450 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



cross-fertilization are in progress at Arlington farm. Methods of 

 propagation l\y budding and grafting and the stocks suitable for 

 propagation in the several districts in which this nut appears to be 

 hardly will also receive consideration. 



Fruit nomenclature. — Data on peach nomenclature has been 

 partly tabulated for publication. The card-index files covering cita- 

 tions as to the nomenclature of the various fruits have been increased 

 by about 2,000, as follows: Apples, 564; pears, 76; peaches, 250; 

 plums, 480; small fruits, apricots, and nectarines, about 740. Notable 

 accessions have been made to the biographical index, the index of 

 historical data, and indexes covering various minor phases of the 

 work. In the prosecution of this work some 52,000 pages of books, 

 magazines, and newsj)apers have been consulted. 



Fruit identification. — The increase of the W'Ork of identifying 

 fruits attests the renewal of interest in fi'uit growing throughout the 

 country and the desire of growers to know what they are growing. 

 A key for use in the identification of apples has been worked out 

 which is of material assistance with varieties not well known. The 

 collections of fruit at State and national exhibitions have been 

 studied and compared, and 524 hand paintings of fruits have been 

 made as aids in the identification work. Receipts for the year num- 

 ber 5,955 ; descriptions, 239. 



Plans for future work. — The lines of work now pursued will 

 be continued without essential modifications other than those inci- 

 dental to the progress made. 



FIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN POMOLOGY. 



Investigations in the field relating to the culture and handling of 

 fruits have been continued under the direction of Mr. A. V. Stuben- 

 rauch. 



FRpiT marketing, transportation, and storage. — Investigations 

 having for their principal object the determination of the relation- 

 ship between the type of handling given fruits in preparing them for 

 shipment and the occurrence of decay and deterioration continue to 

 yield results of great importance to the various fruit industries under 

 observation. The work during the past year has dealt principally 

 with oranges and pomelos in Florida; table grapes, lemons, apples, 

 loganberries, and blackberries in California ; and raspberries in 

 Oregon. 



Along with the studies of handling methods the investigation of 

 precooling these various fruits in advance of shipment has been con- 

 tinued. The general principles underlying the handling of fruits 

 which were first determined in the early department work with apples 

 and oranges have been found to apply to all classes of fruits, without 

 exception. The type of handling given a perishable fruit, such as the 

 red raspberry, has as definite a relationship to its behavior while in 

 transit and after arrival in market as exists in the case of the less 

 perishable fruits, such as apples, oranges, and lemons. It has been 

 shown that precooling can not be depended upon to overcome decay 

 and deterioration due to improper or rough handling, a point which 

 is of especial importance to the growers and shippers of deciduous 

 fruits, including grapes and berries. 



