Grapes used in experimental
work are inspected by Allsbrook and Cecil Thomas, director of test farms for the
State Department of Agriculture.
Seeds bother you when
you’re eating watermelon? This seedless, ice box-size melon test-grown at
McCullers might be the answer.
Many farmers have
tried the new hybrid corn varieties and liked them. Allsbrook is shown here
with a foundation seed corn planting. There’ll be 33 acres, including
foundation stock, at Clayton.
Nematode research won’t
be overlooked while McCullers Station is being shifted to its new location
outside Clayton. Here is a tobacco field which is being used to show the effect
of soil treatment in nematode control.
W.C.
Allsbrook, the genial superintendent of McCullers Station, won’t be bothered by
claustrophobia any longer. The research program over which he is in charge will
have plenty of room to flex its muscles at its new, larger location near
Clayton.
But
for all its humble start 19 years ago with 20 acres of leased land, the old
McCullers Station did right well for itself. It grew to 194.8 acres of land
owned and 65.5 additional acres rented, but because it had reached its
practical limit, the entire operation is being switched to a 448-acre plot.
The
tobacco breeding program remains at the old location at present because of a
shortage of funds. The financial rub won’t hamper research on new materials for
controlling suckers or studies of the life cycle of insects that affect
tobacco. Research men will also continue breeding for new varieties of tobacco
which are resistant to diseases and nematodes, will work on plant beds and new
methods of controlling pests, and try to find the right amount of water to be
applied in irrigating.
Tobacco
farmers will probably be heartened by the fact that one of the first activities
at the new site will be a stepped-up effort to develop mechanization. In other
words, eliminate some of that back-breaking labor always associated with
handling tobacco.
Other
crops won’t suffer because of the exhaustive work being done on the state’s No.
1 cash crop, either.
The
270 acres of cropland will include 33 acres of corn, part of which will be for
foundation seed stock, part for corn breeding work, and the rest for weed
control experiments.
There’ll
be 10 acres of cotton for breeding work, yield trials, wilt and nematode
control research; 10 acres each of soybeans, vegetables, and small grains, with
emphasis on developing new, higher-yielding, and disease-resistant varieties;
two acres of lespedeza and four acres each for alfalfa and grain sorghum.
Scientists
will study soil fertility in forage crops, sweet potato breeding, always on the
lookout for ways to improve varieties.
Long-range
crops such as raspberries, grape arbors, peach and apple orchards, are still at
McCullers but the experimental orchards will be started at Clayton next fall.
And
farmers can rest assured, anything promising will be farmed-out to other
research stations for testing under varied climates and soils.
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