EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 243 



blossom at the beginning of November and some vines had reached a height of 

 12 feet. Superintendent Geismar recommends the plant as a weed destroyer. 

 Lathyrus ochrus was planted June -first in 1903 and ripened late in August. 



MISCELLANEOUS CROPS. 



Buckwheat has ripened on successive years and is a safe crop for the Upper 

 Peninsula. It is a little difficult to handle at harvest time because of adverse 

 weather. 



Field peas make an enormous growth, sometimes 11 to 13 feet. The work of 

 the station is directed toward securing varieties that give an early harvest with 

 a less growth of vines. 



Flax ripens its seed and there is no reason evident why the Upper Peninsula 

 should not in time produce an abundance of this crop for seed and for fiber. 



The station has developed the plan of planting potatoes in the fall, relying 

 upon the continuous covering of deep snow to protect the seed from freezing. 

 No great advantage in yield is found by adopting this method but the crop is 

 considerably earlier. Level culture is practiced. Of the varieties of potatoes 

 the Sir Walter Raleigh has, on the whole, proved the best. 



Sugar beets have made good yields in the several consecutive years and the 

 per cent of sugar has been high. A sugar factory has been erected at Menominee 

 and the station has investigated the possibility of growing beets in the middle 

 or northern parts of the peninsula. No reason is apparent why beets of high 

 sugar content should not be produced on all of the clay loams of that peninsula. 



Carrots, rutabagas, mangolds, table beets, all reach perfection at the Upper 

 Peninsula Station in quality and in yield. The crops at Chatham are not sur- 

 passed in any part of the State. 



GARDEN VEGETABLES. 



A dozen varieties of snap and string beahs were tried in 1904, all of them 

 ripening and none of them suffering from disease. 



Sweet corn reached the edible stage but did not ripen. Many varieties of 

 cucumbers planted in the early spring were killed by a frost on September 22 

 in 1904. They had grown, however, a good crop of pickles prior to that time. 

 Tomatoes did not ripen though the vines reached a good height and were heavily 

 loaded with fruit when killed by the frost of September 22 Cabbage developed 

 good hard heads and gave a very satisfactory yield. Onions were practically 

 destroyed by maggots in 1904, that pest having spread rapidly over some parts 

 of the Upper Peninsula. 



A host of other garden vegetables and miscellaneous ornamental and useful 

 crops were tested in the two years but results of importance have not yet been 

 reached. 



Strawberries have been grown since the station was started. The standard 

 kinds ripen their fruit in great abundance at the station, even though the 

 environment has not been altogether favorable. The late frosts have been the 

 worst enemy. 



THE ORCHARD. 



Apples. Russian varieties have been tested. Seven varieties ripened fruit in 

 1904, the Haas, Borovinka, Gideon, Hibernal, Patten Greening, Yellow Transpar- 

 ent and Duchess. High winds have been not uncommon and have done consid- 

 erable damage to the trees. Spraying has kept back the apple scab and good 

 care has secured a good growth. The winters are severe. The trees are not 

 damaged below the snow line, but above that, many varieties are injured on the 

 south side, evidently from the bright sun reflected over the snow. This damage 

 occurs in late December or early January or at any period in the winter when 

 zero weather and high temperature sharply succeed each other. Some varieties 

 like the Mann, Wagener, Boskoop and Canada Red were seriously damaged. 



In 1904 most of the varieties of grapes made a growth of six or eight feet, 

 but the fruit, although colored, failed to ripen properly. 



Cherry trees are particularly susceptible to the damage from high winds 

 and the late frosts. A disease is also attacking some of them below the surface 



