HOKTTCULTUllE. 437 



Report of the wheat experimentalist, W. Farrer {Agr. Gaz. Xetr South Wales, 

 IS {1902), No. 5, pp. 537-542). — This report describes in a general way the experi- 

 mental work with wheat carried on at the different experimental farms of New 

 South Wales. 



HORTICULTURE. 



Cantaloupe culture in Georgia, S. H. Fulton {Georgia Sta. Bui. 57, pp. 157-193, 

 tigs. 11). — This bulletin discusses Georgia methods of muskmelon culture and gives 

 the results of some cooperative fertilizer experiments with nuiskmelons. The chief 

 variety grown commercially is the Rockyford, and it is urged that the seed of this 

 variety for planting be selected from the best Colorado-grown stock. Plant early — 

 in South Georgia about the middle of March. Use 10 to 15 seeds per hill and thin 

 to one plant. The following data were obtained in a thinning experiment: 



Thinning muskmelon plants. 



Plants per hill. 



Marketa- Average I Unmark- 

 bie melons weight per etable 

 Die melons, jjielon. ' melons. 



One plant . . . 

 Two plants . . 

 Three plants 

 Four plants . 



"While 2 plants per hill gave more marketable melons than 1 plant jier hill, the 

 melons were smaller and the percentage of unmarketable melons larger. 



Tests of home-grown and Colorado-grown Rockyford seed have resulted in favor 

 of the latter. In the coof)erative fertilizer tests the best results were obtained from 

 formulas analyzing 8 per cent phosphoric acid, 7 to 8 per cent potash, and 3 to 4 per 

 cent nitrogen. A formula suggested for South Georgia consists of 1,000 lbs. acid 

 phosphate (14 per cent), 250 lbs. muriate of potash, and 1,000 lbs. cotton-seed meal. 

 From 600 to 800 lbs. of this mixture should be applied per acre 2 to 3 weeks previous 

 to planting and thoroughly worked into the soil. 



Detailed notes are given on harvesting, yield, grading, packing, and shipping musk- 

 melons, and on the diseases and insects affecting them. For local market Augusta 

 Market, Anne Arundel, New South, Delmonico, Chicago Market, and Long Island 

 Beauty are considered desirable. 



The effects of colored light, L. C. Corbett {Amer. Ganl., 23 {1902), No. 403, 

 p. 591). — The author notes the marked stimulating effect of red light on lettuce 

 grown in the greenhouse. The light was used at night and was obtained from an arc 

 light with a colored screen interposed. The use of green or blue lights did not have 

 the same stimulating effect, but were Hot found harmful. In the experiment cited 

 all the plants under observation received the ordinary daylight, the colored screens 

 l)eing used only at night. In the author's opinion artificial light has a decided forc- 

 ing value, but hardly sufficient to warrant its use commercially. 



A new edible tuber (Coleus coppini), E. Heckel {Agr. Gaz. New South Wales, 

 13 {1902), No. 7, pp. 724, 725). — It is stated that this tuber is grown in many tropical 

 French colonies as a substitute for potatoes, since in these situations potatoes run 

 to vines. In a lot of these tubers raised in the Colonial Botanical Garden at Mar- 

 seilles the tubers varied from \ to If in. long and from \ to f in. in thickness. A 

 numV)er of analyses of the tubers showed the following average results: Starch, 14 

 percent; fat, 2.5 per cent; glucose, 10.68 per cent; saccharine, 1.67 per cent; gum and 

 l^ectic matter, 16.05 per cent; albuminous substances, 5.78 per cent; ash, 4.26 per 

 cent; cellulose, ligneous matter, and loss, 40.71 per cent. Directions are given for 

 cooking the tubers; in general this is like potatoes. The plant is believed to be 

 worthy of trial in New South "Wales. 



