HORTICULTURE. 657 



like conditional. Tlie results ol)taine(l Ity some of the growers have been l)roiight 

 together in the present article. F. Bunce, of Hartford, Conn., reports that cucum- 

 bers, watermelons, and muskmelons grown under shade were not a success. The 

 vines grew well, but the fruits were small. In the case of cucumbers a few reached 

 small pickling size. The melons did not do as well. He states that strawberries, 

 lidweverj on Long Island were 2 weeks earlier under cloth than out of doors, while 

 wild dandelion just inside the tent made an enormous growth. 



C. F. Dane, of Hartford, Conn., a tobacco grower, reports that, cucumber, water- 

 melon, and tomato vines grew better in the tent than outside, but yielded hardly 

 any fruit, and the little that set shriveled up. 



I>. W. Ri2)ley, of the .same place, grew muskmelons and cucundiers under cloth, 

 but found no advantage in the jjractice over outdoor culture. The tent shelter did 

 not protect the vines from mildew or blight. Little difference was found by Mr. 

 Ripley in the temperature inside and outside the tent. The general opinion of the 

 exi)erimenters appears to be that nothing is gained in vegetable culture by growing 

 tlu' jilants under cloth. 



Sewage and night soil or stable manure and commercial fertilizers for 

 vegetables, J. V. Wagner {Deut. Landir. Presse, 29 {1902), Nos. 64, pp. 529, 530; 

 65, pp. 637-539, figs. 4). — A presentation of some of the objections to the use of sew- 

 age and night soil in the culture of vegetaljles and fruits eaten raw, like lettuce, water 

 cress, radishes, strawberries, etc., witli summaries of a number of experiments show- 

 ing the value of stable manure wlien sui)])lemented with commercial fertilizers for 

 these crops. The author states that not only is there a natural aversion to the use 

 of such materials as night soil and sewage for growing vegetables to be consumed raw, 

 but, on the authority of Wiirtz and Bourges, their use is positively dangerous. Recent 

 experiments by these French bacteriologists are cited to show that diseased germs 

 are carried in such material and may be taken up and preserved in the tissues of 

 vegetables. In one instance water cress, head lettuce, and radish seed were sown in 

 pots and the soil watered with diluted sputum that had been saved up for 40 days 

 from a tuberculous patient. After a certain period pieces of the leaves of the vege- 

 tables grown were used to inoculate guinea pigs. As a result, 18 of the 30 inoculated 

 pigs developed tuberculosis. Like experiments were also made with typhoid fever 

 bacilli, and in every case, without exception, the tyjihoid bacillus was easily found 

 in tlie leaves of the vegetables. 



The chief purpose of the article is to show that better and cheaper vegetable crops 

 can be grown by the rational use of commercial fertilizers, sui^plemented l)y stable 

 manure, than with city sewage, and the former is less dangerous to health. 



Iiist cf American varieties of vegetables for the years 1901 and 1902, 

 "W. \\ . Tracy, Jr. ( U. S. Depf. Agr., Bureau of Plant Industry Bui. 21, pp. 402). — 

 All the varieties of garden vegetables, including field corn and herl)s, but omitting 

 potatoes and sweet potatoes, catalogued during the years 1901 and 1902 by 245 seed 

 firms in the United States and Canada, have l)een arranged alphal^etically under the 

 different vegetables. The seed firms handling each vegetable are noted, and the 

 synonyms of the different varieties given. The catalogue is intended i:)rimarily to 

 serve the purposes of seedsmen and experimenters. It is hoped also that it may 

 serve as a basis for shortening and simplifying our present long and complex list of 

 varieties of vegetables and to prevent the duplication of old names. 



The fog fruit or Lippia nodiflora as an economic plant, .1. J. Thornber 

 {Arizona Sta. Bid. 45, pp. 234-233, figs. ,^). — This plant is stated to be a perennial, 

 herbaceous, much branched, cr. eping plant, the stems of which root extensively at 

 the node. In a lawn it gives the effect of white clover, though forming a more com- 

 pact mass and not requiring the use of a lawn mower. Observations at the station 

 indicat9 that it can maintain a continuous layer of green with a less amount of water 

 than any other desirable plant within the Territory. It is sensitive to alkaline salts. 



