4DD90N WVITIIM NOLYON’ Mae aa a SAN AIBA FORCING cane) 3 LIESIS Cr Lita aa TG. YUNCKER ee i - a ta aT iv LIBRARY Michigan State University PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES retum on or before date due. MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE 5/08 K:/Proj/Acc&Pres/CIRC/DateDue. indd ‘2 abet s- seas ITO *\ yd NG as ode ways and methods of hastening the growth of plants by small cola frases and orotector. | “Ubmitted by Ne 4. Wo and T. G. Yuncker, To the storticultural Department ilichigan Agricultural College, June, 1914. aQe (33 z47 THS “SE nee —— ay - OSs awa. a eee ~& - ° & -(@- FT? introduction: hn chosing this subject for investigation it was witn the idee of deternininz to some little degree whether it would ne eae profitable enterprise to force certain vegetsble crops unuer zlass with the idea of bringing sucn crops upon the marxet at a time when tney wald pring the best price. Tnis is a decicedl; practical question ana one that should interest the man who lives in the city and who has only a limited spsce of ground to devote to the production of vegetsbles for nis own table as well @s the commercial grower who mas the planting of seversl acres. aftec diliscnt searcn it was found thet very little work has been done as yet upon this subject, altnouwg tne agricul- tural papers acvertise forcers and protcctors of all kinas, most of wnien have not received a trial in this section of michigan. weany erops sueh as lettuce, cucumbers, radishes are grown or forced in zgreennouses, not-beds and tometoes eté. culu-franes. wvther croos such as cabbaze, cauliflower etc. are Stertea uncer g1aee one thus obtvin an errlicr etaort. There is nced for inavestizsiion of this tuection as ~~ vwne writers could rind but Little in regard to the success of forcer s end protectors sucn 9s are sdvertiseu in come of the aerri- p E 176700 pject: Tne object of this work was to find ways and methods of has tening the growtn of plants by tne use of cold frames and protectors of various kinds, and to determine whether or not such forcing was a profitable venture for tne vegetsble srower. “Oo Tre cold fraues, J in nanocer, were constructea for this p roblen by tne writers. Tne cash for tnese frames were fur- nished by the Horticultural Department of the Michigen Agricul tural Lollece and wee of the sinsle glass etyle. Tne frames and sash were of tne Stende.u sire, i.-ce- o x J'. .~ine boards 12' wide and 1" thick were used in the construction of the frames. § e also used 1 & “nall catented clant Forcers” of the upright construction, their ¢3, “tyle A, price $2.62 per dozen, and 3 of "“pvall ratented “elon Forcers", their #4, Style 3, price $1.50 per dozen with glecs and ¥-75 per dozen without glass. Two wooden box protectors size 1& x 12 x 12" from tne hort. Dept. were also used. These were S0 constructed with a groove that the glass could be pulled out permitting ample ventilation during tne werm hours of the day. é ow) JO-« tw i Srop Table showing the data regarding the pe ; i Variety Cucumber j|+hite Spine ma " \"y 1% a | ad (*): a | | a CL Tomatoes Livingstons vie ont wer ote n “(tp ng 4elons Long 4s8-seauty Asparagus conovers Colossal ihbarbo Strawberry sig Rock Note: work done. Time set out | No. April 18th 9 April 21st ee ee eee: - oe may 6tn April 28th may 6th — | -— April 28th a 4 9 S april 26th 4 2 6 riow 1 rotected 7 sall 2 wood- en boxes. ¢ sall 1 box 2 sall 2 box ? . a { 4 q \ ‘ 4 , 1 ' a? ° e ’ ; -- 2 o «4 ) 4 CY) Asparagus. \Asparagus officinalis) A small portion of the Yollege sspsragus field was selected in whien soil was judged to be warmer and with the assis tence of air. Devis of the horticultural Dept. the cold-freme was located on whet was believed to be a favorable