244 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 280 



The several strains of each variety tested for the past four years show decided 

 similarity in all characteristics. Dark strains of Crosby Egyptian are being 

 featured by seedsmen, their only difference from the old type being in the elim- 

 ination of the light zones showing so plainly on a cross section of most strains 

 of this popular variety. 



Twenty-three varieties and strains of tomatoes were planted, half of the 

 number of plants of each strain being staked and the other half grown flat. The 

 new variety Break O' Day introduced by the L". S. D. A. did not show up well 

 in our trials. It was not as early as described in comparison with other varieties; 

 the plants were uneven in maturity and type of growth; and the fruit was uneven 

 in shape, size, and color. Bison and Progress, two new varieties from North 

 Dakota, proved unsatisfactory since most of the fruit was of exceptionally poor 

 shape. After four years in our trials we have decided not to include the Burbank 

 variety again. From our results it appears to be a poor strain of Earliana. 



Asparagus Investigations. (Robert E. Young). 



Fertilizers. Two of the three series of asparagus fertilizer plots planted in 

 1928 were cut for the first time this season. The growth of the asparagus on the 

 Concord plots was so small that the cutting of any spears would have permanently 

 injured the bed. The beds at Waltham and Eastham were cut for a period of 

 two weeks each. Because of the short cutting period, the yield records cannot be 

 interpreted to the extent of saying that any one fertilizer treatment was better 

 than another. There was a wider spread in yields between duplicate plots with 

 the same treatment than between different treatments. 



The pH determinations have been made on all of the plots to determine the 

 effect of the different fertilizer combinations on the soil reaction. In all three 

 experiments, organic fertilizers such as fish, guano, cottonseed meal and goat 

 manure had a marked tendency to make the soil acid. The depression of the 

 pH was as much as two points in some instances. The application of ammonium 

 sulfate did not have the same effect on the pH on all plots. On the sandy soil on 

 the Cape this fertilizer did not affect the soil reaction to a very marked extent 

 except on the acid soil. On these plots the growth was less than half as high as 

 on the surrounding plots, and the stand had decreased 50 per cent. On the 

 \A'altham plots, sulfate of ammonia did not affect the soil reaction very signi- 

 ficantly. 



The growth of the asparagus on the plots at Eastham has varied quite widely. 

 Before the asparagus was planted, one-half of this land had a crop of carrots 

 that was not harvested but plowed under; a large crop of turnips was harvested 

 from the other half. The asparagus plots located on the soil which had previously 

 grown the carrots produced a much larger yield than did the other plots. The 

 line of demarcation was plainly visible throughout the growing season. The 

 yield records from these plots show that the most important factor in the growth 

 of asparagus in the Merrimac coarse sand, which is typical of the soil on Cape 

 Cod, is the supply of organic matter in the soil. 



Depth of Planting and Height of Cutting. The cutting season for these plots 

 was the full period of six weeks. The records for the cutting show that the 

 more green that is allowed to develop (8 inches to 12 inches), the more pounds 

 of asparagus may be removed per acre. There was no significant difference in 

 yield per plant of asparagus planted at the various depths; but there was a wide 

 variation in the mortality of plants planted at the various depths, as is shown 

 by the following table. 



