Ixxxiv Department of Horticulture 



The greenhouse work heretofore given by the department has 

 been very Hmited, but as the fact becomes known that more com- 

 prehensive courses are being offered in this subject, an increase in 

 the registration will doubtless follow. Two courses each in flori- 

 culture and vegetable gardening are now offered, making it possible 

 for the first time for a student to pursue these subjects throughout 

 the year. This is the first time any course in floriculture has been 

 offered in the College, and vegetable gardening has never been 

 offered for more than one semester. 



(2) Investigation, (a) Use of ether and chloroform in forcing 

 lowering bulbs. — The remarkable forcing effect observed by Euro- 

 pean investigators on certain flowering shrubs when subjected while 

 in a dormant condition to the fumes of ether and chloroform, sug- 

 gests that good results might also accrue from treating flowering 

 bulbs in a similar manner. Several thousand bulbs, representing 

 various varieties of lilies, tulips, narcissus, hyacinths and gladiolus, 

 were treated with difl'erent doses of ether and chloroform, for dif- 

 ferent periods. The tulips, hyacinths, and some of the lilies showed 

 gains of three to ten days in time of flowering, but with narcissus 

 and gladiolus the response was slight. Anesthetics were also used 

 on lily-of-the-valley, mushroom spawn, and various vegetable seeds, 

 but the response in the first and last cases was slight, and the 

 mushroom bed failed completely owing to the advent of hot weather. 

 A bulletin will soon be published on this subject and the work will 

 be continued another year. 



(b) Hotbed sash. — Comparative tests were made of the double- 

 glazed sash and the common sash, four of each being employed. 

 Radishes and lettuce were grown in each frame, and complete tem- 

 perature records made. To suit the requirements of other work in 

 the department, the hotbeds were not started till the middle of 

 March, and the weather became too quickly mild to furnish the con- 

 ditions for a rigid test. 



(c) Cucumber hybrids. — Hybrid cucumbers which promise to be 

 of considerable commercial value for forcing were produced by 

 crossing White Spine with Telegraph. A few inviduals from the 

 seeds of one fruit have proved to be very prolific, with almost spine- 

 less fruits of exceptional quality, 15 to 18 inches in length, and 

 with few seed. 



(d) Shade tent for vegetables. — A rectangular tent of Ariel cloth, 

 24 X 96 feet, was erected in the spring to test the effect of shading 

 upon the growth of head lettuce. Radishes were also included in 



