94 AIASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 378 



Sunglo is said to be an improved South Haven. With us it has shown 

 little superiority, and considering that there are other excellent varieties 

 of this season, it is doubtful whether it finds a place. 



Sungold is a large, firm, freestone, yellow-fleshed peach of Elberta 

 season; not very attractive and of only fair quality. 



Fruit Bud Formation in the Strawberry. (R. A. Van Meter.) In 1939, 

 twenty plots of 300 plants each, involving four treatments, were estab- 

 lished to study the relation of time of mulch removal to the performance 

 of fruit buds. An abnormally late, cold spring tended to eliminate the 

 eflfects of diflferential treatments to such an extent that the trial is being 

 repeated. 



Twenty plots of 200 plants each were established in 1940. These were 

 given differential treatments as follows: 



1. Light mulch to be removed early. 



2. Light mulch to be removed late. 



3. Heavy mulch to be removed early. 



4. Heav^y mulch to be removed late. 



It is expected that observations on tliese plants next spring will bring 

 this phase of the study to an end. 



Bud Mutations. (J. K. Shaw and W. H. Thies.) The collection of 

 20 bud selections of Mcintosh budded last year served as a source of 

 material for a new project elsewhere outlined. Trees of all 20 lots will 

 be set for orchard observation. 



Most of the bud sport selections top-grafted in 1930 have borne fruit. 

 A solid red selection of Mcintosh from our own orchards shows no signs 

 of stripes or splashes, but all selections color about equally well. The 

 selections from Wealthy differ very slightly if at all. Among the Bald- 

 win selections, one which produced ill-shaped apples with a tendency to 

 a five-lobed form maintains this character but is of no commercial value. 



The most marked variation is among tlie Gravenstein selections. Scions 

 from a "flat limbed strain", which did not show the malformation up to 

 1935, now show it, not only in tlie selected graft but on other branches 

 in the same tree grafted witii normal wood. It does not appear on two 

 other top-worked Gravenstein trees in the same orchard. This suggests 

 that this abnormality may be transmissible and possibly caused by a virus. 

 One of the selections of Gravenstein for high color is rather exceptional 

 and is being propagated for comparison with the Washington type now 

 in cultivation. None of the other selections were mucii superior to the 

 common striped type and some could not be distinguished from it. These 

 observations are in harmony with the belief that Gravenstein more fre- 

 quently shows bud mutations than other common varieties grown in 

 Massacliusctts. 



Storage of Apples in Modified Atmospheres. (O. C. Roberts and L. 

 Southwick in cooperation with Engineering Departrnent.) Mcintosh 

 apples were stored in 40-quart milk cans from harvest time in 1939 until 

 February 1940. It is probable that the cans were not gas tight, for the 

 oxygen content in no can fell below 8 percent. No attempt was made 

 to remove CO2 which rose to a maximum of 16 percent with an average 

 varying between about 5 percent and about 12 percent in different cans. 

 Mcintosh stored September 25 at 60°-65° F., in roughly 12 percent CO2 



