28 N. H. AGR. EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 208 



Fertilizer Experiments in the Peach Orchard. 



The crop of peaches was destroyed by injury to the fruit buds by cold 

 weather in March, 1922. The only records taken, therefore, have been 

 records of trunk diameter increase which gauge the relative growth of trees 

 in different plots. As had previously been indicated, those trees which re- 

 ceive nitrogen are of greater size than those which do not, the results ap- 

 parently being the same whether the nitrogen is applied alone or in com- 

 bination with other fertilizing elements. 



Plant Breeding Experiment. 



In the fall of 1921 sixty-four selections from high and low yielding Bonny 

 Best tomato plants were made by Mr. Hepler, on the basis of the yield up 

 to September 13, the normal date for an early frost. The wet season of 

 1922 decreased the yield to a considerable extent. No appreciable difference 

 is shown in total yields between the 32 plants from high yielding parents 

 and the 32 plants from low yielding parents; but there is a very considerable 

 difference in strain, some strains yielding as high as 6.5 pounds, others 

 less than 2 pounds. The difference in yield in individual plants is also very 

 marked. Further selections have been made from the most consistent 

 yielding strains in the experiment in order to perfect a high producing early 

 strain of Bonny Best tomatoes. 



In the fall of 1921, 90 hills were selected from a 3 acre field of Green Moun- 

 tain potatoes for planting in 1922, to study the effect of hill selection upon 

 the yield. These hills varied in yield from 4 ounces per hill to bYi pounds 

 for the higher yielding hills. The potatoes were carried over in cold storage 

 and were in the very best of condition when planted. Some differences 

 were noted in the dates at which the tops of the different strains were ma- 

 tured. The yield data are not yet available. 



In addition to the tomato and potato selection work which has been carried 

 on under this project, work was commenced in 1922 on breeding of sweet 

 corn. A considerable number of crosses were made between the Evergreen 

 and the Bantam; the Crosby and the Bantam varieties. It is expected 

 to obtain data on the inheritance of the number of rows of kernels per ear 

 which varies widely in these varieties. It is also thought that particularly 

 in the crosses between Crosby and Bantam it may be possible to isolate 

 superior individuals for a new variety of canning corn. 



MISCELLANEOUS INCOME PROJECTS. 

 Inspection, Analyses and Tests. 

 Three hundred and si.xty samples of commercial feeding-stuffs were analyzed 

 for the State Department of Agriculture in connection with the enforce- 

 ment of the state law regulating the sale of these materials. The results 

 of this work are reported in Bulletin No. 205 of the New Hampshire Col- 

 lege Agricultural Experiment Station. The relative number of feeding- 

 stufi's in the respective classes was very similar to that of the past two seasons. 

 There was an increase in the number of poultry feeds, wheat feeds, cotton- 

 seed meals and oil meals, and a relative decrease in the number of mixed 



