ANNUAL REPORT, 1944-45 19 



College, and an ash west of Clark Hall. Damage varied from slight scorching of 

 trunk to debarking of individual limbs and complete demolition of the ash. 



In the early summer of 1945, two street trees, in each case located near catch 

 basins into which water drains from near-by hillside streets, showed damage 

 suggestive of chloride injury. During the winter the streets involved are well 

 coated with salt to eliminate ice. Because of heavy snow and spring rains the 

 water levels of basins were rather high this spring. Local conditions suggested 

 that salt, which ordinarily might not be available to near-by trees, had reached 

 their roots as a result of an unusual combination of circumstances. 



Damping-off and Growth of Seedlings and Cuttings of Woody Plants as Af- 

 fected by Soil Treatments and Modifications of Environment. (VV. L. Doran.) 

 Work on the propagation of high-bush blueberry by softwood cuttings was con- 

 tinued in cooperation with John S. Bailey, and a second paper was published on 

 the subject.* Cuttings rooted better if taken not later than 2 to 3 weeks before 

 the first berries ripened. Their rooting was most improved and hastened by 

 B-(indole-3)propionic acid, less by potassium indolebutyrate, and least by indole- 

 butyric acid. Powder-dip treatments did not give so good results with blueberry 

 cuttings as did solution-immersion treatments, but there were good results with 

 Spergon-Hormodin No. 2. 



Especial attention was given' to the efifects of combinations of certain fungi- 

 cides with root-inducing substances, usually in the proportion of 1:1 by volume, 

 for the treatment of cuttings. 



In work with Lawrence Southwick it was found that length of life of unrooted 

 softwood cuttings of Mcintosh apple was consistently increased by Spergon- 

 Hormodin No. 2 or No. 3, but was not prolonged by Hormodin No. 1 or No. 2 

 used alone. The life of such cuttings was also lengthened if, after solution-im- 

 mersion treatment with indolebutyric acid, they were treated with Spergon alone. 

 Mid-June cuttings of Mcintosh rooted 33 percent after treatment with naphtha- 

 leneacetic acid followed by Spergon-Hormodin No. 2, not at all if treated with 

 naphthaleneacetic acid alone. 



Treatments of cuttings of rose with Spergon tended to retard rooting and 

 subsequent growth, but Arasan or Fermate similarly applied gave good results. 

 Thus, in a typical instance, rose cuttings rooted in the following percentages: 

 check, 58; Hormodin No. 1, 77; Arasan-Hormodin No. 2, 93; indolebutyric acid 



2 mg./gm. Fermate, 95. For rose cuttings, sand is to be preferred to sand-peat. 

 It was found that the best type of rose cutting has 2 buds, one (upper) leaf with 



3 leaflets or, if a 5-leaflet leaf, with the tip leaflet removed. 



White pine cuttings, rooting not at all without treatment and relatively poorly 

 with Hormodin No. 3 alone, rooted 64 percent after treatment with Fermate- 

 Hormodin No. 3. 



Cuttings of arbor- vitae rooted much better after treatment with indolebutyric 

 acid 8 mg./gm. Arasan, Fermate, or Spergon than after similar treatment with 

 indolebutyric acid in a carrier of talc. Indolebutyric acid 8 mg./gm. Fermate 

 also gave excellent results with Juniperus chinensis L. var. Sargenti Henry. 

 Cuttings of southern balsam fir rooted better if, after solution-immersion treat- 

 ment with indolebutyric acid, they were given a powder-dip in Arasan or Spergon. 



Probably because the root-inducing substance was too much diluted by the 

 fungicide (there did not appear to be chemical injury), rooting of cuttings of the 

 following species was more improved by treatment with Hormodin No. 3 than 

 by treatments with mixtures of it and the fungicides named below: Colorado 



*Doran. W. L. and Bailey, J. S. Propagating the high-bush blueberry by softwood cuttings. 

 American Nurseryman 81:7:10. 1945. (Mass. Sta. Contrib. 554.) 



