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BREEDIIilli Improved

HORTieUlTlIRAl PUHTS

STATION BULLETIN 380

The Agricultural Experiment Station
The University of New Hampshire, Durham, N. H.

APRIL 1950

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page

FOREWORD 3

TOMATOES

Chatham or Home Garden 4

Orange King 4

New Hampshire Victor 4, 6

Orange Chatham 6

Windowbox 6

Tiny Tim 6-7

Dixville 7

High C 7-8

Dixville 9-10

Continued Work With High Vitamin C Tomatoes 9-10

AAELONS

White Mountain Watermelon 10

New Hampshire Midget Watermelon 10

Colebrook Watermelon 10-1 1

Granite State Muskmelon 11-12

Other Muskmelon Breeding 12, 14

SQUASHES

Bush Buttercup 14-15

Baby Blue 15-16

PEPPERS

Merrimack Wonder 17

PEAS

Mayflower 17

EGGPLANT

New Hampshire 18

POPCORN

Popinjay 18-19

Carnival 19

BEANS

Brilliant Horticultural 19

Flash Horticultural ....; 20

Other Horticultural Bean Breeding 20

White Mountain Bush Lima 20-21

Cowey Red Lima 21

Tiny Green Snapbean 21-22

Other Snap Bean Breeding 22

Runner Bean Breeding 23

CABBAGE AND CHINESE CABBAGE 23

CARROTS 23

The cover picture is by P. E. Genereux, E, Lynn, Mass.

mmu Improved

HORTICIILTllRil PIASTS

By A. F. Yeager

Professor of Horticulture

THE PLANT-BREEDING PROGRAM
•at the Agricultural Experiment Station
is an important activity in the Uni-
versity of New Hampshire's Depart-
ment of Horticulture. So far, little
has been printed (except in com-
mercial nursery and seed catalogues
and in short, widely scattered notes)
about the tangible results of the pro-
gram.

This is the first of a series of two
publications which were planned to
tell you about some of the accom-
plishments of the plant-breeding pro-
gram. It is concerned with vegta-
bles. The second publication dis-
cusses fruits, nuts, and ornamentals.

This series presents the accomplish-
ments of the plant-breeding program
as a unit. And where some progress
has been made, it outlines the breed-
ing program with crops, even though
no named varieties have yet been in-
troduced.

The development of a new plant
variety (which may require a period
of years) involves the efforts of many
people. The plant-breeding program
at the New Hampshire Agricultural
Experiment Station is one of team-
work. The author directed and car-
ried out the program with the aid
of the following persons: J. R. Hepler,
who did most of the work connected
with the production of the New
Hampshire hybrid eggplant and con-
ducted a variety trial of peppers
from which Merrimack Wonder start-
ed on its way; E. M. Meader, who
was responsible for the original
crosses from which Brilliant and Flash

Horticultural beans and Popinjay pop-
corn were developed; W. D. Holley,
who led the work in flower breeding
and also began the breeding work
with Lima beans; L. P. Latimer, who
has done the major work in straw-
berry breeding; and W. W. Smith,
who selected and crossed blueberries.

During the past eight years many
University students have participated
in crossing and self-pollinating plants.
They have also kept records and eval-
uated finished products. Workmen at
the greenhouses and the University
farm have contributed valuable sug-
gestions for carrying on the program.
The Home Economics Department has
made cooking tests and Dr. Helen Pur-
ington of the Department of Agricul-
tural and Biological Chemistry made
many analyses which have been tised
in making selections.

The University greenhouses have
provided excellent facilities for the
acceleration of the plant-breeding
program. The production of a new
vegetable variety which is to be pro-
pagated by seed normally requires
seven generations of self-pollinated
plants to purify it. But this time may
be materially shortened if one gener-
ation of the crop is raised in the
field with the second and third gener-
ations raised in the greenhouse dur-
ing the first and second halves of the
winter. It is possible to follow this
procedure with many crops, thus re-
ducing the time for rounding out the
seven generations of experimental
plants from seven to a little more
than two years.

I. VEGETABLES

New Hampshire

Plant-breeding Program

Experiments with

TOMATOES

PEAS

POPCORN

SQUASHES

EGGPLANT

CABBAGE
CARROTS

MELONS

PEPPERS

BEANS

early varieties which can be ma-
tured in the northern part of the
state where the growing season is
extremely short; (2) the develop-
ment of tomatoes of higher nutritive
value.

CHATHAM OR HOME GARDEN

The Chatham variety of tomato is
particularly suited to short-season
sections of New Hampshire. It is
also grown as an extremely early
variety in the southern part of the
state where the fruit is sold in com-
petition with the trellis-grown Comet.

Chatham's parents were Victor
and Redskin. This variety was not
wholly produced at the New Hamp-
shire Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion. It was introduced from the
Michigan Station after the author
moved to New Hampshire. Final
selections were tested at the New
Hampshire Station before they were
named. A picture of this variety is
shown on the opposite page.

