ANNUAL REPORT, 1931 245 



Depth of planting Plants alive 



Inches Per cent 



2 89 



4 87 



6 81 



8 70 



This reduction in the nimiber of plants would decrease the yield per acre to 



a very marked extent. 



Seed Improvement. (Robert E. Young, Waltham). Selections were made 

 from eight Fj strains of Blue Hubbard Squash. Some of the strains show promise 

 of being high yielders and of high quality, but these strains are not the shape 

 that is desired by our market. Crosses have been made with other strains to 

 obtain the desired shape. Dry matter was determined on many squashes and 

 some variations were found. Some selections will be made on this basis to try 

 to obtain dry type squash. 



Selections were continued on twenty strains of Horticultural Beans. The 

 beans from a few of the strains showed the color desired by our market. Studies 

 are being continued in the greenhouse to determine the factors affecting colora- 

 tion of the bean pods. 



The sport of Oshkosh pepper that has been grown at the Waltham Field 

 Station for some time has been found to set well under the adverse conditions 

 sometimes found around Boston. This pepper produces fruits that are varied 

 in shape and not \ery desirable for green peppers. Selections and crosses are 

 being made to improve this condition. 



Selections are being continued on the Bel-May Lettuce to keep up the foun- 

 dation stock. 



Selections on the Wyman Crosby Beet were continued for both shape and 

 zoning, in an attempt to improve the foundation stock of this beet. 



The foundation stock of the Hutchinson Carrot is being maintained. One 

 thousand pounds of seed were produced in California for distribution in 1932. 



COOPERATIVE TOBACCO INVESTIGATIONS 

 Conducted by the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Experiment Station. C. V. Kightlinger, U. S. D. A., in Charge 



Black Root-Rot. (C. V. Kightlinger). In 1930 sixteen different strains of 

 Havana Seed tobacco were grown in the field in an attempt to find, if possible, 

 strains that, under Connecticut ^'alley conditions, are satisfactory for resistance 

 to black root-rot, for type of plant, for tj^pe and quality of leaf, and for produc- 

 ing capacity. Four of these were strains of Havana Seed commonly grown in 

 the Connecticut Valley, known to be acceptable for type of plant and type and 

 quality of leaf, and used as standards of comparison in these respects. One 

 strain was Havana 142A3, known to be satisfactorily resistant to black root-rot, 

 and used as a standard of comparison in this respect. Eleven strains were new 

 strains of Havana Seed whose properties had never been determined under Con- 

 necticut Valley conditions. 



In these tests, none of the more common strains of Havana Seed showed sat- 

 isfactory resistance to black root-rot as strains, nor was it possible to select 



