BUEEAU OF PLANT INDUSTEY. 85 



in the methods of manufacture appear to be necessary to insure a 

 uniformly wholesome and reliable article. A bulletin on this subject 

 has been prepared by Mr. Husmann, in which the methods of manu- 

 facture and care are briefly described and the more important steps 

 necessary to insure good results are pointed out. 



An experiment in the pot culture of Vinifera grapes under glass, 

 both on their own roots and on resistant stocks, has been inaugurated 

 in cooperation with the Horticulturist of the Bureau. 



FRUIT DISTRICT INVESTIGATIONS. 



The details of this work are in charge of Mr. H. P. Gould, assistant 

 pomologist. The purpose of this investigation is to determine as 

 accurately as possible the relative adaptability of commercial varie- 

 ties of fruits to the important fruit-producing regions of the country. 

 The work is being prosecuted through correspondence, field inspec- 

 tion, and various lines of cooperative work with growers. Arrange- 

 maats have been made with more than 700 fruit growers, located in 

 different sections of the United States and British America, by which 

 the blossoming, vernation, and ripening dates of the important varie- 

 ties of apples and peaches in the several localities are being recorded. 

 These cooperative observers are also making definite reports on the 

 important points of elevation, slope, character of soil, etc., where the 

 trees are located, and it is anticipated that through this agency verj'^ 

 valuable data can be assembled for comparison and correlation at the 

 close of the season. 



During the autumn of 1901 a careful orchard-to-orchard survey was 

 made of an area in the Piedmont and mountain regions of Virginia 

 fi-om the Staunton to the James rivers, with a view to determining the 

 orchard conditions there. A considerable portion of the area selected 

 had been mapped by the Bureau of Soils earlier in the season, and 

 careful comj)arative notes were kept on the relative behavior of va- 

 rieties on different soils. It is intended to extend this work as rap- 

 idlj^ as possible northward and southward from the area selected, 

 which was mainly in Bedford County, Va., with a view to accurately 

 mapping the areas found esijecially adapted to the culture of the 

 apple and the peach. The region visited last year will be revisited 

 during the present season, in order to verify or correct the original 

 observations. 



As the soil conditions, elevation, and exposure are imj)ortant fac- 

 tors in determining the relative adaptability of varieties to locations, 

 the soil maps of the Bureau of Soils and the contour maps of the 

 United States Geological Survey, as well as the climatic records of 

 the Weather Bureau, are found of particular value in this connection. 

 This work is believed to be of distinct and far-reaching imi)ortance, 

 as it is likely to exert a profound infiuence upon the commercial 

 planting of the future. It is therefore desired to extend it as rapidly 

 as possible to other important fruit-growing sections, and to place the 

 results of the investigations in the hands of the public at the earliest 

 possible date. 



The phenological work above referred to is also of distinct impor- 

 tance, as the relative dates of blossoming and ripening, taken in con- 

 nection with the dates of last killing frosts in spring and the first 

 hard frosts in fall, frequently determine the adaptability of a variety 

 to a particular site or section. It is realized that work of this charac- 

 ter must extend over a considerable period of years to make safe con- 



