ANNUAL REPORT, 1932 43 



Canned Red Sqviill Rat Baits. (M. G. O'Connor and P:. M. Mills. Bureau 

 of Biological Survey, U. S. D. A.) This research, financed by the K-R-0 

 Company of Springfield, Ohio, has shown that beef or horse meat, whiting, macker- 

 el, haddock, and cereals, when mixed with red squill powder and canned, proved 

 to be acceptable yet toxic baits for rats. Proper sterilization processes have been 

 worked out for these canned baits. 



DEPx\RTMENT OF OLERICULTURE 

 Ralph A. Van Meter in Charge 



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



Fertilizers. The asparagus plots located at Waltham on a rather heavy soil did 

 not produce as high yields in 1932 as those located on the lighter soils at Concord 

 and Eastham. The spears at Waltham were very small, but the number of spears 

 per plant was large. Older asparagus growing in another bed adjacent to these 

 plots produced a large percentage of fancy spears, while almost no spears large 

 enough to be graded as fancy were produced on the fertilizer plots. Nitrate of 

 potash and sulfate of potash did not give as good results as muriate of potash. 

 The difference in yield of the plots receiving the various nitrogen carriers was 

 insignificant. Results this year show that potash is necessary for high yields. 



The plots at Eastham, Massachusetts, on a light, gravelly soil gave very good 

 results. Yields were high and the proportion of fancy spears was much greater 

 than at Concord or Waltham. The plot receiving seaweed and superphosphate 

 remains the highest-producing plot in the experiment, probably due to the capa- 

 city of this plot to hold moisture and plant food. Ten of the plots are duplicated 

 on an acid soil. Some of the fertilizers gave better results on the acid soil, but 

 ammonium sulfate gave only about 60 per cent as great a yield as on the regular 

 plot. 



The plots at Concord were cut for a period of two weeks this year. Last year 

 they were not cut, due to poor growth of the previous season. The yield was very 

 good for the short period of harvest. The plot that produced the highest yield 

 was one receiving cottonseed meal as the source of nitrogen. This was followed 

 closely by the plots which received the nitrogen as sulfate of ammonia and the 

 phosphorus as basic slag. The remainder of the plots are grouped very close to- 

 gether in yield. The plot receiving no potash was notably low. Acidity tests 

 made late in the fall show that the average pH has been raised from 4.5 to about 5.8. 



In general the results obtained this season are much more promising than those 

 of last season. There were some substitutions made in the fertilizer materials 

 used, one being the use of calcium cyanamid, superphosphate, and potash in 

 place of a mixture of ammonium phosphate and potash. The cyanamid was 

 applied at the regular time, June 20. At that time there was a very heavy crop 

 cf weeds about three inches high covering the ground. A few days after this 

 application of about 750 pounds of calcium cyanamid per acre, the weed growth 

 had been completely killed. It apparently did not affect the asparagus plants. 



Depth of Phintiiio and Height of Cutting. The most significant result of this 

 experiment seems to be the increased mortality where the asparagus roots are 

 planted 6 and 8 inches deep. The decreased number of plants in these plots has 

 reduced the yield. The roots planted at the shallow depth of 2 and 4 inches pro- 

 duced by far the most asparagus. If the yields are computed on the basis of a 100 

 per cent stand, however, the roots planted 8 inches deep rank first in yield, followed 

 by the plots where the roots were planted 2, 4, and 6 inches deep, respectively. A 