ORANGE KING

The Orange King variety resulted
from a cross between the Neiv Hamp-
shire Victor and Orange Dawn, the
latter an orange sport of Scarlet
Daunt. Orange King is an orange-
fleshed variety, is determinate in
vine type, and bears fairly large
oblate fruits which ripen at a medi-
um early time. As the orange flesh
is much more attractive than yellow,
the variety is appreciated by people
who like the golden color of its flesh
and its mild flavor. See opposite
page for a picture of Orange King.

NEW HAMPSHIRE VICTOR

The breeding work with tomatoes The JSeiv Hampshire Victor varie-

has proceeded along two principal ty came from a cross between Allred
lines: (1) the development of very and Mar globe, made first at the

The New Hampshire Agricultural
Experiment Station's plant-breeding
program has made its most rapid
progress with vegetable crops be-
cause the nature of the plants adapts
them more readily than fruits to its
advancement.

Vegetables can be developed more
quickly than fruits and they do not
require as much space while they
are maturing. Many vegetables can
complete a generation in a year or
less but fruits need a much longer
time. An apple tree, for instance,
requires ten years to fruit from
seed and it takes a long time to pro-
duce and distribute a good new
variety. It is obvious, too, that an
apple tree needs much more space
than a bean plant to mature. These
are some of the reasons why fruit-
breeding operations are more expen-
sive and more time-consuming than
those carried on with vegetables.

The results of some of the Sta-
tion's plant-breeding experiments
with vegetables follow.

TOMATOES

No transplanting is necessary with the Early Chatham or Home Garden
tomato (top) and the fruit may be grown direct from the garden.
This variety with its smooth, light-red fruit of high quality is
particularly adapted to the short growing seasons of North-
ern New Hampshire. The Orange King (bottom) ma-
tures a little later than Chatham. The fruit is
attractive in color, the flavor is mild, and the
vitamin content is higher than most
common varieties.

North Dakota Agricultural Experi-
ment Station. Selections from this
cross were grown at the Michigan
Experiment Station along with cross-
es between Allred and Break-0-Day,
the parents of the Victor variety.

When these various selected
strains were moved to New Hamp-
shire, it was found that under local
conditions, the selections from Allred
crossed with Marglobe retained their
foliage somewhat better than did the
standard Victor variety. Hence, this
selection was named New Hampshire
Victor as an especially adapted va-
riety of early, large-fruited, red to-
mato of the determinate plant type.

ORANGE CHATHAM

The Orange Chatham variety was
produced for the benefit of gardeners
living in the sections of New Hamp-
shire with short growing seasons. It
came by crossing Chatham with
Orange King and then selecting from
this cross an extremely early, round,
orange-fruited plant. It is primarily
a novelty variety.

WINDOWBOX

Windowbox came from a cross be-
tween Dwarf Champion and Redskin.
It combines the dwarf stiff plant
characteristics of Dwarf Champion
with the extreme earliness and de-
terminate growth habit of Redskin.
The object of making this cross was
to try to furnish a tomato which
would produce one large cluster of
fruit on a plant about the size of a
bush-bean plant, early enough so
that the seed could be planted in the
field under good growing conditions.
Windoivhox will do this.

Its name originated during World
War II when an invalid who lived
in the city asked if there was any-
thing that she could raise in a win-
dowbox to produce food. This to-
mato was sent to the woman and she
successfully raised it. Windowbox

tomatoes are of satisfactory slicing
size, although they are somewhat
smaller than may be desired for the
general market. The variety also
has proved satisfactory as an out-of-
doors tomato in short seasons. The
plants may be set six inches to one
foot apart in the row with a distance
of three feet between the rows.

Tiny Tim, a variety for winter ornament
or summer cropping.

TINY TIM

Tiny Tim (shown above) came
from a class plant-breeding project.
The object was to discover how small
a tomato plant that would mature
fruit could be produced. A cross was
made between Windowbox and Red
Currant. Plants were selected for
determinate growth habit, dwarfness,
small fruits, and small plants. The
result was the development of the
Tiny Tim variety.

This variety can be grown and
matured nicely in a SVij-inch pot. It
was given the name "Tiny Tim" be-

Dixville, which bears the name of a famous White Mountain notch,
is a large-fruited, extra-early variety.

cause it was thought that it might
have vahie as an ornamental fruit-
producing plant for Christmas deco-
ration, competing with the Jerusalem
Cherry.

When it is planted in the field,
Tiny Tim makes a plant 12 to 24
inches across and bears quantities of
cherry-sized, red fruits which may be
used whole for salad purposes, if de-
sired.

The plants are small and the crown
set is heavy. If they are raised com-
mercially, they should be spaced two
feet apart in a row with three feet
between the rows. In common with
other early, determinate sorts, Dix-
ville responds to a high level of soil
fertility. In 1949, this variety showed
much less sun-scald on the fruit than
long-vined, early varieties such as
Earliana and Bonnie Best.

