ANNUAL REPORT, 1938 81 



studied in order to observe their effect on earliness, yield, and quality of the 

 fruits produced. 



Five lots of Waltham Beauty plants were grown and treated as follows: Light 

 added from 5 to 11 p. m., phosphorus added, dextrose added, plants potted in 

 4-inch pots, plants blocked out in flats 10 days prior to field setting. Each treat- 

 ment was replicated five times. 



Three pickings were made before August 1. The plants grown in pots were 

 more vigorous and produced 50 percent more fruit by weight than those of any 

 other treatment. The fruit was of good size and quality. 



Asparagus Investigations. (Robert E. Young, Waltham.) 



Varietal Improvetnent. Individual yield records for 278 selected asparagus 

 plants have been kept for the past 6 years. The yields of these as a group vary 

 from year to year. This last year the yields were very low, and this condition 

 seemed to exist throughout the State, for commercial growers reported poor crops. 

 The reason for the reduced yields over a large area was apparently unfavorable 

 weather. At Boston, the weather records indicate that the temperature for May 

 was slightly below normal and for June was very slightly above normal. The 

 rainfall for both months was considerably above normal, and this excess rainfall 

 no doubt retarded development of the asparagus buds by keeping the soil cold. 

 These buds developed after the harvest season and produced a larger number of 

 summer stalks than normal. The increased summer growth was an indication 

 that reserve food was in the asparagus crowns but was not used up because of 

 unfavorable weather conditions. 



From the yield records of these plants certain ones were selected for parents. 

 Seed from high-yielding plants was planted in 1936 and the crowns set out in 

 1937. While yield records will not be taken until next season, considerable differ- 

 ence in vigor was noted in the summer growth. There was a surprisingly small 

 difference in the number of stalks produced the year the plants were set out 

 compared with the second year of growth. 



The order of growth of these strains from highest to lowest is the same as the 

 average of yields produced by the two parents, and it is hoped that this relation- 

 ship will continue in the yield records. If the growth-yield relationships are the 

 same for young plants as they have been proved to be for plants of harvesting 

 age, several of the new strains should be a definite improvement in asparagus 

 varieties. It will require several more years of breeding work to obtain the 

 desirable characteristics in an improved variety of asparagus. However, this 

 work may be hastened by asexual propagation. 



Depth of Flantittg and Height of Cutting. This is the ninth year of this experi- 

 ment, which was designed to determine how the harvesting of spears of varying 

 lengths of green would affect the yield and life of an asparagus planting. The 

 yields this year are the lowest that have been obtained in this experiment. 



In a year of low yields the height at which the spear was cut did not affect the 

 yields any differently than in previous years of good yields. From the stand- 

 point of the asparagus grower, maximum yields may be obtained by allowing the 

 spear to grow to 8 inches and cutting 1 inch below the soil, thus producing a 

 9-inch bunch with 8 inches of green. 



In the depth-of-planting experiment the yields this year show that where the 

 soil is kept cold during most of the harvest period by excessive rainfall, the shal- 

 low-planted asparagus will produce considerably more than the deeper-planted 

 crown. 



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

 Waltham; Alden P. Tuttle, Amherst.) This is the third year of this experiment 

 designed to determine which of the many cultural and fertilizer practices used 



