420 AMERICAN THOUGHT AND ACTION. [April 



in all parts of the American continent. You may study Eussian 

 apples as produced at home, and also in the interior of America. 



In the course of a paper on " Our Fruits," Mr. Collins touched 

 upon the topic of cold storage. He said the keeping of Maiden's 

 Blusli apples and Bartlett pears for three weeks after their season 

 often resulted in large and profitable prices, and this had led to a 

 resort to cold storage. A room beneath an ice-house had been 

 found to be the best. No attempt was made to avoid the drip, but 

 apples and pears were allowed to stand anywhere %\"ithout reference 

 to it. Ice water dropx^ing upon the fruit seemed to be an advantage 

 in keeping it. Of course this did not apply to grapes and berries. 

 On pears stored four weeks in these damp or wet rooms, there was 

 a loss of but 1 per cent. ; on those stored in dry, cold storage the 

 loss was from 15 to 20 per cent. 



Mr. Collins had found it best to pick fruit a little green for 

 storage, the same as for distant market. Mr. Cassell, of Mississippi, 

 said the Duchess ripened with them about August 15 th. If by any 

 system of storage they could prolong the season four or six weeks, 

 it would be of great advantage to do so. 



L. B. Pierce, of Ohio, said we had two enemies to contend with. 

 One was the ripeuiug process, that in pears and apples often 

 commenced at the core ; the other was what might be called 

 external rot, the result of fungoid germs, which found lodgment in 

 abrasions of the skin, and under favourable circumstances, rapidly 

 multiply and destroy the fruit. A uniform cold temperature, that 

 was so low as to prevent the growth of fungi, would keep the fruit. 

 Moisture would keep fruit from shrinking, and also delay ripening 

 after it was picked from the tree. 



G. W. Campbell, of Ohio, said fruit shipped from Ohio, September 

 23rd, and kept in cold storage at New Orleans until now, come out 

 in excellent condition. 



TKEE-PLANTING ON THE WASTE LANDS OF THE ATLANTIC SEABOAUD. 



At the February meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, Professor ]\Iaynard showed that in that State alone there 

 remained, after all recent agricultural improvements, perhaps 

 1,000,000 acres which cannot be profitably used for ordinary farm 

 uses, and on which it would be best to plant forest and fruit trees. 

 In illustration of profitable planting, he adduced several instances on 

 land, the average value of which is given at 27 dols. per acre, and 

 probably ranges from 5 to 50 dols. 



Upon the gravelly side of the hill north-east from the Durfee plant- 

 house at Amherst, ten years ago were set out a lot of European 