DIXVILLE

Dixville is the latest member of
the early tomato family. Of a de-
terminate plant type similar to Chat-
ham, it reaches maturity slightly
earlier. The fruits which are flat in
shape are about twice the size of
Chatham. Its ancestry goes back to
the same general sources as Chatham
crossed with a very early, determi-
nate, small-fruited tomato known as
BV5.

Dixville was produced in response
to a need in northern New Hamp-
shire for a large-fruited variety
which would still ripen a satisfactory
crop. It may be ripened satisfactorily
in southern New Hampshire from
seeds sown directly in the field.

HIGH C

High C is the first-named produc-
tion from ten years' breeding work
which began with a cross made in
1938 between Michigan State forcing
tomato and Peruvian wild tomato,
P. I. 126946. The Peruvian tomato
(Ly coper sicon peruvianum) is dis-
tinguished by having extremely
small, greenish-white fruits, each
about one inch in diameter, which
are sweet when ripe. These tiny
fruits are not marketable. Their out-
standing characteristic is their vita-
min C content which is about four
times as great as that of common to-
matoes.

Only one seed out of several hund-
red fruits set was secured from the

B

D

D, the tomato on the right, is the small, white Peruvian which has an extremely high
vitamin content. C, to the left, is the large-fruited Michigan State Forcing, a good-
quality variety but low in vitamins. B is the first cross between D and C. A is a

selection from the second generation.

cross. But a considerable amount of
seed was saved from the plant that
came from that one seed, and a large
generation was grown. From this the
largest fruited plants and those hav-
ing the highest vitamin C content
were selected. The best plants among
them were propagated by soft wood
cuttings and back-crossed to named
varieties. Redskin gave the best re-
sults in this back cross.

From this population some plants
with fairly good-sized fruits (50
grams) and with a vitamin C content
averaging 55 mg. per 100 grams
were selected. The fruit still was
not satisfactory in size; so selections
which had both the highest vitamin
content and largest fruits in this
group were crossed again to New
Hampshire Victor. In 1947, a puri-
fied selection from this population
was named High C.

The High C tomato, a determinate
variety, is slightly earlier than New
Hampshire Victor. It is also smaller
(80 to 100 grams) which means
about five fruits per pound. The
fruits are round, red, and very firm.
At the University of New Hampshire
the vitamin content runs from 35 to
40 mg. per 100 grams fresh weight
the average growing season.

m

Roughly, this is double that of stand-
ard varieties of tomatoes such as
New Hampshire Victor and Mar-
globe.

High C is extremely productive,
but this high productivity is accom-
panied by susceptibility to early
blight which may defoliate the plant
before all the fruit is ripe, partic-
ularly in long growing seasons. High
C probably has its greatest value at
the northern limits of tomato pro-
duction.

8

u >.

This is the new tomato developed at the University of New Hampshire.

Note the characteristic, prolific plant. The smooth fruits of High C

(see lower picture) are of medium size and have double the ascorbic

acid content of common tomatoes.

CONTINUED WORK WITH
HIGH-VITAMIN C TOMATOES

A selected indeterminate plant
which has somewhat larger fruits
than High C and is a little later in
ripening had an average vitamin C
content of 54 mg. in 1947. This se-
lection, known at present as Neiv
Hampshire No. 50, was distributed
for test in 1949. In Massachusetts,
this variety analyzed from 37 to 68

mg. and, at the University of New
Hampshire from 51 to 65 mg.
Samples grown at the North Dakota
Agricultural College analyzed as
high as 69 mg. A third series of
backcrosses have also been made,
using a large-fruited early variety,
which was distributed as K-14, from
the Campbell Soup Company. From
these backcrosses still larger fruited
types have been selected. Their gen-
eral characteristics are that the fruits

are round or oblong rather than ob-
late, are very firm, and are of good
size.

Other backcrosses were made with
Long Red. These are worthy of
test as hybrid varieties in themselves
with a 30 to 40 mg. vitamin C range.
Selections in the second generations
from this cross have now been made.

From this series of experiments in
raising the vitamin C content, it has
been possible to produce tomatoes of
marketable size with much of the vi-
tamin content of the small, wild
Peruvian tomatoes. While some of
these varieties may not, in them-
selves, become important in large
commercial tomato-raising sections,
they provide a basis for the develop-
ment of canning varieties of greater
food value. Thus, the vitamin C con-
tent of commercial canned tomatoes
might easily be doubled, making to-
matoes equal to oranges as a source
of vitamin C.

MELONS

WHITE MOUNTAIN WATERMELON

The small, nearly round White
Mountain watermelon received its
name from the fact that the variety
has matured its fruit north of the
White Mountains where the growing
season is only 100 rather cool days.

