Agricultural research in New Hampshire 1931 Bulletin no. 262

University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository 4-1-1932 Agricultural research in New Hampshire, 1931, Bulletin, no.. New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment

University of New Hampshire

University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository

4-1-1932

Agricultural research in New Hampshire, 1931, Bulletin, no 262 Kendall, J C

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station

Recommended Citation

Kendall, J C and New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, "Agricultural research in New

Hampshire, 1931, Bulletin, no 262" (1932) NHAES Bulletin 225

Agricultural Research

In New Hampshire

Annual Report of the Director

Experiment Station for the Year 1931

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

New

Efficiency on Dairy Farms 7

Soil Fertility Studies 8

Fertilizer with Potatoes 10FertilizerPlacementforCorn 11

Leafroll and Maturity 14

Fertilizer in Orchards 16

Pollination of Apples 19

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Annual Report of the Director of the New Hampshire

J C KENDALL, Director

where we must oftengrope and fail. Butit is only through constant

andonlybythesame meanscanwe continueto progress

itmustberememberedthat the observations of loneanduntrainedmen

would be hopelessly so. Civilization is committed to the laboratory

con-sumption study, contact-insecticide project, study of root growth of

In the meantime it has been possible to develop several important

new studies 'The dairy situation in New England is acute, and one

Grade B milk We are conducting a study of the practices and

many dairymen throughoutthestate

Thestaff suffered a realloss during theyearin thedeath of Philip

R Lowry, assistant entomologist, who had been with us for ten years

and who

Mr Lowry was still a young man and had been a most conscientious

andreliableinvestigator. His placehasbeen takenby JamesG

Hampshire andfor thelasttwoyearsagraduate studentatOhioState

MauriceBickford,assistant inanimalnutrition A.E Tepper, poultry

certification inspector, hasbeen appointed in Mr Stuart's place; and Frank Reed, who has completed the field work in economic poultry

theBotanydepartment,andhis placehasbeen takenby Russell Bissey

assistant in agricultural chemistry

255— Land SurveyoftheTown ofDurham, New

Hampshire

Apple Enterprise Study —Costs and Management.

Potatoes

37— Consumer Preferencesfor Potatoes

45— The Heat Production of Sheep Under

Perform-ance ofa SprayMaterial

onGrowth in Sheep

Scientific Contribution 28—Maintaining Cultures of Mosquito Larvae

Apples inNew Hampshire.

Fruit Farm Studies

and management from an enterprise point of view wascompleted

Briefly, itwasnoted thaton account ofskill required, on accountof

meth-ods of pruning and caring for trees There are indications that site

methods

Approximately 18% of the total time reported on these farms was

andoldequipment;directingmen;conferenceswith machinery,

equip-ment and fertilizer salesmen

(Pumell Fund)

Roughage Costs

280 New Hampshire farmsas apartof theroughage production costs

cent, of thetillage area The farms were somewhat larger than

head of young stock Averageyields of silage amounted to 11.6 tons

isusedonhayasyet. (Pumell Fund)

An Extensive Study of New Hampshire Poultry Farms

than pullets, theirproduction percentage was much lower Feed

con-sumptionper dozen eggswas8.7poundsfor pulletsandover 12pounds

forlabor

deprecia-tion, taxes, andinsurance

It ishoped thatit willthrow light on such problemsas whatis the

H C Woodworth and Frank D Reed have been in charge of the

Higher quality cows need to-be obtained, either through breeding

April, 1932]

Laborincomesfor 395of thefarms averaged $393 The highest

in-come was over $5,000

which outlying farms already provided with livable buildings can be

Efficiency on Dairy Farms

the Bureau of Agricultural Economics Charles Harris, stationed at

H. C Woodworth, Max F Abell of the New Hampshire Station and

found to be old tillage land, 467 acres or 10.1% were good soil and

of littlevalueas pastureand could not be made into good pasture in

markedinfluence onability of farmers to makecheap milk (Purnell

Fund)

One hundred thousand fewerbushels of potatoes were shipped intothestate'lastyear thanin 1925,according toacheck-up ofrailroadre-

and the definite qualities desired The results of this investigation

A new problem was discovered last year about the Concord area,

where an over-supply of potatoes was being forced on the market so

The Concord had

greatly increased their production during past years but had not

pi'iee differential between thetwo cities averaged $.09 a bushellower

in Concord than Manchester Itseems safeto assumethat if the

The improvement of marketing methods and development of New

Hampshiremarketsarebeinggradually brought aboutbya numberof

Milk Marketing

the costs of the various methods in marketing Grades A and B milk,

andretail distributor before the milk isdelivered to the consumer

Soil Fertility Studies

under wayistheannual samplingandtesting forpHvalueofeachplot.

