80 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 347 



Trellis Tomato Experiments. (Robert E. Young, Paul W. Dempsey, Harold 

 A. Wilson, Waltham; Alden P. Tuttle, Amherst.) The trellis tomato crop for the 

 past season was above the average in production. The foliage remained green all 

 the way down the plant until frost. With such a good crop, many of the differences 

 due to treatment that were observed last year were lacking this past season. The 

 most outstanding treatment was the use of potted plants trained to a single stem. 

 Plants treated in this manner produced almost twice as many early fruits as did 

 the plants that were pricked out and then trained to two stems. All fruits picked 

 before the price on the Boston Market dropped below one dollar per basket 

 (24 pounds) are classed as early. This season the price received for early fruit 

 was about three times as great as that received for the remainder of the season. 

 Trellis tomatoes produced three times as many early fruits as did the same 

 variety (Comet) when grown fiat culture. 



The soil on which the tomatoes were grown was a good loam and when weather 

 conditions were favorable the various fertilizer treatments failed to affect the yield. 



Vegetable Breeding for Improvement of Quality. (Robert E. Young, Waltham.) 



Waltham Scarlet Shell Bean. Questionnaires sent to growers who had planted 

 samples of this bean indicate that the growers consider it superior to other strains. 

 The replies indicate that shell beans are one of the most difficult crops to grow 

 and produce a first -class crop. On certain types of land the Waltham Scarlet 

 does not do well. In general, this bean is increasing in popularity and there is 

 insufficient seed available to supply the demand. 



Waltham Beauty Pepper. During the past season, this pepper has continued to 

 find its place and is increasing in popularity, particularly among home gardeners. 

 It has proved to be a good pepper when grown within and north of Massachusetts, 

 but when grown farther south it has a tendency to be shorter on the longitudinal 

 axis. Plenty of seed of this variety is available. 



Lettuce. Considerable progress has been made toward the production of a better 

 acclimated New York type lettuce for Massachusetts. This project is in coopera- 

 tion with the Division of Fruit and Vegetable Crops and Diseases of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture. Selections from Columbia No. 1 which was 

 developed by the cooperating agency have proved superior to the parent stock 

 and considerably better than New York No. 12, the standard variety used by 

 growers. This project has not been continued long enough to determine the value 

 of the many lots of hybrids now in trial. 



The Eg generation of a cross between Bel-May, the forcing lettuce, and an 

 English strain has produced a very promising crop in the greenhouse. The new 

 hybrid has a better color and frame than Bel-May but has a slightly small head 

 for our market. The hybrid will be back-crossed to Bel-May this year to further 

 increase its size. 



Tomatoes. The Waltham Forcing Tomato has continued to gain in popularity 

 during the year. Almost all greenhouse growers who have tried this tomato have 

 been able to obtain a better crop of higher quality- tomatoes than with any other 

 variety or strain tried. 



Samples of the Waltham Forcing and a new Trellis Tomato No. 22 were sent 

 to many trellis tomato growers. Many greenhouse growers who have been using 

 the Waltham Forcing inside have also tried it outside. In general, both varieties 

 have set a satisfactory crop but on some farms the fruit has been too small. At 

 the Field Station the fruit has averaged four to five to the pound for the total 

 crop. The particular advantage of these strains of tomato over other varieties 

 that have been tested at the Field Station is the larger percentage of number one 



