I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 415 



crops, and has been known, to some extent, to attack the po- 

 tato. It is figured in Tulasne's " Fungi Hypogsei," under the 

 name of Rhizoctonia. 13 A, April 1, 1873, 135. 



HASTENING THE KIPENING OF FEUIT. 



Acting upon the principle that renewal of the earth im- 

 mediately surrounding the roots increases their activity, and 

 accelerates the maturing of all parts of the plant, including 

 the fruit, Mr. Stall removed the earth about an early pear-tree, 

 eight wrecks before the normal period of ripening, for a space 

 thirteen to fifteen feet in diameter, and to such an extent as to 

 leave a depth of earth over the roots of only about 2 to 2.4 

 inches, w^hich could be thoroughly w^armed by the sun. He 

 was surprised not only by the ripening of the fruit in the 

 middle of July, but also by its superior juiciness and flavor. 

 In another experiment, the removal of the earth from the 

 north side of a tree, alone, caused the fruit on that side to 

 ripen several days earlier than that on the south side. Fre- 

 quent watering was of course necessary in the above experi- 

 ments. 14 C, CCVII, 344. 



VALUE OF UNWASHED WOOL. 



Since the introduction of wool-washing establishments has 

 rendered it possible not only to have wool washed, but also 

 to sell unwashed wool, and thus avoid the trouble, as well 

 as the danger to the health of the animal, of the washing pre- 

 vious to shearing, it has become of importance, in fixing the 

 price of unwashed wool, to ascertain wuth exactness the act- 

 ual loss by the washing previous to the shearing. H. Goe- 

 deck carefully selected average animals from his flock of Ne* 

 gretti and Rambouillet half-bloods crossed, and subjected 

 small portions of wool, clipped about the middle of April, to 

 the usual process for washing sheep, with the following result ; 



Loss by Pure air-dried 



washing. Wool. 



Per ceut. Per cent. 



1. Ewe (Negretti breed predominant).. 62.3 37.7 



2. Ewe 52.9 47. 1 



3. Yearling ram 59.7 40.3 



4. Yearling ewe 55.3 44.7 



5. Ewe lamb 61.0 39.0 



These numbers, he remarks, will undoubtedly be aflected by 



