668 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In other experiments bitter rot was found to be less prevalent on Unpruned trees, 

 which on that account had lost a large number of their leaves. It is believed 

 thai the additional sunlight thus secured served to prevent, in a measure, the devel- 

 opment of the disease. Pruning to secure light will, therefore, be a feature of future 

 work in controlling this disease. 



The chemical composition of apples and cider, W. B. Alwood, R. J. David- 

 son, and W. A. P. Moncure ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Chemistry />'"/. 88, pp. 46). — 

 This bulletin is composed of two parts: The composition of apples in relation to cider 

 and vinegar production, already noted from a bulletin of the Virginia Station ( E. S. R., 

 16, p. 368), and the composition of cider as determined by dominant fermentation 

 with pure yeasts. 



In the latter work a number of 50-gallon casks of cider were fermented by the addi- 

 tion of pure yeasts. It is stated that heating musts to control bacterial fermentation 

 causes such changes in the flavor of the cider, even when pure yeasts are used in 

 addition, as to make this method undesirable. "Control or dominant fermentation 

 is easily secured if one sows a sufficient amount of fresh culture of a strong yeast 

 into the newly made must." 



In the first experiment two casks of must from the same original source were used. 

 One cask was inoculated with about a pint of pure yeast culture originally isolated 

 from French Sauterne wines, while the other cask was sown with the same amount 

 of yeast originally isolated from Valee d'Auge cider from Normandy, France. Daily 

 examinations of the must were made to determine the organisms present, and when 

 the first fermentation had subsided the must was racked according to the French 

 method. After the second fermentation the liquor was bottled. With both casks 

 an excellent quality of cider was produced, but there was a marked difference in the 

 character of the two, due to the use of yeasts of different origin. 



In the next experiment a larger number of casks were used, and dominant fer- 

 mentation brought about by the use of a number of yeasts of different origin. Details 

 are given in tabular form as to the specific gravity and chemical analyses of the 

 musts at different stages of fermentation, all of which go to show that dominant fer- 

 mentation can be secured by the addition of pure yeasts to musts, and that ciders of 

 decidedly different characters can thus be obtained. 



In this experiment the cider was not racked until the end of the second fermenta- 

 tion or when nearly all of the sugar had been exhausted. This is the usual German 

 method, and is not regarded by the authorities to produce as fine a quality of cider 

 for American consumers as by the French method of racking immediately after the 

 first fermentation, or when only about half of the sugar has been converted into 

 alcohol. 



Cider, B. C. Aston et al. {New ZealandDept. Agr. Rpt. 1904, pp. 291-2 93). —Chem- 

 ical analyses of 15 samples of cider made from as many different varieties of apples 

 are given with a general discussion of cider making. 



The pollination of the Kieffer pear, G. II. Powell {Amer. Agr., 74 {1904), No. 

 27, p. 605). — The author states that the Kieffer pear may be self-fertile, partially fer- 

 tile, or completely self-sterile in different locations. In many Kieffer orchards of 

 3,000 to 10,000 trees the fruitfulness of the interior is persistently unsatisfactory. In 

 a season of heavy bloom it is estimated that if only two blossoms in a hundred bear 

 fruit, the branches would be bent to the ground. So that if bees have access to only 

 5 per cent or less of the blossoms, a heavy crop is insured. 



One season about 600 pollinations of Kieffer with Kieffer pollen was made. In 

 some cases the pollen was taken from blossoms from the tree on which the pollinations 

 were made, and in other cases the pollen was obtained from Kieffer trees in different 

 parts of the State. Only 4 per cent of the crosses with Kieffer pollen started to grow, 

 and the fruit dropped before they were a quarter developed. The few pears that d;d 

 develop were much smaller and weaker than Kieffers which had been cross-fertilized, 



