HORTICULTURE. 959 



given for different counties in the State, in which it appears that the 

 price varies from $1 to $1 per pound for dried roots. 



Impressions of our fruit-growing industries, L. II. Bailey (New 

 York Cornell Sta. Bui. 153, pp. 111-129, fig. J).— The bulletin gives a 

 summary of 5 years' study of the actual experiences of fruit raisers in 

 New York to determine the underlying reasons for some of the successes 

 and failures in fruit growing. 



"As a result of the inquiries there have appeared, by various persons, 34 bulletins, 

 covering most of the fruits which are commercially grown in the State. In the 

 progress of these investigations it became apparent that there are greater problems 

 in our fruit growing than those of soil and insects and diseases; that fruit growing 

 is profitable or not, in the long run, in proportion as it meets the general require- 

 ments of trade and conforms to the agricultural status of the time. It became appar- 

 ent, also, that oven the immediate problems of fertilizers, tillage, and handling of a 

 plantation can not be fully understood from mere scientific investigations at a given 

 place. The investigator must correlate and compare the results of actual fruit grow- 

 ing in many places and under many conditions to be sure that he arrives at broad 

 and sound conclusions, or at principles." 



The tendency in this country to grow but a few varieties is thought 

 to be due to the fact that most American fruit growers are raising fruit 

 for the general market, which requires uniformity of product. The 

 author believes that the tendency is to go too far in the reduction of 

 varieties, thereby reducing fruit growing to a single ideal and increas- 

 ing competition in one line. 



The following are given as the most general causes of barrenness of 

 orchards, stated approximately in order of frequency and importance: 

 "(1) Lack of good tillage, particularly in the first few years of the life 

 of the plantation; (2) lack of humus and fertilizer; (3) uncongenial 

 soils and sites; (1) lack of systematic annual pruning; (5) lack of 

 spraying and of attention to borers and other pests; (6) bad selection 

 of varieties; and (7) trees propagated from unfruitful stock." 



Two experiments with fertilizers are reported. An apple orchard at 

 Lockport was fertilized in August, 1894. The orchard consisted of 

 Baldwin and Greening trees 25 years old and was situated on hard, 

 dry, light clay loam and had been in sod for some time. The trees 

 were unproductive, but looked better than the majority of trees. Some 

 trees received nitrate of soda, others muriate of potash, others sulphate 

 of potash, and others both sulphate and muriate of potash, the mate- 

 rials being scattered as far as the spread of the limbs and lightly 

 plowed under. Tillage was kept up in succeeding years. The first 

 results were seen in 1896, when the trees fertilized with nitrate had 

 much darker foliage, were more vigorous, and produced more fruit 

 than the other trees. In 1897 these trees were still superior to the 

 others, but the difference was not so marked. In 1898 no effect of the 

 fertilizers could be seen. 



Another fertilizer test was begun in 1891 in an orchard of Baldwin 

 and King apples near Ithaca. The trees were 25 years old, had been 

 iu sod since the first 3 years, but had been well top-dressed with stable 

 185G2— No. 10 5 



