436 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



greater had not the summer beeu unusually wet and cool, and that 

 shading will be found of great benefit in growing midsummer lettuce. 

 Shading Swiss chard gave results similar to those obtained with let- 

 tuce, and in addition reduced the injury from leaf blight. Celery was 

 affected by shading more noticeably than any other plants. " Six vari- 

 eties were tested in this way and all grew to more than double the size 

 of other plants of the same lot that were in the full sun, but later in 

 the season, with shorter days and less light, the exposed plants over- 

 took and surpassed the shaded ones." With C varieties of bush beans 

 the weight of the whole crop of vines and pods of unshaded plants 

 was somewhat greater than of shaded ones, but the weight of pods 

 alone was greater in the case of shaded plants. At the time of har- 

 vesting there were 5 times as many ripe as green pods in the sun and 

 not twice as many in the shade. The late varieties held their foliage 

 about equal in both cases, but the early varieties had many more green 

 leaves in the shade than elsewhere. With the second crop of bush 

 beans grown in the same plats as the first the shaded plants were a 

 little later in blooming than the unshaded ones, had fewer and larger 

 leaflets, and were of a deeper green color. The shaded plants were 

 unaffected by the first few frosts in fall, which killed the exposed plants. 

 Other differences were noted with a number of vegetables tested, as 

 diminished thickness of leaves in shade, etc. 



The average monthly temperature of the air 1 ft. above the soil is 

 reported to be from 4 to 11.6° cooler under the screens than in the open 

 air, the difference increasing as the summer advanced. The extreme 

 difference ranged from nothing on rainy days to Ul° in the hottest clear 

 weather. 



Variety tests of fruits, S. T. Maynard (Massachusetts Hatch Sta. 

 Bui. 52, pp. 3-1 1, fig. 1). — A report of variety tests of a number of orchard 

 and small fruits is given. Only those varieties found to possess superior 

 qualities are reported. The treatment given each fruit is noted. With 

 some of the fruits the results of the tests are given in tabular form. 

 The following varieties have given the best results: European plums. — 

 Czar, Lincoln, German Prune, Kingston. Japanese plums. — Red June, 

 Abundance, Georgeson, Burbank, Chebot, Satsuma. Cherries. — Early 

 Richmond, Montmorency, Royal Duke, Black Tartarian, Napoleon, 

 Governor Wood, Smidt, Windsor. Grapes. — Green Mountain, Herbert, 

 Warden, Moore Early, Concord, Delaware, Brighton. Currants. — 

 Cherry, Fay Prolific, Versailles, Red Cross, President Wilder, Pomona, 

 White Imperial. Gooseberries. — Columbus, Triumph, Downing, Pale 

 Red, Lancashire Ladd. Blackberries. — Snyder and Taylor. Red rasp- 

 berries. — Cuthbert, King, London. Black raspberries. — Cromwell, 

 Brackett Seedling, Eureka, Hilborn, Kansas, Lovett, Older, Suibegan. 

 Strawberries. — Clyde, Brandy wine, Boynton, Howard No. 3G, Green- 

 ville, Glen Mary, and Parker Earle. 



To test the keeping qualities of different varieties of apples, speci- 

 mens grown in 1896 were gathered when in best condition for marketing 