The Experiment with Hay on NeglectedHay Landson theWhenal

shortly

unmanured sections but has failed to do so on the unplowed plots

experi-April, 1932]

Hay Landsit isquiteevidentthatpotash hasthe greatest influencein

third, its beneficial effects decreasingwhere it is used on the heavily

manured plots

manure and fertilizerapplications

marked

IntheExperimentwith Potatoesin aRotation ontheJackson farm,

material

significant

fromthefertilizeritseemslikelythatthe deficiencyismagnified

In theExperiment with Legumesin the Connecticut Valley, eighty

addi-tionto this, potashalone in the firstcuttinghas givena significant crease

fertilizers

Fertilizers were then applied according to the plan of the

Time of Cutting Hay

basis

as June 10under Durham conditions doesnot lower the yield of the

Fund)

Fertilizer with Potatoes

Aseriesof fertilizer testsconducted over aperiod ofyears on

Varying grades ofpotash in a nine-yearaverage have producedthe

yield In three years the lowest yield has been with the fertilizer

plant-ing, thisplacementshowedahigheryieldby26bushelsthananyofthe

others

Manure,appliedat the rate of 12 tonsperacre,has givenyields in a

doesnot show upaswell as does nitrate or a mixtureof sulphateand

nitrate Yieldshave averaged:Nitrate,280 bushels;mixed, 279

Whiletheaverageyield has been about15 bushelsless,it should be

re-membered that the concentrated fertilizer costs less per unit ofplant

food No injurious effects upon the plants have been noted from its

Fertilizer Placement for Corn

Hampshire was one, seem to indicate that the most strategic

place-mentof fertilizer forcorn is innarrow bands on eachside of thehill

Sheep Breeding Experiments

growthrate indicatesthatcontinuanceofthispracticeisfollowedby a

Ritzman

tendtobecomehomozygous, andsoby inbreeding cometo the surface

Nutrition Studies

Dairy Cows

year a number of digestion experiments and of metabolism

measure-mentswith three Holsteincows todeterminethenet energyfor

by Armsby for thesesamefeed-stuffs, report E G.Ritzman and F G.

measure-ments carriedout onthis species

percent,fortheeffortofstandingwe havea basalmetabolismof 1,719

calories, which indicates a materially higher basal requirement than

How far modern eating practices have strayed from the gospel of

foods—chocolate bars,

Improved methodsofusingthe oxy-calorimeter indetermining

ener-gy and protein contentofmixed mealsweredeveloped.

The amountofwastewas found tovary greatlywiththe individual

Control of Apple Scab

Calcium sulphide, which has given promising evidence in control

withthelatterwasinadequate.

trees,79 percent

the amount of dew-fall Cool nights and heavy dews which are

com-monin New Hampshire during the early part of the growing season

Apple scab perithecia do not develop at any temperature whenthe

humidity is less than 90 per cent, saturation, finds S Dunn; and at

numerous perithecia at 10°C and very few at 20°C, but none at

cent, ofbitter-pitin the fruitwaslow Upto thepresent the various

fertilizer treatments applied since 1924 have not affected the amount

ofbitter-pitpresent,but theadditionoflimetoafertilizerhastended

Baldwinappleswhich atharvesttimeare quite freefrombitter-pit,

of date of harvest on the development of bitter-pit during storage

showedthat fruitharvested October11withuniformstarch distribution

bitter-pit (Hatch Fund)

any visible injury to the tissues, but both disturb photosynthetic tivity even when used at the strength recommended in practice for

formed

showedthat penetrationwas more rapid fromthe under surface than

latter,causes light to pass more readilythrough the leavesand the

in-vadedtissuesarethus rendered moretranslucent Theoilsafter

noteffecttheextent of penetration

amount of injury ultimately produced When kerosene is subjected

kero-seneitself.

Leafroll and Maturity

showing1.79percent, leafroll,were roguedand dug80, 90,101,110and

49.7 (PurnellFund)

Burgundy Mixtures

Hardened plants show a higher adsorption of dyes than do

non-hardened plants, finds S Dunn in studies of cabbage, brussels sprouts

andalfalfa Aseries of experimentswere performed for the purpose

con-tent In general, it was found that dye adsorption increases with

hardened for 12 days

the petiole, or stem

European Corn Borer

W. C O'Kane.

Ina numberof townsthe insectnowoccupies the same territory inwhichthetwo-generationphaseisfound This bringsupthe situation

Hampshire. It is possible that the one-generation phase, if it

3'earinthe studies of contact insecticides conducted byW. C O'Kane,

At the close of this publication a table is submitted which derives a

definite contact ratingfrom the measured angle of contact This

con-ditions, the record of their performance asindicated by a long series

employed for bringing about the death of an insect, its performance

and efficiency will be strongly influenced by themanner in which the

formormedium maybemuch moretoxicthan thesamesubstance ina

"afferent form or medium (Pumell Fund)

