154 HORTICULTURE [Box. Absts., Vol. VII, 



usually fail to produce blossom buds. Such a change, which must come from an influence on 

 individual spurs, would require pruning of a rather detailed nature. The influence of 

 cultivation and soil fertility in increasing the general growth of the tree would also have a 

 large part to play in causing an increased growth that is associated with the failure to pro- 

 duce an excessive number of blossoms. These factors have been shown by practice and ex- 

 periment to have a marked corrective influence on biennial bearing. — Blossom bud formation 

 is due to a condition within the plant. This condition is subject to modification by a num- 

 ber of external factors. In working to obtain annual bearing, it may be necessary to modify 

 the orchard cultivation, the amounts of fertilizer applied, the available moisture content 

 of the soil, the pruning, or various combinations of these factors. — E. C. Auchter. 



1000. Stark, Paul C. The small orchard — how to make it profitable. Proc. Amer. 

 Pomol. Soc. 1917:99-106. 1918. — The author shows that the small home orchard plays an 

 important part in the nation's food supply. He compares the food value of fruits with 

 that of meats, etc. He points out, that as a whole the returns per acre are as large if not 

 larger from fruits as from other crops. In summarizing, he urges (1) that people plant and 

 grow back yard fruit gardens along with their vegetable gardens, (2) that every farm have its 

 own home orchard for home consumption and sell the surplus on the local markets; (3) that 

 farmers be shown how to renovate their neglected orchards so that they will be the best paying 

 part of the farm, and that they be shown how simple it is to produce first-class fruit instead 

 of wormy culls. — E. C. Auchter. 



1001. Stewart, John P. Fertilization of apple orchards. Proc. Amer. Pomol. Soc. 

 1917:34-45. 1 pL, 1 fig. 1918. — The results of the past nine-years' experimental work in 

 apple orchard fertilization as carried on by the Pennsylvania experiment station is given. 

 Similar experiments were carried on in several different orchards throughout the state. 

 Applications of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash, singly and in different combinations, were 

 made in the various orchards. Tables showing the fruit yields and tree growths, as influ- 

 enced b}"- the various treatments, are given. The results in the Johnston orchard, 20 years 

 old at the start of the experiment, and in the Brown orchard, 21 years old at the start, show 

 that nitrogen (nitrate of soda) influenced the yields more than any of the other elements. 

 Greater returns from the nitrogen applications seemed to result when phosphorus was also 

 added. In j'ounger orchards such as the Strode orchard, nitrogen increased the growth of the 

 trees but did not materially increase the yield of fruit. In the Tyson orchard, potash seemed 

 to give the best results. A plan for local orchard fertilizer tests is given. It is stated that the 

 best time to apply the fertilizer, especially nitrogen, is in the early spring before the blos- 

 soms open. It should be spread over the surface of the ground beneath the spread of the 

 limbs. It is suggested that it might be well to apply part of the nitrogen before the blossoms 

 open and part after the fruit had set. — E. C. Auchter. 



1002. Thayer, Paul, J. B. Keil, and W. J. Green. Varieties of apples adapted for Ohio 

 culture. Monthly Bull. Ohio Agric. Exp. Sta. 5': 252-255. 1920.— A discussion is given of 

 the relative merits of the banana and ensee varieties of apples for culture in Ohio. — R. C. 

 Thomas. 



1003. Tufts, W. P. The so-called "New system of pruning." Monthly Bull. California 

 State Commission Hortic. 8: 424-42b. 1919. — The lighter the pruning, the heavier and 

 stockier the tree becomes. By intelligent pruning during the early life of the fruit tree, it 

 can be brought into bearing two or three years sooner than has generally been the case in 

 California. — Author reports upon data found in Bull. 313 of the University of California. — 

 E. L. Overholser. 



1004. Wester, P. J. Vegetative propagation of tropical fruit. Proc. Amer. Pomol. Soc. 

 1917: 82-94. 9 pi., 40 fig. 1918. — Attention is drawn to the fact that there are great oppor- 

 tunities for improvement of the tropical fruits merely by the discovery of a practical method 

 of propagating the various species asexually. Considerable experimental work in shield 



