110 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST. 



To the Director: 



The followin«r roport for the past vear furnishes an outline of the 

 work that lias been done by the department, and tlie present condition 

 of tlie experimental work that is under way. 



In the si)rin^ of liMIO all of the trees in the station orchards at the 

 college, that seemed to be severely injured by the winter of 1898-9, 

 were removed and young- trees set in their places, but when the spring 

 of 1901 opened it was found that many more, and especially the okh^r 

 trees in the case of the cherry and peach, were in a dying condition. 

 These also were removed and the vacancies were tilled either with trees 

 of new varieties, or with strong-growing standard kinds to be used 

 for top-working. 



Man}' of the young trees bore their first crop last year and still 

 others have set fruit this spring, so that a large proportion of the 

 trees in the new orchards have produced fruit. The conditions at the 

 time of tlowering, and during much of the time since that date, have 

 not been favorable for the setting and development of fruit, and in 

 nearly all cases the crop will be a light one. 



The trees have been quite free from the attack of dangerous insects 

 and jjlant diseases. Last spring a single young plum tree was found 

 to be infested with San Jose scale. It was at once destroyed, and al- 

 though the neighboring trees were api)arently free from attack, as a 

 safeguard, all of the trees in the block were spraA'ed with a ten per 

 cent mechanical emulsion of refined kerosene. 



EXPERIMKNTAL WOKK WITH VEGETABLES. 



In addition to testing many of the novelties in vegetables, consider- 

 able attention was paid to the trying of various methods of trellising 

 the tomato and observing the results upon the earliness and ])roductive- 

 ness of the plants, and upon the appearance and quality of the crop. 

 For early crops, the best results are secured by training to stakes 

 and the removal of the branches as soon as the shoots start. In un- 

 favorable seasons the yield will usually be larger than when the vines 

 rest upon the ground, especially as the upright training of the plants 

 makes it possible to use fully twice the number of plants. The color 

 and flavor of the fruit are also greatly improved. 



An elaborate experiment with various fertilizers was carried on upon 

 two acres of leased land north of the college, with potatoes. The results 

 have already been published. Although the land appeared ver}- uniform, 

 the results varied to such an extent that it was not possible to draw 

 any reliable deductions from them. In a majority of the plots fertil- 

 ized with chemicals, the cost, in proportion to the crop, was greater 

 than when stable manure was used, the latter being reckoned at one 

 dollar per load when spread upon the land. 



