HORTICULTURE. 465 



rate plantings are made beside each other about a week apart, If the first planting is 

 killed by frost, the second one may come up; whereas, if the second planting were 

 delayed until after the frost appeared, there would be a loss in earliness of 10 days or 

 more. 



In harvesting the melons the first half of the season they are picked as soon as the 

 stem can be forced with the thumb to part from the fruit without breaking off a 

 piece of the melon with it. This condition should occur before the cantaloupe 

 begins to turn yellow. A cantaloupe in this condition is considered just right to ship, 

 but the day following would be quite yellow and unfit for transportation. "After 

 the season is one-half or two-thirds gone and the weather is very hot, as is usually 

 the case, I find it safe to cut them off with stems after they are full grown and have 

 become densely netted." As no cantaloupes are picked on Sunday, many melons 

 are overripe on Monday, and these are the ones that are saved for seed. It is 

 important that the melons be stored in the refrigerator car as soon after picking as 

 possible. 



Blanching of wild chicory, V. Enfer (Rev. Hort. [Paris], 76 (1904), No. 20, pp. 

 501-503). — Blanched chicory is also known under the name of Barbe de capucin. 

 Directions are given for harvesting the wild roots and preparing them for forcing for 

 the production of blanched stems and leaves. 



The chocho, A. F. T. Somerville (Agr. Gaz. New South Wales, 15 (1904), No. 9, 

 pp. 835, 836, fig. 1). — The chocho appears to be another name for the chayote (Sechium 

 edule). This vegetable appears to grow remarkably well in the colony, account being 

 given of a 2-year-old vine which yielded 300 fruits. Two fruits are reported as suffi- 

 cient for a meal for four persons. Directions are given for cooking this vegetable. 



Concerning the chemistry of fruits, K. Windisch and K. Boehm (Ztschr. 

 Untersuch. Nahr. u. Gennssmtl., 8 (1904), No. 6, pp. 347-352).— The authors studied the 

 kind and amount of nitrogenous constituents and sugars in fruits, as well as the 

 amount of pectin and tartaric acid. It was found that the proportion of coagulable 

 albumin was very small. In many cases the amount was so small that filtered fruit 

 juice when heated remained perfectly clear. The amount of true protein estimated 

 by the Stutzer method was also in general very small. 



As regards the ammonia and amid nitrogen, relatively large amounts of these con- 

 stituents and of total nitrogen were found in all the varieties of grapes examined. 

 Much smaller amounts were found in the cherries, plums, peaches, quinces, berries, 

 and other fruits examined. The small amount of these constituents was especially 

 noticeable in the case of blueberries and bilberries. The authors believe that the 

 fermentation of must is in a large measure dependent upon the kind and amount of 

 nitrogen present, and note that the nitrogen of ammonia and organic acid amids is 

 most readily available for yeasts. 



As regards the character of the sugars present in fruits, saccharose was found in 

 every case in apples and pears. Apparently in the case of peaches saccharose was 

 much more abundant than invert sugar. Saccharose was also noted in mulberries, 

 cherries, plums, peaches, and black currants, fruits which are usually referred to as 

 saccharose-free. 



According to the authors' observations, the pectin content of a number of fruits 

 examined in general diminished as the fruit ripened. The analyses reported showed 

 that tartaric acid in general occurs, if at all, in very small amounts in most fruits 

 and plays a valuable role only in the case of grapes. 



Further notes on fruit growing in Tasmania, G. Quinn (Jour. Agr. and Ind. 

 South Australia, 8 (1904), No. 2, pp. 69-78, figs. 7).— Special attention is called in 

 this article to the desirability of pruning apple and pear trees to low forms with a 

 very short trunk and with arms subdivided until from 8 to 15 leaders are secured. 

 The leaders are not again bifurcated, but at each winter's pruning growth from one 

 bud only is permitted to ascend in order to continue the extension and leading 