Some of the Japanese watermelons
have interesting characteristics and
the Favorite Honey, a small, yellow-
fleshed variety which is oval in
shape, has a thin rind, and is excel-
lent in quality, is one of the most
attractive of them. When it was
thought desirable to produce a simi-
lar variety with red flesh instead of
yellow. Favorite Honey was crossed
with Dakota Sweet, a red-fleshed
variety selected from seed introduced
from Russia. The variety which re-
sulted has red flesh, an overabun-
dance of brown seeds, and a thin

rind. It is very high in quality, and,
under favorable conditions, it may
mature in 65 days from seed.

The small-sized, green-striped mel-
ons weigh from two to four pounds
each, resembling cantaloupes in this
respect. They fit well between the
shelves of a house refrigerator. As
is done with small muskmelons, they
are often served one-half a melon to
a person.

N. H. MIDGET WATERMELON

In producing the New Hampshire
Midget watermelon a return was
made to some of the earlier breeding
stocks from which the White Moun-
tain watermelon was developed. New
selections with a smaller amount of
seeds, (and those black in color) but
which still maintained the high quali-
ty and small size of the White Moun-
tain variety were made. In 1947,
after several self-pollinated green-
house generations, a variety with a
thin, light-green mottled rind was in-
troduced under the name of New
Hampshire Midget.

During the season of its introduc-
tion, 200 ripe melons were produced
on an 88-foot row. The first one
ripened in 65 days from the time of
sowing of the seeds. It is believed
that this variety will have value in
northern areas as a roadside market
item, as well as for home use. Like
cantaloupes, the size of the melons
adapts them for shipment in crates.

It is very easy to determine the
ripeness of New Hampshire Midget
watermelons. When the rind is
pressed by the thumb, the rind of a
green melon is "springy", but when
the melon is ripe, the rind is hard
and crisp.

COLEBROOK WATERMELON

This variety, known in the Orient
under the name Shingyamato, was
collected in Korea by E. M. Meader

10

The New Hampshire Mid-
get Watermelon is very
prolific. Note the shape
and size which is partic-
ularly evident in those
shown in the apple box
in lower picture.

who sent seeds to the University of
New Hampshire in 1947. These
seeds when planted at Colebrook in
northern New Hampshire, ripened a
satisfactory crop. As no other varie-
ty was grown on the plots, all seed
was saved and increased in 1948 for
introduction purposes.

Colebrook watermelons are round
in shape and average about ten
pounds each in weight, which is
somewhat larger than New Hamp-
shire Midget. They have fairly thick,
striped rinds, bright red flesh, small
brown seeds, and are high in quality.
Some specimens are inclined to have
too many seeds, but this character-
istic is being corrected by the selec-
tion of the more desirable fruits.

This variety resembles Merrimack
Sweetheart and Yankee Queen to a
considerable extent and may well
have descended from the same Ori-
ental parent.

GRANITE STATE MUSKMELON

Under New Hampshire conditions,
muskmelons often fail to ripen before
frost and frequently those that ripen
produce fruits of poor quality. The
Granite State muskmelon was de-
veloped to provide a melon of good
quality. It came from a cross be-
tween a Michigan Experiment Sta-
tion selection of Honey Rock crossed
with a selection from a muskmelon

11

grown by the Mennonite farmers of
southern Manitoba, Canada.

The object of the experiment was
to combine the quality of Honey
Rock with the earliness of the Men-
nonite variety. Selection and self-
pollination for a period of six years
finally resulted in the Granite State
muskmelon, which was introduced in
1946.

The melons are of medium-size
with firm, well-netted rinds and
thick, bright-orange flesh. The fruit
is produced in abundance and in
Durham where ordinary varieties are
usually flat in taste, the quality of
Granite State melons has been ex-
cellent. The leaves of this variety
are not as quickly destroyed by mil-
dew as most others produced in this
area.

OTHER MUSKMELON BREEDING

When the plants are small, ordi-
nary muskmelons produce a great
number of male blossoms; female
blossoms are produced and fruit is
set only after they have reached a
considerable size. An introduction
from India by the Office of Foreign
Seed Plant Introduction (Washing-
ton, D.C.) which came to us under
the designation 236-B has all its

flowers perfect, that is, they contain
both pistals and stamens.

When this variety was received,
it was thought that it might be possi-
ble to combine its perfect flowering
habit (which results in an earlier set
of fruit) and the high quality of
some of our named American varie-
ties in a single plant. Crosses were
made between it and Granite State,
and perfect-flowered selections were
made in the second generation
grown in the greenhouse. None
proved to be entirely satisfactory as
a variety to introduce; hence, a sec-
ond back-cross was made with Gran-
ite State and again selections were
made for high quality and perfect
flowering. While no introductions
have been made to date, a consider-
able number of selections have been
made with thick, orange-fleshed, oval
fruits, rather small in size, but high
in quality and very early in matur-
ing. Undoubtedly, a variety will be
introduced from these in the near
future, but some further selection
and purification is required before
this is accomplished.