spot. Our judgement was afterwards found to be fairly accurage as we secured in the 6 x 3’ coldefreme 3 crowns or plants. The esparagus plants in the plot of ground were not the best owing to the fact that this bed of asparagus has pveen in use for over 20 years, and the plants are not getting rather epindly. The soil conditions in the asparagus bed, while not exactly idea, were very good. The soil consisted of @ good loam wnicn was exposed to the rays of the sun all day, and protected somewnat on the west and north. The freme was thoroughly wentilated on the days when tne temperature wes not too cold so 38s to materially injure the plants . This was accomplished by raising and removing the sash during the warmer portion of tne day and then rep laced when it became co>ler in the afternoon. se found that there was a differ- ence on the average betwecn the inside and awtside temperature of from 13° on « cloudy day to that of 25° on a warm sunshiny aay. This, in fact, was true of 911 the frames which we had out. rtnere was no material advantage as regards the com- ing up of the plants, as tnose on the outside the frame and those On the inside came up all together the Gay following a warm shower which oceurred about April 24th. On May 2nd the stalks were of a marketable size as regards lengtn, being about 6-8" long. lit will 7 e —_ - ‘ ° - - = . . e . “oy ‘ . . ‘ r 7 “ y « 7 - ~ - t x @ ° . : Lt 7 . : - * a e - e . . . . 4 - . . t - ‘ . . ‘ . Me . ' a - . - , « . -~ a. - . . s . : a , PS . . A r . . a ~~, - a : . . + - a * ° - a - = - * . . . . e > . ‘ . » > a - ; . . o x 4 - s : le “7 * .? - . ' c- Me ~ £ . - ” . ‘ al ~ . . 4 = 4 a a | . , - x bo . iif - = Cy + ; . - . . . r wr - a + a — > - . co ‘ . . - + . - , s z. - - : A. * ° . 7 ® aos | r . * ‘ e- rs + ~ ‘ . - : tol. ok > ~ ° ‘ ; * . r 4 - . ~ ~ + . - “ , a? . roan a eo The Cold-frame and oe M ) Pr. ue Ae oe ‘Sach in Place in Asparagu: bed. be noticed from the above dates that it required 15 days to bring the crop to a marketable size. As the crop was not wortn harvest- ing it was allawed to run to seed and the frame removed May 14tn. Conclusions: “@ concluded tnat tne forcing of aSparagus by means of cold-frames is not a pmfitable commercial enterprise as little time can be geined in bringing the crop upon the market by these methods. Ine croc outside is ready at the same time and tnus does not require the use and care of the crop in tne frame. in growing asperagus under cold-frames tnere is a strong tendency for the crop to min to Seed- st is possible, however, with the use of some warminz agent, tnat the crop might have been matured esrlier end better results obteined. tn 3 younger bed, otner things being equal, results would probably have been mich more favorable. wenQUO-~= Strawoerry (Fragaria Sp.) The colc frame of the same type as thoat usSed for asperagus was loceted in the S.E. comer of the Colleze straw- berry patel, aS shown in diagran wiicn is on enother pee. The frome wee placed so se to cover two rows of Derry sliits, there heliz a.0at rive in e2cn row or 2 totrvl cf ter plents urccr the frone. she variety of berries ghich were under the cold frame wos "Big tock” wnich is a perfect variety. The conditions in the patch are not especially good owirn-to the fact that the weeds were allowed to grow uncnecxed, but en eff ort was meade to keep the weeds down inside the freme. No cultivation wee given the plants other than the pulling of the weds. The method of culture used for the strawberry plot was the ‘matted row’, and the plants were gooc vigorous growers With plenty of munners. The frane was thorougnly ventileted on days when the temper:ture wss such that it would not injure the plants. This ventilation was accomplished by means of Openinz the frame in the morming end then replecing it again in the efternoon soon enough so thet the frame would be warmed before the sun hac disappesred for the day. Up to the time of blossoming the plants inside of the frame sppeared to be much more vigorous than those outside tne frame, on. blossoms appeared about 4 days earlier for tne seme var- lety tnan those on the outside, but as far as the ripening of the concermed it did not seen to ripen more tnan one or two it was n ticed that the fruit was days earlier than those on the outside. « ‘ . . - . ' ‘ ' "5 . 