AS7 Massachusetts agricultural experiment station BULLETIN NO. 369 FEBRUARY, 1940 Annual Report For the Fiscal Year Ending November 30, 1939 The main purpose of this report is to provide an opportunity for presenting in published form, recent results from experimentation in fields or on projects where progress has not been such as to justify the general and definite con- clusions necessary to meet the requirements of bulletin or journal. MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE AMHERST, MASS. MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENxJtttAlfeN HOUSE. BOSTON Trustee Committee on Experiment St^^^ 3. 01' FlvJALS Term Expires MALCOLM. DAVID J.. Charlemont. Chairman 1946 CASEY. WILLLAM. Commisuoner of Agriculture WHITMORE. PHILIP F.. Sunderland 1941 MONAHAN. WILLIAM C. Framingham 1943 McNAMARA. MRS. ELIZABETH L.. Cambridge 1944 HUBBARD, CLIFFORD C. Norton 1946 Experiment Station Staff, December 1939 HUGH P. BAKER. President of the College SIEVERS. FRED J.. Diiector KENNEV. FRED C. Treasurer GASKILL. EDWIN F.. Assistant to the Director FELTON. F. ETHEL. Editor O DONNELL. MARGARET H.. Technical Assistant CHURCH. LUCIA G.. Secretary Alexander, Charles P.. Entomology JVouNG. Robert E.. Olericulture Archibald. John G.. Animal Husbandry §Bergman, Herbert F., Cranberries Anderson. Jessie L.. Seed Law BorRNE. Arthl'R I.. Entomology Becker. William B.. Entomology Bradley, Leon A.. Bacteriology Clarke, Miriam K . Veterinary Science Cance, Alexander E.. Ekronomics Crosby. Earlk B.. Veterinary Science Fertilizer Chenoweth, Walter W . Horticultural Crowley, Leo V.. Feed and Laws Manufactures Dickens. Fred L.. Poultry Husbandry Colby. William G.. Agronomy Donley. J, Elizabeth. Agricultural Exro- DoRAN. William L.. Botany nomics and Farm Management EiSENMENGER. WALTER S.. Agronomy JDonnelly. Edward B., Floriculture Fellers, Carl R.. Horticultural Man- DuNKER. Carl F.. Horticultural Manu- ufactures factures •Frandsen, Julius H., Dairy Industry Elliott. Richard D.. Agricultural Eco- t*FRANKL!N, Henry J., Cranberries nomics and Farm Management Freeman, Monroe E., Chemistry Farrell. Kenneth T . Horticultural Man- Fuller, James E , Bacteriology ufactures Gaskell, Edwin F.. Station Service FiTZPATRiCK. William H.. Horticultural JGuBA. Emil F., Botany Manufactures Gunness, Christian I., Engineering JGarland. William. Entomology •Haskins. Henri D., Fertilizer Law Gilgut. Constantine J.. Botany Hays, Frank A., Poultry Husbandry GuTowsKi. Marie. Poultry Husbandry Holland. Edward B., Chemistry Hastings. Waldon H.. Horticultural Man- SKlGHTLINGER, CLIFFORD V., TobaCCO- ufactures Disease Investigations Henderson. Mary D., Home Exronomics J*KooN, Ray M , Horticulture JHodder, Walter J., Olericulture *Lentz, John B., \'eterinary Science HowARH. James T., Dairy, Feed, and Ferti- •LiNDSEY, Adrian H., .Agricultural Econom- lizer Laws ics and Farm Management Jewett. Felicia, Veterinary Science •Mitchell, Helen S.. Home Economics fKELLEY, Joseph L., Cranberries Morse, Fred W.. Chemistry Keyoek. Nicholas L., Dairy Industry (Professor Emeritus) KuciNSKi, Karol J.. Agronomy Olson, Carl Jr., Veterinary Science Kuzmeski, John W.. Feed and Fertilizer OsMUN, A. Vincent. Botany Laws •Parkhurst. Raymond T.. Poultry Levine. Arthur S.. Horticulture Man- Husbandry ufactures •Rice. Victor A.. Animal Husbandry Lipman. Leo D., Dairy Industry •Ritchie. Walter S . Chemistry LuBiiz, Joseph, Horticultural Manufactures RozMAN. Dav.d. Economics Miles. Elvin T.. Agronomy Shaw, Jacob K., Pomology Miner, Gladys I.. Botany •Smith, Philip H., Dairy. Feed, and Seed Moran. Charles H.. Agronomy Laws Newman, Kenneth R., Horticultural Man- •Snyder, Grant B., Olericulture ufactures •Thayer, Cl-vik L., F'loriculture Parkinson, Leonard R., Station Service •Van Mltvr, UaI.ph A,. Pomology Sanborn. Ruby. Poultry Husbandry Van' A<obKEL, He*:ev. Veterii.ary Sci''nce Shea, Kevin G.. Horticultural Manufactures |Whitc(>me, Warren D., Entomology Sherburne. Ruth E . Economics •Wood, Basil B., Library SiEVERS. Frederick J.. Jr.. Economics SouTHwiCK. Lawrence. Pomology Bailey, John S , Pomology Spear. Arthur J.. Station Service Bennett, Emmett, Chemistry Spelman. .Albert F.. Feed and Fertilizer Brown. Alfred A . Agricultural E<?o- Laws nomi(^s and Farm Management StRACHAN. Charles C. Horticultural Man- BuLLls. Kenneth L., Veterinary Science ufactures Creek, Charli.s R.. Agricultural Eco- Tarkow. Leonard, Horticultural Man- nomics and Faim Management ufactures tDEMPSEV. Pai l W.. Horticulture Taylor. George E.. Dairy. Feed, and DeRose, H. Robert. Feed and Fertilizer Fertilizer Laws Laws IToMLiNSON. William E.. Nurseryculture Flint. Oliver S.. Veterinary Science §Tri'ran. Walton E.. Cranberries France. Ralph L.. Bacteriology VoiT. Fred B.. Horticultural Manufactures Jones, Carleton