In the spring of 1948 crosses were
made between Granite State and the
Korean Siveet melon, introduced by
E. M. Meader. The Fj was grown in
the field in 1948. It was perfectly

A truckload of Colebrook
watermelons.

12

The Granite State Musk-
melon, developed to pro-
vide a melon of good qual-
ity for New Hampshire
growing conditions, is
very prolific. (See picture
above.) The fruit is of
medium size with well-
netted rinds and thick
bright-orange fiesh. Note
melons in lower picture.

The original perfect-
flowered muskmelon which
produced sour, white-
fleshed, soft fruits.

13

A high-quality, standard muskmelon on the left; the original, perfect-flowered

melon on the right ; in the middle the first cross between these plants. This is

the first step in producing a new variety.

'^•**. ^

1 ^- ^ ">a#^'

A muskmelon plant fruiting in the

greenhouse. Plants are trained to a

string so as to make more economical

use of the greenhouse space.

fertile. A large F2 population was
grown in the field in 1949 with the
hope that the unusual earliness of
the sweet melon might be combined
with the size and thickness of flesh
of Granite State. Very early selec-
tions of high quality were made,
some of which resemble Honey Dew
melon in flavor and color.

SQUASHES

BUSH BUTTERCUP SQUASH

Cucurbita Maxima, to which our
true squashes belong, contains no
true bush varieties. Commercial
varieties grow long vines which,
after producing many male blossoms
at the base, finally develop pistallate
blossoms several feet from the crown.
Thus, the ordinary squash requires a
large amount of space in the garden
and is comparatively late.

A variety known as Zapolita, and
collected by the Office of Foreign
Seed Plant Introduction, is a so-
called tree squash and comes the
nearest to being a bush squash within

14

the Maxima species. This variety,
superficially resembles Buttercup,
but is poor in quality. Early in the
season Zapolita behaves as a bush
squash. It makes a large round
plant and sets several fruits at the
crown. Later the vine may grow to
considerable length if the season is
long.

Setting fruit at the crown is a
desirable characteristic. Therefore,
a cross was made between Zapolita
and Buttercup and from it selections
were made for quality and for plants
that set fruits close to the crown.
One of them, now known as the Bush
Buttercup variety, produces fruits
which closely resemble Buttercup in
external and internal characteristics
and also approach it in quality. Be-
cause it sets fruits close to the crown.
Bush Buttercup matures in a fairly
satisfactory manner in northern New
Hampshire and selected seed stock

has been raised for the past three
years in Coos County, north of the
White Mountains.

BABY BLUE

The Bush Buttercup squash was
crossed wih Blue Hubbard and se-
lections were made for small, blue-
skin, orange-fleshed Hubbard-shaped
fruits. By cooking individual pieces
of them and selecting seed from
those of the best quality, progress
has been made toward the develop-
ment of a near bush type, which is
an easily distinguished variety of
squash. This is an advantage over
Bush Buttercup.

In the development of this variety,
it has been found possible to select
plants in the field early in the fall
before final growth ceases and to
make cuttings from the tips of the
plants. The cuttings may be rooted

Photo by P. E. Genereaux

Bush Butternut squash. Note the turban-shaped fruits set close to the

center of plant.

15

Baby Blue, a nearly bush type of small Blue Hubbard.

gener-

in sand and a self-pollinated
ation may be matured in the green
house before mid-winter, a technique
which eliminates the necessity for
hand pollination of great numbers of
squash plants in the field.

Baby Blue averages three to four
pounds, a convenient weight for use
by the average modern small family.

It is attractive, has a thin hard shell,
bright-orange, dry flesh, and keeps
well. Baby Blue is susceptible to
borers and black squash bugs, as are
all Maxima varieties, so it will prob-
ably be most appreciated in northern
squash-growing regions where these
pests are not a serious problem.

The large, thick-walled
Merrimack Wonder pep-
per is early, very produc-
tive, and of iiigli quality.

:\1»---H<<ff\*'f***^

16

PEPPERS

MERRIMACK WONDER PEPPER

In some seasons at Durham pep-
pers fail to set fruit. Variety and
strain tests of peppers have been con-
tinued regularly for many years in
an attempt to locate one that would
fruit satisfactorily. During one such
test a considerable number of se-
lections were received from Dr. L. C.
Curtis of the Agricultural Experi-
ment Station at New Haven, Conn.

These selections were grown in
comparison with standard varieties.
In the whole field of peppers of sev-
eral hundred plants, only one, a plant
in one of the selections received from
Dr. Curtis, made a satisfactory crop.
Because of its outstanding perform-
ance, seed from this particular plant
was saved. It was planted the follow-
ing year and selection was continued.
One greenhouse generation was
raised and then a further field selec-
tion was made from the various
strains developed up to this point.

