9 



and seedlings not transplanted, and at the same time to hociuo a record of the liabits, 

 pec ulari ties, and merit of the varletiea of biidd>d frnit. • * • 



The trees were all cut back to 2 or 3 feet when transplanted, and have been pruned 

 each spring since by the classes in the school of agriculture. Tlie objects had in view 

 ill pruning have been : 



(a) To train each tree to shade its own body to prevent sun-scald. (&) To distri- 

 bute the growth of limbs uniformly around and above the body, to secure symmetry, 

 and to have the weight of fruit uniformly distributed around the point of support. 

 ((') Tostrengthenthelimbsby shortening back, to enable tluuii to sustain a crop of fruit. 

 id) To reduce the quantity of fruit by a judicious shortening of the shoots bearing 

 tlu) fruit-buds, (v) To so direct the growth that the crop of fruit could bo gathered 

 by a man standing upon the ground. 



All of these obj(^cts have been attained in nearly every specimen. Notwithstanding 

 the immense crop of fruit borne last sunnner the trees were neither bi'oken nor rendered 

 illshapeu, wh.le trees not pruned were often stripped of all their branches. 



Observations indicate that seedlings have failed to bear as often as 

 bndded trees, and that there has been no nniform relation between the 

 date of flowering- and of ripening. Brief notes on thirty-six varieties 

 are given, and these varieties are classified with reference to their nse 

 for shipping, canning, and home consumption. 



Plums. — ^otes on twelve varieties. 



Alabama College Station, Bulletin No. 12, February, 1890 (pp. 15). 



Co-operative soil tests with fertilizers, J. S. Newman.— 

 In the season of 1889, nine farmers having typical soils in as many coun- 

 ties were serected to co-operate with the director in studying the needs 

 of these soils, and fertilizers were furnished with directions for tlieir 

 ap[)lication and for the arrangement of plats. The fertilizers and 

 amounts per acre were — for nitrogen, sulphate of ammonia, 80'pounds, 

 nitrate of soda, 100 pounds, and cotton-seed meal, 200 i)ounds ; for 

 phosphoric acid, dissolved bone-black, 200 pounds; and for potash, 

 kainit, 100 pounds. Green cotton seed, 960 pounds per acre, alone and 

 in combination with acid phosphate, and stable manure, 3,000 pounds 

 per acre, were also nsed. The fertilizers were applied singly and in 

 various combinations to fifteenth-acre plats planted with cotton, with- 

 out i^rovision for duplication. Some of the experiments proved to be 

 of little value, owing to mistakes and omissions ; others, three'of which 

 are reported, indicate with some clearness that phosphoric acid is the 

 ingredient chiefly needed on the soils tested — sandy and brown loam, 

 with clay subsoil. 



Tests of varieties of cotton. — Seed of eleven varieties of cotton was 

 sent to each of the ex])erimenters. In the only successful test reported 

 Peerless led in early maturing, and in yield (1,080 pounds i^er acre) was 

 equaled only by Jones' Improved, though closely followed by Wellboru's 

 Pet and Zellner. 



Careful direction)^ for repeating the tests during the present season 

 are included in the bulletin. 