4 of . . - . . o ‘ ° * = 2 . . . | ‘ . . ’ ~ oon . . +. - . : . ~ > 7 . . - > - ‘ = . : ‘ ~ “és - - - . » . wt ee . ~ = ee AK, . . . . o ' a y * > . ‘ . - 8 - 4 ‘ . . . . _ ; ‘ - s t . e e e - - . . . e ad . -= c . > . . ~ - = . ‘ . ~ oe . . ‘ . . - . . ~ « - —-— - : . ‘ ‘ . , - wm w . . : . e : 6 . 1 ~ * 4 ~ ' : , * . - ° & e * , ‘ ~w . oe . ; . . \ . . . . ; - . . ; , * . s . . * . ' | a rw > . e- 1 « e . . e . . ° - s . ) - oe Be ~. . . - « « . i . . vo s d . - . . s ~ , . a; ~ . . . . ~ Strawberry plants. a. grown in cold-frame do. grown vuexsasur, berries in the frene were somewhat larger tnan tose outside, and [') this may account for the tardiness of ripening, as the fruit was forming much larger. The plants in the frame were very badly infected with the lesf spot, (dycosphaerella rragariae), while those outside were not infected nearly so bad, showing tnst tne foliage is more tender or susceptible to this disease or the conditions in the freme were more favoreble to its devwlopment. Conclusions: 4t is the opinion of the writers that the use of cold fremes employed to force tne strawberry crop prematurely is not a profitable venture for tne nerget gardener. i1t might be em- ployed by a small grower, but the cost of tne frame if So grest, wnen compared with the smoll gain, thet it would not be profitsble. one-9) Q-ere . . ‘ s * + w ¢ —- an OD wp Ventilating the Strawberry Cold-frame. (2 Rhubarb (Kheun rhaponticum) Two crowns of tnis plant were selected in a repre- sensative section of the college bed and a cold frame, similiar to tnat used for the etraewberries and asparagus was placed over them. The soil in the bed tes a warm sandy loam and the exposure was couthernly- sefore the frame was placed, tne field hed been thorougnly cultivsted. Ventilation of this frome was affected in the same menmr as for the other frames. On April 28th two represenative plants outside the frame were selected and from these sand the two inside the frame the marketable stalks were eut. From the two outside plants 3.5 lbs. were G btained, while from the two on the insice 87 were cut. This wes sold to a Lensing Grocer et the rate of 6 cents per lb., the grocer retailing it at lJ cents. fo obtain a comparison of the acidity content of the plants outside and those inszide the frame an analysis was made of several stalks from esch source, and it was found that the plants inside were 42° (Fuller's seale) lower in acidity content than th- ose outside. There was a greater number of stalks per plent ine Side than outside and these were more Spindly, the plants on the Outside being shortsnd thick. The plants on the inside were more agreeble to the taste than those on the outside, due, in all pro- babili ty, to the lower degree of acidity. From the results obtained with rhubarb it would -> —_ @ppeer to be possible to place the crop upon ghe market from four to eight days before the crop outside would be ready to harvest. After the first cutting, in this experiment, the plants on the out- side came slong so fast tnat tney were competing with those on the inside, and, owing to tne stockiness of the individual stelks, would probsbly give se sreatcr yield per plant than those