Barn and Field Experiments in 1917. 43 



one head were planted in a row by themselves. Owing to the 

 short growing season in Aroostook the starting of the seedlings 

 and their transplanting is done in the spring, as in the fall the 

 seedlings would not become well rooted before the winter comes 

 on. In the second summer the best individual plants were se- 

 lected, dug out and propagated by bulbs or slips giving rise to 

 clonal* strains or varieties. As the timothy plant is a cross- 

 fertilizing plant it is desirable to interpose between the selection 

 of best individuals and their propagation a period of purifying 

 of these individuals by self-fertilization in order to eliminate 

 all possible hybrid mixtures and secure pure strains that breed 

 true. The clonal varieties from single timothy heads are being 

 tested in small plots at Aroostook Farm, and the seed of the 

 ultimate best strains will be retained. In the summer of 1918 

 these plots will furnish enough seed to plant fairly large plots. 



Strawberries. 



Small fruit culture is only slightly followed in Aroostook 

 County. The wild strawberry flourishes. Because of many 

 inquiries indicating interest on the part of Aroostook people 

 in small fruits the Station Council in the spring of 1916 decided 

 to begin investigations with strawberries at Aroostook Farm. 

 This work is being taken up along the same general lines of the 

 other plant breeding work at the farms. Standard commercial 

 varieties are tested to learn which of these are best adapted to 

 Aroostook conditions and also to furnish plants for breeding 

 work both by selection and by hybridization. 



In the spring of 1916, 15 varieties of strawberry plants 

 were purchased. When they reached the farm 2 lots were so 

 badly wilted that they could not be revived. The remaining 

 13 varieties consisted of 11 standard and 2 of the everbearing 

 type. Ten additional varieties were added to the testing plot 

 in 1917. 



The yields per acre and the length of the fruiting season 

 for the varieties set out in 1916 which fruited in the summer 

 of 1 91 7 are given in the table that follows. The 2 everbearing 

 varieties are marked with a * and the 2 varieties having im- 



*A clon is a plant group the members of which have been grown 

 from an original stock but which do not come true from seed. 