P . Chemistry Wertz. Anne W.. Home Economics Jones. Linus H.. Botany White, Katherine R., Pomology McKenzie, Malcolm A., Botany White. William H.. Botany McLaughlin, Frederick A., Seed Law tW'iLSON. Harold A.. Horticulture Mi'ELLER, William S., Dairy Industry Wirtenen. Leonard C. Dairy Industry Tiffany, Harold S., Nurseryculture Yecian. Hrant. Agronomy White. Harold E.. Floriculture Yourga. Frank. Horticultural Manufactures 'In charge fAt East Wareham tAt Waltham §With U. S. D. A. A^7xb CONTENTS Page Introduction 4 Department Reports: Agricultural Economics and Farm Management 5 Agronomy 7 Animal Husbandry 18 Bacteriology 19 Botany 21 Chemistry 28 The Cranberry Station 33 Dairy Industry 41 Economics 44 Engineering 45 Entomology 45 Feed Control Ser\ ice 67 Fertilizer Control Service 67 Floriculture 69 Home Economics Nutrition 71 Horticultural Manufactures 73 Horticulture 76 Olericulture 77 Pomology 82 Poultry Husbandry 89 Seed Control Serv ice 91 Veterinary Science 92 Waltham Field Station 96 Cooperative Investigations: Cranberr\- 39 Tobacco 16 Publications 97 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION— 1939 INTRODUCTION F. J. Sievers, Director The State of Massachusetts is a pioneer in the inauguration of legislation for the regulation of sales of commercial fertilizers. This interest first expressed itself in an Act passed in 1869 at the instigation of the State College after, in its services to the agricultural industry, it became evident that great opportunities for misrepresentation and fraud existed in the fertilizer merchandizing methods then in operation. While this Act was intended to prevent the manufacture and sale of adulterated fertilizers, it did not carry the enforcement provision to make it effective. Later, when results from investigations conducted by the Experiment Station provided a sound basis for determining fertilizer values and requirements, additional legislation was urged by the College and in 1888 a law was enacted which, with slight modifications, is still in effect. This law provided the desired control and was recognized as sufficiently sound to give direction to similar legislation now in force in every state in the Union. In some states, the authority for administering and enforcing this and other regulatory acts is delegated to the state department of agriculture while in others, of which Massiichusetts is an illustration, this is the responsibility of the agri- cultural experiment station. Irrespective of which method of administration may at present be considered more desirable or effective, it is evident that the Iqng history of investigations conducted by the experiment stations in closely related activities has contributed heavily to the intelligent interpretation of the law, a matter very essential in a just enforcement program. Massachusetts has been especially fortunate in having had agricultural regulatory services entrusted to individuals who were not only keenly concerned with serving the interests of the public but who were also sufficiently fortunate in personality to attract the cooperation necessary to develop a scientifically sound and agriculturally practical leadership. This discussion in the 1939 Annual Report is timely because the year covered terminates almost coincidentally with the compulsory retirement date of Professor Henri D. Haskins. Professor Haskins retired on December 27, 1939, after almost fifty years of continuous service in the Experiment Station, during which he has been identified with this [particular control service since its inception and in direct charge of its enforcement provisions for the major portion of the entire period of its operations. It is not intended to evaluate the services of Professor Haskins or to evidence the high esteem in which he is held by his associates, a recognition well deserved and worthy of much more elaboration than is possible here. His exemplary ad* ministration docs, however, set a standard for idealism in public service which not only warrants the enthusiastic support it has received from both farmers and fertilizer dealers but also bears direct evidence that the legal regulation of activities so closely related to agricultural practice may, for soundest interpreta- tion and enforcement, be wisely delegated to the Agricultural Experiment Station. ANNUAL REPORT, 1939 5 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND FARM MANAGEMENT A. H. Lindsey in Charge Adjustments in Dairy Farm Organization and Practices in Massachusetts. (C. R. Creek and Emil Rauchenstein — in cooperation with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture.) Work on this project during the past year consisted of the preparation of a manuscript on the study which is now being considered by cooperating workers in the Bureau