inside the frame. ‘rom a study of the condition of the local market it appeared thet, providing ySsu can get the crop on the market a week earlier than the regular crop, you could obtain double tne price comnanded by tne regular crop, and, in fact, in this case, provided we could have placed the rhyberbd on the merket four days previous ty the time we did, it would Rave brougnt from ten to twelve cents per lb. owen) O-ece : _ oe . ~ ez C e = , * . an 4 -tilating Ve ne 14 Cucumbers. (Cucumis sativus) with this crop, sall's ratented ilant Forcers were employed- « warn sandy loam soil was selected just to the nath of the college rhubarb bed. This soil was plowed and cultivated previous to our experiment. The plants were of the ‘white Cpine' variety and were started from seed in the greenehouse by the Hort- icultural Dept. .hese plants were placed in a row three feet apart Uver 7 p lants we placed tne 3a1l1 Foréers, while over two tne box style was placed . Tne plants were frozen out twice owing to the fact toat the o98ll Seed rorcers afforded inadequate protection to the plants.- .n two of tha forcers 3nd one of the boxes we placed man- ure aground tne plont, but as far as could be sscertained ths did not materially affect the results. Owing to tne fact that this plant is fairly snesi- tive to high temperatures as well as to frost great care was exer- cised to give the plants proper ventilation, this being accomplish- ed by removing the glass from the protectors in the morning anda tnen a gein replacing it in tne afternoon. Sonclusions: we concluded that the 3all Seed and i lant forcers were not Suitable protectors for a crop of tnis nature because they bulged at tne top allowing cir between gless and paper. These pro- tectors are acvertised to last any nuzbder otf years, out in the jad-emnent of tne writers those used on tnecu-umbers vill be useless for next years work. ine pareffine paper is not suitadle for ex- posure in all sorts of weather, and this style of protector is sa light that the wind can resdily tip tnen over or Dlow then away. ly "fb The wodden boxes furnished by tne wort. Dect. were nuch o>" eulte 300e for Liics work ana 7g tne advanteze i1 tat they were etcicr to ventilste tnen tne parafine boxes. The glass can be pulled out or the boxes can be tipped up vwery easily. Tomatoes \Lycopersicum esculentun) ITnis crop was trested in the same manner as the cucumbers, with the exception thst there were not any placed uncer the box protectors, but all under the 3a11 forcers. This crop was also badly affeeted by tne frost enc several resettings had to be made. The plants for these settings were obtained from tne hort. Lept. hot beds wnere they had been started from seeds. rlants were placed in the same kind of soil as the cuembe rs end were ventilated in the same manner. rlants were set three feet apart. The same style of protectors were used as for the cucumbers, and the same fault was found with the protectors as with the other crop. G g: {he plants whicn were left in the hot beds and plant ed in tne open were as large as tne ones protected, thus showing thet the protectors used were inefficient as foreers of this crop. eecews))O-o-n ’ —— ow t o ~ , . - - + ~ ¢ s & ‘ . o = te .. . . . . - : - - sos - 6 . . ‘ . - —_—en= ©) ae Fj Tomatoes ~~ Tomato plant grown in field. 