16 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



The fertilizer experiments on asparagus so far have shown 

 positively that the nse of chemical fertilizers alone has main- 

 tained the plots so treated at a somewhat higher prodnctiveness 

 than the combination of chemicals with stable mannre. There 

 is some indication, however, that the combined treatment will 

 be snperior in the years to come. 



The three crops preceding this year showed that the maxi- 

 mnm yield of asparagus shoots had been reached only with 

 the maximum application of phosphoric acid. The asparagus 

 plant is not at any stage a heavy consumer of phosphoric acid, 

 and there had been applied a calculated surplus of the sub- 

 stance in the minimum amount. Nevertheless, there was evi- 

 dently a need of more phosphoric acid, so the quantities ap- 

 plied this year were doubled and will be maintained at the 

 higher rate in the years to come. 



By another year, with the return to duty of Director Brooks, 

 it will be possible to publish a detailed report of the fertilizer 

 experiments. 



Prof. J. B. Norton of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, has published the results 

 of the experiments in breeding rust-resistant varieties of aspar- 

 asiis in Bulletin 263, Bureau of Plant Industry, entitled, 

 " Methods used in breeding Asparagus for Rust Resistance.'' 

 The bulletin covers the work up to the end of 1911, and shows 

 notable progress in developing an immune variety. As a result 

 of his field observations, Professor Norton, on page 59, makes 

 the following important statement : " When rust was found in 

 a commercial field, by following it up to the northwest, in the 

 direction from which the prevailing winds come, a young bed, 

 an old neglected bed, or wild asparagus was found in every 

 case, and always with the remains of clustercup infections." 

 He then suggests that wild plants should be dug up and burned, 

 new beds should be planted where they will not affect cutting 

 beds, and every shoot in the commercial field should be cut 

 until the middle of June, 



The cranberry substation at East Wareham has illustrated 

 one of the uncertainties which confront the cranberry grower. 

 The crop this year when picked was estimated to be a little over 