Fertilizer in Orchards

Thebeliefofafew apple growers that itpaysto divide thenitrogen

mi1111110-—is nol borne out by a five-year study conducted by G F.Potter

Baldwin and Mcintosh trees showed insignificant variations in the

amount of fruil bud formation where two applications were made as

compared with the same total in the spring application. There were,

to hesure, indications that the percentageofblossoms setting fruit

with-in the tissuesof the tree and is more readily availableto theblossoms

soil and does not move downward appreciably, this phosphorus was

thoroughly incorporatedin the surface 8 inches of soil. The orchard

were light. It is of considerable interest to note that as a

groupshowsanincrease of32pounds of fruitpertreewhere the

adefinite conclusion, yet the indications of benefitfromthephosphorus

Experiments werecontinuedinthreeorchardsas tothecomparative

ammonia and nitrate of soda containing exactly the same amount of

prac-ticablebutinno instanceclose enoughsothat the roots of the control

Mcintosh orchard a small decrease in yieldis experienced, andin the

it ispossible that since thenitrogeninthecomplete fertilizerisnotso

of the crop

Fruit growers are prone to fear a deficiency of phosphorus and

fertilizer All of the evidenceavailableto date indicates that atleast

Fund)

under different field conditions and held under various storage

thecore

Baldwins grownontrees in sod fertilized with 10pounds of nitrate

ofsodashowed nodifferences in firmness, flavor, groundcolor,ortype

of final breakdown from apples grown on trees under similar

and4pounds of sulphate ofpotash pertreeapplied onthe surface ofthe soil. A slightly higher acidity was noted in the fruit from the

Baldwins froma cultivated plot inwhichthe trees received 5pounds

grown ontrees in sodreceiving 10pounds of nitrate ofsoda per tree

Prompt coolingisusuallyadvantageous,andsince inmostinstallationsthe "blower" ischeaper than thecoils, it istobe preferred if results

Holding Mcintosh for 5 days in a room at 65° F prior to storingdid not alter thepressure test, acidity, or ground color, as compared

breakdown due to browning at the corethan the applesstored

imme-diately This troubleappeared February 20in the fruit stored

more

On March 6Mcintosh fromthe lotstored immediately werein fair

edible OnApril 6 Mcintosh from the lotstored immediately or

Mcintosh stored at 30° showed slightly better pressure tests after

March 15 thanthose stored at32° Incommon storageboth pressure

As in the case of the Baldwin apples, fruit from sod orchards

showed nosignificant difference in storage from fruit from cultivatedorchards

flavor, needs to be confirmed by further investigation. If confirmed

it means that ordinarily sorting and packing may be done before

moved tostorage at themarket duringthisinterval (PurnellFund)

Pollination of Apples

theMcintosh and the Cortland Red Gravenstein, like its parent, is

by Wagener. Cortland also proved good The Golden Delicious

not Fameuse, tested for the firsttimethis season, gave a very

of Mcintosh have uniformly proved to be good pollenizers for the

Furtherobservationsonthe relation of pollination toseed formation

sea-sons, namelythat ifan efficientpollenizerisused anda large number

Apples May Need Washing

found toexceed the tolerance maybe confiscated Publication of this

Theseriesof plots receiving 1,500 poundsof acidphosphate yielded

markeddecreasein yield,nearly30% underthe checks (Hatch Fund)

Plant Breeding

Inan efforttodeterminetheeffectof environment onseed of

Emerald Gem muskmelons of the same strains were grown by J R

Hepler from seed harvestedlocally and from seedproduced in South

that grown from South Carolina seed No significant differences inthetotal amountof vine growth, numberof melons per plant, orsize

ofmelon wasobserved Owingtoadverseconditionsno measurements

terri-tory Gill'sGoldenEarlyMarketalsoappeared promising, ripeningat

BantamhybridsfromtheIndianaStationwereofgoodqualitybutlate

showed up

April, 1932]

ofmothscaught,although intheorchardswhere mothswere abundant

Apple maggot flieswere foundtoemerge most abundantly fromthe

ground beneath the trees heavily laden with Red Astrachan in 1930

The first flies appeared July 12, the last July 26, with the peak of

Mcintosh which had showedinfestation in1930

Drops of Mcintosh infested withrailroadworm were placed incold

worms were foundafter36 days'

Lettuce in White Mountains

witha goodundergroundsupply ofwater overlies granite ledges

but in deep soil V corynwosum grows well With both species there

acid flavor, soft, firm in texture, early, late, and variable in ripening

Culture generally consists of a triennial burning over This does

Pre-Cooling Milk

Ackerman andH C Moorewith the finding that the condition of the

52were sufficientlyfreefrombacteria Onefarmer, using an electric

A group ofyoung mixed plotshave been observed for theeffect of

sumac were attacked approximately 100 percent Red maple and red

to be safe, while sprouts have but slight chance of surviving This

removed from the stand (Hatch Fund)

Root Growth of Pine

Changesinthe rate ofdevelopment duringthegrowingseason appear

April, 1932]

amountof top growth, although vigoroustops usually go with rapidly

growing root systems

and common juniper indicates that the white pine is best adapted to

(Hatch Fund)

soils show decided variations in the rate at which litter is deposited

under different types offorest Six months of preliminary

August—144.65, 37.6, 939.52;September—379.17, 101.19, 267.96;

was found inthose of the species hop hornbeam The aspens ranked

Mapping Land Uses

by C E Walker and published in Bulletin No 255 In addition, an