8 lant Protectors or Forcers over the Cucumbergs. wuskme lons (\uucumis melo) ine plants for this crop were obtained from tne orte Dept. hot beds, and were set in the same kind of soil as for the cucumbers and tomatoes and were placed about four feet apart. The 3ell “tyle » 44 Melon forcers were employed, these being diffewnt from the ones used for the cucumbers and tomatoes in thet the top is flat and tne glass is nearly flat instesd of being nesrly verticle ss in tne otner style. This style of protector seemed to be more efficient as tne plants made a very good growth, but unfortunetely finsl re- Sults could not be obtained, owing to the fect that during culti-e vetion of the mhyberb bed the team was driven through our experi- ment destroyins tne plants and forcers. C us 83 wing to the shortness of the crowtn period, this portion of the experiment ran it is difficult to come to any de- finite econelusions in regard to the value of this forcer, but it would sppe3r thet tnis style of forcer was mich more efficient than tne uprignt style. ~een) )O---@ o ., reo 4 + . . , . : ‘ ‘ . a ee 7 1 . . - - . > coe $ ‘ 4 e o - - . . ~ at ‘ - _ ‘ 4 an : ¢ . a. . . - * - e 1 . a > “a ® - . . . . : e ey . . + 1 -_ - - ~ - ‘ . ‘ —m_ “Veneral VLonclusione: lensparagus cannot be profitably forced under glass. 2-48 a commercial venture it is not wise to try to force stray- berries in a cold-freme. S-lhe size of the strawberries was naterially increased by the use of the cold-frame. 4-Yoliage under glass in coldefranes on strawberry plants was much more susceptible to the leaf spot than that outside. 5-Ilwo to eiznt days cen be gained in the time of serk: ting the rhubarb crop by the use of the cold-frames. 6-.uslity of rhpberb was improved by tne use of glass. 7-The acid content of the rhubarb in the frame was 42° less than tnat outside. 8-orcing rhubarb by use of cold-frane judged to be a profitable undertaking. 9~Use of paper protectors such as 3all “eed & rlant Forcers is not recomzended for such plants as tomatoes, cucumbers etc. 1U-wo0den boxes fitted witn a glass slide are much better. llelhne flet style used with the melons proved to be the best type Of p aper protectors. 12-The tenperature in tne cold franes was from 20-409 higher than that outside. l3-Earliness is such an important factor in securing high prices tnat it is a profitable enterprise to start plants uncer glass, but in thie experiment little was gained by the use of the protectors as too meny plants were lost through fromst injury and the plants that were held in the green-nouse and hot beds and were later plant ed in the open sre just as fer advanced es those protected by the protectors. “=a —_ eee. . —_ =~, - Bibliography. . : u © ; Arkansas Sulletin of Exp. Station #86 nensas . " #79 ilissouri . . £43 Uhio " . #2E Fefmers " # G1 Strawberries venereal Culture: wicnigan Exp. Station Special Bulletin ,;& Forcing in general: Seiley's Forcing 300k “atts warket Gardening Corbett'’s varden rarning Ne. Js Report for 1906 rage £237 Vermont sulletin ,150 several commercial cs3talogues ( ) \ Report of the weetner Ggurins “xperiment copied from tne U.<. ate April 16 17 18 19 ev 21 25 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 By ao on SP WwW ~) mine 36 41 55 3E& 29g Su 4U Se 45 49 7) 47 56 41 oo 3U 33 45 S1 63 44 6. 40 39 Tenperature Desrees “- MAX é 64 71 84 6c 38 66 ol 57 61 72 68 78 82 62 oS 5S 6&0 74 Oo” 65 65 n a 70 ~@ane 50 56 70 Ee 34 46 50 44 52 60 62 32 69 §2 44 42 48 55 62 60 54 52 54 54 weatner bureau reporcs- rrecipitation in inches. V2 Vd 00 44 66 045 rie running os our Char. of 7 of possi- day. Glouay Clear vlou dy rt." Cloudy Clear Cloudy ulear i tecloudy Cloudy ble sunsnne o7 96 63 39 i20 53 Ai 22 79 49 93 GCOJP?PADW =o SDIAIDY (0 O4, : 7 soberydsy =7 a ~ > (BV 69 =) cS) 9479°4 ar _e) Cc. eg fp “Oo © S € c @ 2 CT cm : (

“NY =~ 4 ca C2 f) > CO? VVWVTVUYVYV TV VY VW wT Tees bts O48 $4 og wmorng7 “sue re od vtfp - : Se -- .| SP78494— oy a oT LL ' } - ~~ Sari AGrleC PNY eo —_—— “oS , ~} rc |7 oa ey ‘sy (x C ‘ (J Sern oy ry t 4 . * 2s shia bl « sy FE ld. ~ oo ‘, 9 on FOr 24 oyy of y — MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY MINN il 3 1293 02604 r (\