This was introduced as the Merri-
mack Wonder pepper, a medium-
sized, blunt, thick-fleshed, sweet,
early variety with special ability to
produce in New England's unfavor-
able cool seasons.

PEAS

MAYFLOWER PEA

The Mayflower pea resulted from
a cross between Radio, an extremely
early dwarf vareity, and Lincoln, a
mid-season semi-dwarf variety of
high quality. Mayflower combines
the earliness and dwarf plants of
Radio with the curved, high-quality
well-filled pods of Lincoln. It is a
first early variety and is extremely
productive. The pods are somewhat
larger than those of Alaska. The
typical seeds are wrinkled and are
green or yellow outside with yellow
interiors. This variety has given the
greatest amount of shelled peas per
bushel of pods of any variety grown
at Durham.

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The Mayflower pea — a dwarf — is an extremely early variety and is very productive.

The wrinkled seeds are of high quality.

17

New Hampshire Hybrid

Eggplant, the standard of

earlies.

EGGPLANT

NEW HAMPSHIRE EGGPLANT

One of the first horticultural plant-
breedhig projects at the New Hamp-
shire Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion was with the eggplant. The
variety called the Neiv Hampshire
Hybrid was developed by J. R. Hep-
ler from a cross between Extra Early
Dwarf Purple and Black Beauty.
Selections were made from this
cross for earliness, large, dark-
colored fruits, and productiveness
under the cool conditions of New
Hampshire. The New Hampshire
Hybrid eggplant is now widely
grown as the earliest eggplant of

commercial quality. The present
tendency is to call it simply New
Hampshire, because it is a true
breeding variety and not a hybrid
sort, as that term is now used in the
seed trade.

POPCORN

POPINJAY POPCORN

Popcorn breeding work at the
University of New Hampshire start-
ed with the crossing of Pinky, a
North Dakota-produced, pink-ker-
neled. high popping quality popcorn,
and Neiv Hampshire Pearl, a New
England round-seeded, extra early.

Carnival Popcorn, a riot of color.
18

white variety. The first cross be-
tween these two varieties produced
a beautiful popcorn. The ears had
seed colors ranging from black
through lavender, purple, and pink
to white.

Because of this attractive appear-
ance, it was decided to purify a
variety which, while pure in other
characteristics, would retain the var-
ied-colored ears. Selections were
made on the basis of earliness and
high popping quality. These se-
lections were selfed and re-combina-
tions were made from each of the
selected lines until the Popinjay
variety resulted.

Popinjay is early enough to ma-
ture in southern New England. The
popping quality is good and the ears
are attractive enough to be salable in
the form of braided traces at road-
side stands. The product is attrac-
tive to the tourist trade and at the
same time useful for food when its
value as an ornament has passed.

CARNIVAL POPCORN

The Carnival variety was produced
from a cross between Popinjay and
Golden Tom Thumb. The object of
the cross was to introduce into a
new variety the greater earliness of
Golden Tom Thumb and its yellow
endosperm color. Again selections
were made for earliness, for high-
popping quality, for productiveness,
and for attractive appearance. In
comparison with Popinjay, the yel-
low endosperm found in some of the
kernels underlying the aleurone
color of Popinjay add a liveliness
and a new variety of shades. Carni-
val is, therefore, more attractive in
appearance than Popinjay, and has
added earliness similar to Golden
Tom Thumb. Carnival was named
in the autumn of 1948.

BEANS

BRILLIANT HORTICULTURAL BEAN

The Horticultural Shell bean is an
important crop in New England.
The market prefers bright-colored,
seeds. However, the varieties com-
mercially grown in the area are of
two kinds. The first has bright-
colored seeds but poorly-colored or
white pods as represented by the
Gage, one of several local strains of
the horticultural beans not available
in the seed trade. Other varieties
have light-colored seeds and bright-
colored pods as represented by the
French Horticultural bean.

A cross was made between Gage
and French with the objective of
combining the bright-colored pods of
French H orticultural with the bright-
colored seed of Gage. In this case,
the first generation hybrid gave
much of the appearance desired be-
cause the red color of the pod and
the red color of the seeds are both
dominant characteristics. However,
when this seed was planted, segrega-
tion took place; practically all of
which resulted in a return to the
original combinations. Apparently
there is much linkage between pod
color and seed color. But, among
these selections, a few plants gave the
desired combination in crossovers
which were purified.

The Brilliant variety came from
one of them. It has bright-colored
seeds, bright-colored pods of fairly
good length, is semi-trailing, and is
very productive under good growing
conditions. The greatest difficulty
to date has been to secure an ade-
quate supply of seed. The unripen-
ed pods bring a premium on the
market, so much so that the growers
would have to get ridiculously high
prices for the seed in order to make
it pay for them to mature the crop.

