ANNUAL REPORT, 1937 45 



kerosene alone, at a third of the cost for materials. It also burns off completely 

 the foliage of hoary alder. '^ 



5. A spray of 75 pounds of sodium chloride in 100 gallons of water eliminates 

 fireweed'^ and beggar-ticks. i^ 



6. Iron sulfate spread broadcast late in June or very early in July, a ton to 

 an acre, eliminates tearthumb.'^ 



Cold Storage of Cranberries. (C. I. Gunness, H. J. Franklin, and C. R. Fel- 

 lers.) The study of home cold storage of cranberries begun in 1936 was continued, 

 the Department of Agricultural Engineering and the Department of Horticultural 

 Manufactures cooperating with the Cranberry Station. A small insulated 4-room 

 refrigerating plant was equipped at the Cranberry Station and berries were kept in 

 it at 35°, 40°, 45°, and 50° F. Berries were also kept in cellar and other storage for 

 comparison. A detailed report is not yet justified, but it is extremely interesting 

 that it was found that partly ripe cranberries color up very much better at 45° 

 to 50° F. than at temperatures either higher or lower than that. 



Late Ripening and Keeping Quality of Cranberries. (H. J. Franklin.) A study 

 of the relationship of the earliness of the ripening of cranberry crops to their 

 relative keeping quality was based on the yearly records of first carlot shipments 

 of the New England Cranberry Sales Co. from 1912 to 1937 inclusive, and the 

 records of Dr. Neil E. Stevens of general cranberry keeping quality in those 

 years. It showed that the crops that ripen late apparently always keep well. 



COOPERATIVE CRANBERRY INVESTIGATIONS 



Conducted by the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department 



of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Massachusetts 



Agricultural Experiment Station 



H. F. Bergman, Senior Pathologist, U. S. D. A., in Charge 



Development of Strains of Cranberry Resistant to False Blossom. (H. F. 



Bergman and W. E. Truran.) Reciprocal crosses were made during the past 

 season between Early Black and the varieties Aviator, Centennial, McFarlin, 

 and Shaw's Success; also between Centennial and McFarlin and between Cen- 

 tennial and Shaw's Success. In addition to these the following crosses were made: 

 Early Black x Paradise Meadow, McFarlin x Aviator, McFarlin x Paradise 

 Meadow, McFarlin x Shaw's Success, Shaw's Success x Aviator, and Shaw's 

 Success X Paradise Meadow. Seeds from these crosses will be planted during 

 January and February. Seedlings from crosses made in 1935 were set out on the 

 bog during the past summer. 



During the last week in August some 300-400 clones of wild cranberries were 

 collected in Maine. Several different localities and habitats were represented in 

 these collections. The vines were taken to East Wareham, where they are being 

 stored over winter to be propagated In 1938. Vines collected in Maine in 1931 and 

 1932 have made slow growth on the bog due to very dry summers since they were 

 set out, but many of them are now beginning to bear fruit. Several of the selected 

 wild vines show very desirable vine and fruit characters under cultivation. 



1^ Alnus incana Moench. 



1^ Erechtites hieracifolia Raf. 



^^ Bidens spp. 



^^ Polygonum sa^ittatum L. 



