70 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 355 



grown plants have been consistent over a period of two years and demonstrate 

 definitely that the best insurance against losses from stem rot and for increasing 

 the percentage of rooting is to grow geranium stock plants under glass. 



The results obtained by treating geranium cuttings with a synthetic growth 

 substance in powder form were very satisfactory. While such treatments did not 

 appreciably reduce losses from stem-rot disease, a much higher percentage of 

 treated cuttings rooted. Roots were much more abundant on treated cuttings 

 than on the checks. 



Cuttings from geranium plants at Waltham were taken to a local commercial 

 greenhouse for rooting, to determine whether management of the propagation 

 houses and conditions therein were important. On the same date cuttings were 

 taken from this grower'^ inside pot-grown plants and from his field plants, for 

 rooting at Waltham. None of the plants had been sprayed. Irrespective of 

 conditions in the propagating house at Waltham or the commercial greenhouse, 

 cuttings from inside-grown plants rooted better than those from field-grown 

 plants. 



Geranium cuttings from inside-grown plants gave a high percentage of rooting 

 in 23^ inch pots of soil, whereas cuttings taken from field plants rooted very 

 poorly under such conditions. 



The use of horticultural wax emulsions as dips for the foliage of geranium cut- 

 tings to prevent excess transpiration did not prove successful. Root cuttings of 

 geraniums did not prove satisfactory for propagation, at least under fall condi- 

 tions; however, root cuttings made in the spring when the plants are in an active 

 state of growth may give better results. 



A report in detail of propagation work with geraniums was published in the 

 Proceedings oj the American Society for Horticultural Science, 1937. 



Packet Seed Studies. (Clark L. Thayer.) For a third season the Department 

 of Floriculture has cooperated with the Seed Laboratory in a study to determine 

 the quality of flower seed sold in retail seed stores and in various other types of 

 retail outlets. The seeds which were collected by state inspectors were weighed 

 and analyzed for purity in the laboratory and were tested for germination and 

 trueness to type under field conditions. 



A total of 175 lots comprising 36 different kinds of flowers and packeted by 

 28 wholesalers was included in the tests. Records on germination in the field 

 showed the following results: 1 13 lots, good; 43 lots, fair; 13 lots, poor; 6 lots, no 

 germination. Complete records on trueness to type were not obtained because of 

 extremelv adverse seasonal conditions; 97 lots gave satisfactory results, 2 lots 

 were fair, 17 were not satisfactory, and for 59 lots the records were incomplete. 

 Detailed results are included in Bulletin No. 96 Control Series, Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. 



DEPARTMENT OF HOME ECONOMICS NUTRITION 

 Helen S. Mitchell in Charge 



Cause and Control of Nutritional Cataract. (H. S. Mitchell, G. M. Cook, and 

 O. A. Merriam.) Human cataract is a degenerative change in the lens which 

 causes it to become opaque with gradual blurring and final loss of vision. Surgical 

 removal of the lens and the proper coi rection by a glass lens restores only a portion 

 of normal vision. There is no effective therapeutic agent for the prevention or 

 cure of cataract, nor does medical science know its cause. 



The experimental induction of cataract in rats is a step forward, and allows 