19

FLASH HORTICULTURAL BEAN

The Flash Horticultural bean re-
sulted from the same cross from
which Brilliant came. Flash was se-
lected and purified as a true bush
type. It is somewhat earlier than
Brilliant. Both earliness and bush
habit are desirable characteristics,
especially for some areas of New
Hampshire. Flash is equally attrac-
tive and in some localities is more
productive than Brilliant. When the
soil conditions are not good, unde-
sirably short pods are sometimes pro-
duced.

OTHER HORTICULTURAL BEAN
BREEDING

In some extensive variety and
strain testing, two unusually good
horticultural beans were noted. One
was a dwarf horticultural bean which
is extremely early, has very long,
bright-colored pods, but with light-
color; the seeds are very large but
marked with an unattractive purple.

Breeding work with horticultural
beans has been continued through
the crossing of these Littleton and
Pittsfield beans with Flash. Select-
tions have been made for bush
plants, earliness, long pods, bright-
colored seeds, large size, and good
production. Some of these selections
appear to be much superior to either
Flash or Brilliant and may shortly
be introduced. These strains will al-
so be sent to bean-producing areas
before final selections are chosen so
that it will be possible to get an ade-
quate production of desirable seed.
Such a seed supply seems to be a
requisite in the successful introduc-
tion of good horticultural bean varie-
ties.

WHITE MOUNTAIN BUSH LIMA BEAN

In some seasons, lima beans do
well in southern New Hampshire; in
other years they fail either to pro-

duce pods or to mature them before
frost. Failure to germinate, if cool
weather comes after planting, is a
common fault of lima beans.

The United States Department of
Agriculture at Beltsville, Maryland,
has been doing lima-bean breeding
for many years with the objective of
getting varieties adapted to hot sum-
mer weather. Selections were made
there that would stand such condi-
tions. Therefore, it was thought
that the beans which they discarded
at Beltsville might have the ability
to withstand cool weather. A num-
ber of such discarded lines were se-
cured by W. D. Holley from Dr.
Roy Magruder and planted here.
Most of them proved to be entirely
unadapted to local conditions, but
germinated under our comparatively
unfavorable conditions. Selections
made from them were self pollinated
in the greenhouse and planted again
in the field the following year.

In 1946. the soil was unusually
cold at planting time, and as a re-
sult, in a one-acre plot of lima beans
only eight plants grew and matured
a crop. These plants, as the fore-
runners of new lines, were increased
in the greenhouse during the winter
of 1946 and the spring of 1947 and
planted in the field in 1947 beside a
test planting of 20 choice strains
from the United States Department
of Agriculture and some commercial
varieties.

Many of the imported strains and
varieties failed to germinate at all in
our cold soil. However, three of the
New Hampshire lines matured a
good crop. The one designated as
A'o. 51 was outstanding in pod and
seed size, production, and early ma-
turity. Seed from this selection was
saved and again planted in the field
where it matured a large crop in
1948. Its production was equal to
the best of the small-seeded varieties.
Because of its large pods and large
seeds, its bush habit, and its ability

20

The high-colored pods and
seeds of Flash Horticult-
ural Beans are brilliantly ^
flashed with red.

to produce a crop under northern,
cool climate conditions, this variety
was named White Mountain Bush in
the autumn of 1948. Seed stock is
at present available only in trial
quantities. It is introduced as a
market-garden and home-garden
variety for northern gardeners. Un-
satisfactory yields were reported
from Beltsville in 1948, but the stock
did well in Pennsyvlania and Michi-
gan, indicating that it may not be
adapted to warmer sections.

COWEY RED LIMA BEAN

In 1943, a sample of lima beans
which he said was a certain cropper
in his garden was received from S.
D. Cowey of York Beach, Maine.
This sample contained seeds of vari-
ous colors ranging from almost black
to red and pink, some solid colored
and some mottled beans. They were
planted in the University greenhouse
and were found to be similar to each
other so far as plant characteristics
were concerned. Individual plant se-
lections were made and the seeds
planted in the field in 1944. From
these individual plants, one of which
had an attractive, red seed was se-

lected. When purified, it was given
the name of Coivey Red Lima.

The Cowey Red Lima is a bush
variety of about the same season as
the Henderson Bush. The seed is
somewhat larger as are the pods. It
is very prolific. When planted in
the garden in the spring, this bean
seems to have the ability to germi-
nate under colder conditions than do
most other lima beans. Probably
its principal value is as breeding ma-
terial. It has been used in crosses
both at the University of New Hamp-
shire and at Beltsville, in an attempt
to develop more cold-resistant varie-
ties. For immediate practical pur-
poses, its value lies in the novelty
field.

At exhibitions where these beans
were shown, visitors have been much
attracted to them and have requested
seed.

TINY GREEN SNAP BEAN

The Tiny Green bean was pro-
duced as a result of a remark of a
commercial canner who said that his
aim was to can whole beans, though
he usually canned cut ones because
the pods became too large for whole
canning. It was then decided to

21

produce a variety in which the ma-
ture pod would be of a size to can
whole.

