cost in corn production. Dairy 

 farmers rely heavily on alfalfa as a 

 forage crop. Analyzing the relation- 

 ships among soil organic matter, alu- 

 minum and alfalfa root dry weight, 

 Estes found that with high levels of 

 organic matter, aluminum is less toxic 

 and productivity is improved. 



In the second quarter of this cen- 

 tury. Station agronomist, F. S. Prince 

 concluded that sovbeans could not be 

 grown for seed in this state because of 

 the short growing season. More re- 

 cently, Station agronomist D. W. Koch 

 found that high protein soybeans, 

 mixed with corn, improve the quality 

 of silage for dairy cattle, but confirmed 

 that growing soybeans as a cash crop 

 here in New Hampshire was not rec- 

 ommended. Interestingly, Y. T. Kiang 

 is breeding large-seeded soybeans to 

 mature in late summer for use as a new 

 vegetable for home gardeners and 

 vegetable growers. 



Koch found that hay drying time 

 can be substantially shortened by ap- 

 plying a chemical mixture to the stems 

 during mowing. Other advantages are 

 that the drier hay contains more di- 

 gestible nutrients and is less apt to 

 heat in the bale. 



Mitchell and Koch compared a 

 plowless (no-till) method for sod seed- 



ing of forages as an alternative to con- 

 ventional plowing. All vegetation is 

 killed with herbicides, lime and fer- 

 tilizers are applied to the surface, and 

 the seeds are drilled into the sod. 

 Farmers using the system, however, 

 complained that the more desirable 

 perennial grasses and legumes (pre- 

 ferred for pasture because annual 

 seedings are costly) were not respond- 

 ing because surface-applied fertilizer 

 and lime were not reaching the roots. 

 Five different annual crops evaluated 

 by Mitchell and Koch, one of which 

 was a Brassica called 'Tyfon', improved 

 the soil condition for subsequent 

 planting of legumes which require good 

 seedbed conditions. Moreover Tyfon 

 appeared to produce a toxic chemical 

 which prevented the growth of weeds 

 but not of perennials. Sheep fed on 

 Tyfon produced more meat per animal 

 than hay-grain fed lambs and this 

 pasture plan saved the cost of feed, 

 lime and fertilizer. 



Apples are well adapted to New 

 England conditions and are an impor- 

 tant fruit crop for Granite State or- 

 chardists. The 'Mcintosh' is a popular 

 apple which, during late season con- 

 trolled-atmosphere storage, suffers 

 from soft flesh, mealy consistency, 

 cracking of fruit and less juice content, 

 all of which result in substantial fruit 

 loss. Station fruit specialist }. E. Pol- 

 lard has investigated the effect of pec- 

 tin-hydrolizing enzyme activity and 

 other factors on this condition. A 

 growth retardant, daminozide, is 

 widely used by commercial orchard- 

 ists to control tree size and regulate 

 harvest, but information on the influ- 

 ence of retardants on calcium nutri- 

 tion — an important factor in main- 

 taining fruit quality during late season 

 storage — is meager. Pollard showed 

 that in the short-term, daminozide 



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