ANNUAL REPORT, 1930 285 



262 Intensive Grassland Management. R. C. Foley, E. J. Montague and C. 

 H. Parsons. 17 pj). February, 1930. 



The system of grassland management here reported is based on four distinct prin- 

 ciples: (1) Division of area into plots; (2) use of concentrated fertilizers; (3) 

 rotational grazing; and (4) combination of grazing and hay land. The system has 

 been in operation here for two years and in spite of two extreme seasons, the first 

 wet, the second dry, has given excellent results. The second year, in the face of a 

 serious drought, it showed greater returns than the first year, and marked improve- 

 ment in every respect. This two-year trial has proved that the grazing season may 

 be lengthened and the carrying capacity of a pasture increased by the application 

 of the four principles enumerated above, thus lessening the amount of barn feeding 

 necessary. 



263 Food Service in Massachusetts Rural Elementary Schools. Esther Davies. 

 19 pp. April, 1930. 



This survey covered 222 of the 236 towns of less than .5000 population and in- 

 cluded 57.600 pupils housed in 800 buildings. Of these, 567 had no food service what- 

 ever ; 185 had hot drink or soup during the winter only ; in 23 a meal was Served 

 during the entire school year ; and in 23, milk was available for the children during 

 the entire school year. There were 16,000 pupils who must always remain at school 

 over the noon hour, and of these 6000 attended buildings where there was no food 

 service. An examination of 1560 box lunches showed that 93 per cent of the children 

 cari-ying them had no hot food at noon, and only 15 per cent brought milk. A de- 

 scription is given of eight different types of food service in use in buildings varying 

 from the one-room schoolhouse with practically no facilities to buildings with full 

 meal service. While the type of service which can be offered is limited by the phys- 

 ical equipment of the building, the examples show that no building is too poorly 

 equipped to make some sort of hot food possible, at least during the winter months. 

 iVIuch remains to be done in establishing and improving school lunches ; and with 

 the growing tendency toward consolidation of rural schools, the question is becoming 

 of greater importance each year. 



264 Duration of Annual Molt in Relation to Egg Production. F. A. Hays and 

 Ruby Sanborn. 14 pp. June, 1930. 



A number of factors which may influence duration of molt are considered, as fol- 

 lows: environmental factors, such as hatching date; hereditary characteristics, such 

 as age at first egg, intensity, winter pause, broodiness, and persistency ; and physi- 

 ological activities, such as previous egg production, 365-day production, and gain in 

 body weight during the laying year. Relation of duration of molt to vigor and to 

 second-year production is determined. The study was made with Rhode Island Red 

 birds, and includes all females hatched from 1917 to 1928 and kept for two full 

 laying years. In general, but little correlation was found between duration of molt 

 and the factors studied. Highly intense layers and persistent layers, however, had 

 the shortest molt period, indicating that the physiological process of molting and 

 feather gi-owth took place at a more rapid rate in heavy layers. 



265 A Chemical Study of Cranberries. F. W. Morse. 16 pp. October, 1930. 



A study of the chemical changes occurring in cranberries while ripening on the 

 vines was made during two seasons. Total sugar was found to increase rapidly as 

 the berries ripen, while total acid remained nearly unchanged. Cranberries do not 

 acquire their maximum proportion of sugar until fully ripe on the vines. 



Studies of cranberries in cold storage covered two seasons and showed that they 

 steadily lose sugar by respiration. Total acid decreases also, but at a smaller rate. 

 While cranberries remain sound they contain enough acid to maintain their tart 

 flavor. 



In the fall of 1929 there were received from growers in Massachusetts, New Jer- 

 sey and Wisconsin 116 different lots of cranberries representing 61 distinct varieties. 

 These were analyzed for total acid, total sugar and dry matter. The range in per- 

 centages of total acid was from 1.87 to 2.71 and in percentages of total sugar from 

 2.45 to 5.66. Thirty-five samples contained more than 4.5 per cent of sugar ; 49, 

 between 3.5 and 4.5 per cent ; while 32 contained less than 3.5 per cent of sugar. 

 The samples lowest in sugar were, as a rule, only partly ripe when harvested. 



Ten varieties resisted decay in cold storage to the extent of 60 per cent of sound 

 berries on April 1, 1930 ; four varieties had all their samples fully half rotted by 

 January 15 ; and the remaining varieties were in that condition by the end of Feb- 

 ruary. 



