78 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 347 



worthlessness or redundancy. Further accessions then brought the collection up 

 to a total of 1551 at the year's end. A continuing system of accurate graphic 

 blooming records was started this year for all plants under observation. 



Although all effort in this project is working towards evaluation of garden 

 plants, particularly herbaceous materials, special emphasis is being placed on a 

 few of the most confused groups, such as Hemerocallis, Garden Phlox, and 

 Oriental Poppies. Of these three groups, the Daylilies have been well enough 

 studied to show that, in the absence of standards for judging, many worthless or 

 duplicate varieties have been introduced, also that commercial stocks are quite 

 mixed. Sufficient data are yet lacking to permit determination of outstanding 

 varieties. 



Much of the herbaceous test material was this year mulched heavily with hay 

 or shredded banana stems after the first spring hoeing and fertilizing. As has been 

 reported elsewhere, mulching proved beneficial for large woody plants, both 

 culturallv and economicallv. 



DEPARTMENT OF OLERICULTURE 

 Grant B. Snyder in Charge 



Packet Seed Studies. (G. B. Snyder and W. L. Lachman.) A large majority 

 of home gardeners buy their vegetable seeds from the neighborhood store in either 

 packet or bulk lots. It has been found that seeds purchased in this manner fre- 

 quently have a variable germination and are not true to the name under which 

 they are sold. In order to check these factors, state inspectors purchased some 

 168 lots from various stores in the State. These included fifteen of the more 

 important vegetables: beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, sweet corn, tomatoes, 

 cabbage, lettuce, onions, parsnips, peppers, radishes, spinach, and turnips. 



Field notes on germination indicated fair to good vitality in most lots. There 

 was some variation in trueness to name in the carrots and beets. Most of the other 

 vegetables were within the type range. " 



Systematic Studies of Vegetables. (A. P. Tuttle, P. W. Dempsey, and G. B. 

 Snyder.) During the past few \ears a large number of improved and new varie- 

 ties of vegetables have been offered to the vegetable grower. Many of these newer 

 sorts were planted in the trial plots along with the more standard sorts and com- 

 paratively evaluated for performance, quality, and adaptability to Massachusetts 

 conditions. Some one thousand different lots covering more than 50 different kinds 

 of vegetables were included in the trials. 



Water Requirement of Vegetable Crops. (W. L. Lachman and G. B. Snyder.) 

 Tomato plants grown in pots in the greenhouse responded well to heavy watering 

 and the plants receiving the most water out>ielded those plants with smaller 

 applications. Applications of water in var\ing quantities to tomatoes also appear 

 to influence the prevalence of blossom end rot. Studies conducted in the green- 

 house indicate that heavily watered plants are as susceptible to blossom end rot 

 as those which receive light applications of water. 



Vernalization of Vegetable Crops. (W. L. Lachman.) While rutabagas may be 

 vernalized, seed of cabbage soaked in water for twenty-four hours and stored at 

 0° C. for twenty-eight, forty-two, and fifty-six days have not thus far produced 

 plants which initiate a flower stalk before a head. 



Lettuce seed soaked in water and stored for ten da^s at 0° and — 5° C. produced 

 plants which initiated flower stalks earlier than those from seed not so treated. 