As white seed beans give a clearer
juice than colored beans in a canned
product the aim was to work for a
variety with white seeds. Harm
Drewes of the Ferry-Morse Seed
Company procured from Holland
seed of a variety called Perfect
Stringless to be used as breeding
stock. This variety was green, and
had white seed, and was small
podded; but despite its name it was
anything but stringless. It was
crossed with Refugee. After several
years of intensive selfing and selec-
tion in the field and in the green-
house, a variety resulted which has
white seeds; the mature pods, which
are about four inches long, are
round, green, and stringless. This
bean, which seedsmen list as Tiny
Green, makes an excellent canned
product.

OTHER SNAP BEAN BREEDING

In 1947 work began on the de-
velopment of a green snap bean
which would have good color, would
be a good producer, would be easy to
harvest, and possibly might be har-
vested by mechanical means. Crosses
were made between several promis-
ing varieties, including Tiny Green,
Streamliner, Bountiful, Tendergreen,
Refugee, and an unnamed variety
from Australia. One generation was
raised in the greenhouse and a sec-
ond in the field in 1948. From this
population, 158 plants have been se-
lected for continued trials. These
have several characteristics in com-
mon: they are white-seeded; they are
bush varieties; they are green pod-
ded. Selections made from them in
coming years should result in an im-
proved variety as was planned.

Among the plants grown in 1948,
more than 100 were tested for can-
ning by using part of the product of

the plant in a miniature jar. One of
the observations made from this test
was that any plant which had color
in the flowers also had colored seed
and when processed at 15 pounds
steam pressure for an hour (as is
customarily done in canning) the
seeds turned a dark brown color and
gave a darkened appearance to the
canned product. If the seeds were
white, as indicated by white blos-
soms, discoloration of the product
did not result. White flowers, white
seed, and good color in the canned
product are associated in our crosses.
More observations will be made on
this point in the future. Color in the
stems, when the plants emerge from
the soil, has also indicated colored
seed on the resulting plants. An ex-
ception has been noted in a white-
seeded green snap bean obtained
from Dr. R. A. Emerson of Cornell.
This variety has colored flowers. It
makes a well-colored, green canned
product, as has been noted with
other white seed beans.

An ordinary variety of snap beans

(left) compared witii Tiny Green in

the usable stage (right).

22

RUNNER BEAN BREEDING

The runner bean, Phaseolus multi-
flora, is grown to a considerable ex-
tent in northern New Hampshire,
where it is known as "lima bean" or
"frost proof." There are red-and-
white-blossomed varieties and pur-
ple-mottled and white-seeded varie-
ties. Colored seed and red flowers
are associated as are white seed and
white flowers. There are both climb-
ing and bush types. Selections for
the white bush type have been made.
It has become evident that cross-
pollination in the field is very fre-
quent in this species, so much so that
it has interfered considerably with
the breeding program.

Plants raised in the greenhouse in
the winter when the days are short
and the temperature is held fairly
high have given practically no seed.

Crosses have been made between
the white selections of this species
and common beans, neither of which
has red blossoms. The Fj resulting
has a flower nearly as bright red as
the scarlet type of the runner bean.
It is exactly the same color as is
secured when the red-flowered run-
ners are used in the cross. While
the first generation plants are most-
ly infertile, some seed has been se-
cured. Selections through the F4
generation from this interspecific
cross, which carry some of the
characteristics of both parents and
are highly fertile, have been made.
No named varieties have resulted as
yet. Further work is being done.
The objectives are better flavored
snap beans in which the cotyledons
are not pushed above ground when
the seed germinates. This is a
characteristic of multiflora.

CABBAGE

and

CHINESE CABBAGE

Crosses have been made between
the various members of the cabbage
family including cabbage, kohlrabi,
kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower,
and broccoli. No varieties have re-
sulted from such hybridization, but
their characteristics have been re-
corded. All are fertile, indicating
their close botanical relationship.
Red cabbage has also been success-
fully crossed with Wong Bok Chinese
cabbage. The resulting lone plant
with Wong Bok as the female parent
is large, leafy, and red-veined. The
plant is nearly (perhaps completely)
sterile.

CARROTS

Hutchinson is the carrot variety
mostly commonly grown for market
purposes in New England. Unfortu-
nately, the Hutchinson variety, while
productive and attractive, is com-
paratively low in quality. Morse's
Bunching was found to have more
desirable characteristics than any
other variety tested at the New
Hampshire Agricultural Experiment
Station. Crosses have been made be-
tween Hutchinson and Morse's
Bunching with the idea of combin-
ing the good features of both. The
first generation of this cross was
raised in the greenhouse; seed was
saved and the second generation was
raised in the field in 1948. Desir-
able selections have been made for
continued work.

23