36 ExPF.Ri.MFXT Station Bulletin 363 



Radioautographs of growing parts show that radioactive phosphorus 



accumulated in large quantities in fruit buds and blossoms and in the 



xylem of primary leaves. 



Russell Eggert 



Experiments with Blueberries 



Lowbiish. One plot on a high-producing area was treated with 500 

 pounds of nitrate of soda, and another with 1000 pounds of 7-7-7 fer- 

 tilizer, on September 3, 1942. These plots made much more vigorous 

 gro\\'th and produced more fruit of a higher grade than did the control 

 plots. Plots on a run-out area, near-by, were given the same treatment 

 and showed very little response. 



Two plots on a run-out area which had not been burned for several 

 years were treated with 500 pounds of ammonium sulphate and 7-7-7 

 "fertilizer, respectively, on May 21. 1943. Vegetative growth on both 

 plots was increased over four inches during 1943 and 1944. The 7-7-7 

 treatment also greatlv increased the yield in 1944, and has produced a 

 verv heavy blossom set on the same plot in 1945. Control plots were 

 nearly defoliated and did not bloom during the same period. 



Other treatments with 500 and 1000 pounds per acre of the same 

 fertilizers on June 29, July 15, and x\ugust 4, 1944, were less effective. 

 Of these, the June 29 application of 1000 pounds per acre of 7-7-7 in- 

 creased blossom formation in 1945. 



A three-inch mulch of old sawdust, applied 18 months previously, 

 has stimulated vigorous rhizome formation and spread of clons. 



Micro-sulphur and po\\dered wood charcoal added to separate plots 

 in 1944 have produced no apparent results. 



Highbiish. Bushes growing on wet clay loam soil for 1 1 years and 

 heavily mulched with bluegrass hay for the last three years are all severe- 

 ly injured and many bushes are already dead. Plants in the patch, which 

 was ridged to provide drainage, made from eight to 12 inches of growth 

 in 1944 and bloomed heavily in 1945. Plants of all varieties on trial have 

 been transferred this year to a deeper sand to gravel loam soil having bet- 

 ter drainage. A R. Hodgdon, A. F. Yeager 



Variety Trials and Breeding Work 



Strawberry crosses involving Fairfax as a parent have resulted in most 

 cases in firm, attractive, dark-red fruit of good flavor. A cross between 

 Tupper and Fairfax resulted in a variety which produced very firm fruit 

 of high quality but of relatively low yield. Crosses made between Path- 

 finder and Catskill resulted in plants which produced large fruit and good 

 yield. The fruit of these crosses, however, tended to be somewhat soft 

 in texture and of mediocre quality. Crosses involving Simcoe as one 

 parent also produced firm-fleshed berries. Certain crosses will be used 

 in further breeding work after selections are made for good flavor, firm- 

 ness of fruit, attractive appearance, and high yield. 



Crosses between certain cultivated varieties and our wild native 

 strawberry Fragaria virginiiwa have resulted in plants with fairly high 

 yield and resistance to drouth and winter injury. The flavor of some 



