ANNUAL REPORT, 1929 3*65 



DEPARTMENT OF POMOLOGY 

 F. C. Sears in Charge 



The Interrelation of Stock and Scion in Apples. (J. K. Shaw and 

 J. S. Bailey). The usual records of growth, bloom, and yield of the trees 

 in the eleven-acre orchard have been taken during the year. The trees 

 have responded to increased applications of nitrate of soda with better 

 growth, and the 1930 crop should be somewhat greater than the rather 

 small crops of previous years. The grass has been suppressed over a 

 space about five feet in diameter around the tree trunks in an effort to 

 prevent girdling by mice. No such injury has appeared since this practice 

 has been followed. Inasmuch as the lease of this land expires in two 

 years, it is probable that the report on this project will be held until the 

 expiration of the lease. No new tendencies have appeared in the past year. 



The orchard set in 1928 consisting of Mcintosh and Wealthy trees on 

 Clonal stocks from the East Mailing, England, Experiment Station, have 

 made a good growth, it being necessary to replace only two trees. It 

 will, of course, be several years before any report can be made of the 

 comparative value of these stocks for the two varieties used. It seems as 

 though there may be possibilities for commercial orchards on these stocks 

 which may be expected to produce semi-dwarf trees which will come in 

 bearing early, thus reducing the capital investment in an orchard at the 

 start of production. 



Root cuttings from several of these stocks were set in the spring of 1928 

 and were large enough to bud the second season. In order to make this 

 method of propagation practical, it must be shown that they have consider- 

 ably greater value than seedling stocks. Probably the more usual method 

 of mound layering is preferable. It is planned to dig the several hundred 

 of these stocks now in the nursery rows in the spring of 1930, increasing 

 them so far as possible and establishing a new nursery for layering these 

 stocks. 



Tree Character of Fruit Varieties. (J. K. Shaw and A. P. French). 

 A study of varietal characteristics of nursery trees continued the past 

 summer, largely in connection with the work of the leaders of this project 

 in certifying varieties for the Massaclnisetts Fruit Growers' Association. 

 More than two million trees were examined. Substantial progress has been 

 made in determining characteristics for the identification of sweet cherry 

 varieties, and it is now thought possible to detect mixtures of cherry 

 varieties with a fair degree of certainty. This should be valuable, as 

 cherry varieties have been badly mixed in the nursery. Little work has 

 been done with pear and plum varieties for there is at present little de- 

 mand for these fruits. There are few serious difficulties in variety iden- 

 tification. The problem of peach variety continues troublesome, and yet 

 there is enough known to detect many mixtures and misnamed trees. 



A variety nursery was estaiblished in the spring of 1929, and grafts and 

 buds of more than one hundred varieties of apples are included- These 

 include all the varieties of apples that are extensively grown in American 

 nurseries, also many new varieties that may have a place in the near 

 future. A few varieties of peaches were also included. It is planned to 

 make a critical studv of these varieties as one-vear trees in 1930 and as 



