»6.8 MASS. EXiPBRIMENT STATION BULLETIN 260 



must be continued for several years longer before final conclusions can be 

 drawn. 



Study of Varieties of Tree Fruits- (J. K. Shaw and O. C. Roberts). 

 The observations on many varieties of tree fruits growing in the College 

 orchards, which have been carried on for several years, were continued 

 this year. With the accumulation of a considerable number of years' 

 records, it should be possible to make some deductions as to the relation 

 of climatic conditions to bloom and yield. 



Fruit Bud Formation in the Strawberry. (R. A. Van Meter). This 

 project was started in the spring of 1928 to study the effect of soil nitrates 

 on fruit bud* formation and on fruit production. Forty-five plots of 

 thirty plants each were established in 1928, involving nine fertilizer 

 treatments replicated five times, as given in the last annual report. No 

 differences were observed in the appearance of plants on the different 

 plots either during the summer of 1928 or in the spring of 1929 prior 

 to fruiting. The summer of 1928 was moist and all plots grew well. 



At harvest time the fruit from each plant was checked and graded for 

 size. Differences between treatments were slight, but there seemed to be 

 a consistent difference in favor of the later applications. 



A new series of forty-five plots of sixty plants each was estaiblished 

 in the spring of 1929. These are in nine series, treated as follows: 



1. No nitrates 



2. August 5, nitrate of soda 



3. August 16, nitrate of soda 



4. August 16, sulfate of ammonia 



5. September 3, nitrate of soda 



6. September 16, nitrate of soda 



7. September 16, sulfate of ammonia 



8. October 4, nitrate of soda 



9. October 22, nitrate of soda 



Nitrate of soda was applied at the rate of 309 pounds per acre, and 

 sulfate of ammonia at the rate of 232 pounds per acre. Superphosphate 

 at the rate of 600 pounds per acre and muriate of potash at 150 pounds 

 per acre were worked into the soil along the rows immediately after 

 planting. All plants made an excellent growth, and no differences be- 

 tween plots were observed during the summer. 



Work not on a Project Basis- As in previous years, work has been 

 done along lines not definitely classified under the various listed projects. 

 This is mostly by members of the Pomology Department not on the Sta- 

 tion Staff. The principal work along these lines is briefly mentioned. 



The "Set" of Mcintosh Apples in Middlesex and Worcester Counties. 

 In the spring of 1929 county extension services and certain growers in 

 these two counties reported that Mcintosh apples failed to set properly 

 and asked for assistance from the Experiment Station. Prof. Bailey and 

 Mr. Roberts spent some time in these two counties cooperating with the 

 county agents in studying this situation. Considerable data were col- 

 lected and these indicated that the set was not as poor as had been re- 

 ported. This observation seems to be supported by the fact that the crop 

 at harvest was at least fair. The Mcintosh is one of the varieties that 

 blooms rather freely every year, but suffers a severe early drop. In this 



