142 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In the fertilizer experiments with apples, started in 1896, the differences 

 due to fertilization are bocominK more prominent e:icli year. Tlie trees on the 

 plat which has received no fertilizer are as large, in most cases, as correspond- 

 ing trees on the plat which has received 500 lbs. of an even mixture of bone, 

 muriate of potash, and acid phosphate. The trees on the plat on which 150 

 lbs. of nitrate of soda has been added to the above mixture have shown the 

 largest amount of normal growth each year, the leaves being noticeably larger 

 and a darker green. The fruit upon this plat, particularly that of certain 

 \ari('ties. matures a little later and averages slightly larger in nearly all cases. 

 Tables are given showing the yields of apples secured from the various plats 

 during the seasons of 1907-8. 



Some progress has been made in the attempt to breed a rust-resistant 

 asparagus. During the past season considerable "rust developed upon the 

 plants grown from seed obtained from various sources. Data are given show- 

 ing the sources of the seed a!id the percentages of plants free from rust in 

 October, 1908. This percentage varied from no plants in some cases up to 

 74.4 per cent. Imported seed in all cases produced quite rust-resistant plants. 

 In all cases but one, seed selected from plants more or less free from rust 

 produced plants more resistant to the disease. 



Report of the fruit branch of the Department of Agriculture, Ontario, 1908, 

 P. W. HODGETTS ET AL. {Ri>t. Fniit Branch fXpt. Agr. Ontario, 1!)08, pp. J 20, 

 figs. 32). — This is the first report of the recently organized fruit branch of the 

 Ontario Department of Agriculture. It contains a general survey of the work 

 of the fruit growers' and bee keepers' associations, the experimental fruit 

 stations, spraying and nurseiy inspection, horticultural exhibitions, and 

 cooperative associations, together with detail reports of the A^arious fruit 

 stations in Ontario relative to the varieties of fruits and vegetables being 

 tested. 



Other subjects reported are the extent of the vegetable industry in the 

 Leamington district, the strawberry season for 190S, and cultural experiments 

 with cranberries and onions. 



The decay of cabbage in storage: Its cause and prevention, L. L. Hartee 

 (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Circ. 39, pp. 8). — The results of investiga- 

 tions into the causes of the decay of cabbage in storage are reported and 

 discussed under the following general headings : Factors contributing to decay, 

 organisms concerned in decay, storage conditions and the proper construction 

 of storage houses for preventing decay, and methods of storing cabbage. 



The author finds that soft rot and leaf blight are the immediate causes of 

 the decay of cabbage in storage. The organisms causing these decays gain 

 access to the tissues of the leaves, both through wounds made by careless 

 handling and by following up the fibro-vascular bundles which have been 

 previously killed by black rot. 



It is recommended that diseased or badly bruised cabbage should not be 

 stored. Care should be taken to keep the cabbage dry and the storage house 

 well ventilated, with the temperature at about the freezing point. 



Cold storage for Iowa-grown apples, H. J. Eustace and S. A. Beach {Iowa 

 Sta. Bui. 108, pp. 39-'f-.'it.'i). — Investigations in the cold storage of Iowa apples 

 carried on in 1906-7 and in 1907-8, in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry of this Department, are rei)orted. 



The principal points covered in this work are the relation between the han- 

 dling of the fruit during the operations of picking, packing, and shipping, and 

 its behavior in cold storage;, a comparative test of a number of varieties to 

 determine their behavior and value in cold storage, including, as far as prac- 

 ticable, fruit of the same varieties from different sections of the State ; a com- 



