ANNUAL REPORT, 1944-45 53 



During the harvest season it was noted that one selection, a cross between 

 Trellis No. 22 and Baltimore, did not crack. During the early part of the pick- 

 ing season it had only 1.8 percent cracked fruits as compared to 33 percent for 

 Trellis No. 22. (In this case, a crack is regarded as any split in the skin regardless 

 of size.) The crackless fruit was found to have air pockets surrounding the seed 

 cavity which may offer some explanation as to why cracking does or does not 

 occur. 



Greenhouse Cucumber. Seed of two hybrid cucumbers that were reported last 

 year as out-yielding their parent lines 25 percent was distributed to growers for 

 trial, along with two of the inbred lines. Either the hybrids or the strains, or 

 both, were tried in about twenty-five different greenhouses. 



Hybrid No. 11 was considered the best by the largest number of growers. 

 Hybrid No. 10 and strain No. 1 produced well for some. Strain No. 2 was too 

 short to be a satisfactory greenhouse cucumber. One grower who kept very 

 accurate records reported that hybrid No. 11 produced 18 percent more cucum- 

 bers during the month of March than his own strain. 



The problem of producing hybrid cucumber seed for the growers is under con- 

 sideration, and experiments are being conducted. 



Samples of seed of hybrids No. 10 and 11 and strain No. 1 are available to 

 greenhouse growers for further trial and testing. 



Rutabaga or Cape Turnip. Bristol White rutabaga, bred for the growers in 

 Bristol County, Massachusetts, has been found by growers in other sections of 

 the country to have wide adaptation. It produced a satisfactory crop in dry 

 weather when other varieties produced woody, inedible roots. Further testing 

 of this variety has been delayed by a seed crop failure resulting from a mosaic 

 disease. However, samples will be available for distribution in 1946. 



There has been very little opportunity to have Waltham Yellow rutabaga 

 tested because of the failure of the seed crop. 



The characteristics of both of these varieties were given in last year's Annual 

 Report. 



New York Type Lettuce (In Cooperation with U. S. Bureau of Plant Industry). 

 The name Waltham Imperial has been given to a selection taken from material 

 supplied by the cooperating agency. This selection is somewhat similar to 

 Great Lakes and was taken from the same breeding material. Two years' trials 

 indicate that under local conditions Waltham Imperial will produce a greater 

 percentage of marketable heads than Great Lakes. In the 1944 spring trials, 

 this strain produced 97 percent marketable heads as compared to 81 percent frr 

 Great Lakes. 



Since lettuce is so greatly influenced by weather conditions, it is necessary to 

 make tests and comparisons for several years to determine whether the strain is 

 sufficiently broad in its adaptability to produce marketable heads each year 

 regardless of the weather. As soon as a supply of seed can be produced, samples 

 will be distribute d to growers for trial. 



Other strains a nd selections were tested and some seemed to be well adapted 

 for summer use. One strain, No. 13, produced 92 percent marketable heads as 

 compared to 46 percent for Waltham Imperial and 45 percent for Great Lakes. 



Greenhouse Lettuce. Trials of Waltham Early Forcing lettuce in growers' green- 

 houses indicate that it is not so good as Bel-May. Some of its characteristics 

 were improvements but others more than offset them. Breeding work with 

 greenhouse lettuce is being discontinued except to maintain a supply of stock 

 seed of the Bel-May. 



