670 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



In short, there is little about the ash of the fruits examined which would aid in 

 identifying them." 



The studies of fresh and canned pineapple were undertaken to secure data regard- 

 ing the composition of fruits from various sources ami to secure data for establishing 

 a basis of classification of imported pineapples for the guidance of the Government 

 appraisers, the point of special interest being to determine whether or not sugar has 

 been added during the process of preserving. The maximum amount of sucrose 

 found in fresh pineapples was 10.48 per cent. The authors point out that the normal 

 sugar content being high the mere presence of this substance in canned pineapple 

 would be no evidence whatever of its artificial addition. 



"It is further evident that if a sirup containing practically the same quantity of 

 sugar as the natural sirup of the pineapple were added it would be quite impossible, 

 by a mere determination of the sugar present, to detect the addition. The only 

 guide in this case would be to determine the relation of the sugar present to the total 

 insoluble matters of the pineapple. If, on the other hand, a sirup rich in sugar were 

 added in preserving, it would be easily detected by the increase in the percentage of 

 sugar in the contents of the can." 



A study of the data presented "fails to bear out the common supposition that the 

 pineapples grown upon or near the equator contain more sugar than those grown at 

 some distance farther north, and, in fact, the normal content of sugar in pineapples 

 grown in Florida differs so little from that of pineapples grown at Singapore that the 

 difference is practically negligible." 



The culture of the date palm ( West Indian Bui, 5 (1904), No. 2, pp. 139-149).— 

 This is an account of the recent introduction of the date palm into a number of the 

 islands of the West Indies, with notes on its diseases. 



The banana plant; how it grows, T. F. Teversiiam (Jour. Jamaica Agr. Soc, 

 8 (1904), No. 12, pp. 486-490). — A lecture on this subject, in which the author states 

 that in examining a series of 4 suckers aged 2, 4, 6, and 7 months, respectively, only 

 in the 7-months' sucker was any sign of the growing point of the stem seen. It would 

 appear, therefore, that the bunch does not begin to form until the sucker is between 

 6 and 7 months old. 



Soon after this period the plant fixes the number of hands to the bunch that it is 

 capable of producing. "After this number has been fixed it can never be increased 

 by later treatment." For the purpose of securing a large number of hands, therefore, 

 it is desirable that thorough cultivation take place some time before this. After the 

 number of hands has been determined upon by the plant cultivation will increase 

 the size of the fruits but not add to the number of hands produced. 



The banana in Hawaii, J. E.' Higgins (Hawaii Sta. Bui. 7, pp. 53, ph. 9, 

 figs. 9). — Complete directions are given for the culture of bananas in Hawaii. An 

 account of the diseases and insects affecting bananas, the uses of bananas, etc., and 

 descriptions of the varieties of bananas most commonly grown in Hawaii are also 

 given. 



The cultivation of pineapples in Hawaii, J. Kidwell (Hawaiian Forester and 

 Agr., 1 (1904), No. /.', /»/'• 8S4-S45). — An account is given of the culture and canning 

 of pineapples in Hawaii. Such matters are discussed as varieties, soil and fertilizers, 

 insect pests and their remedies, planting, cultivation, and commercial canning. In 

 the canning of pineapples especial attention is called to the necessity of not boiling 

 the fruit more than 14 minutes. Any excess of boiling over this period greatly 

 injures the quality. 



The winter storage of nursery stock (Nat. Nurseryman, 13 (1905), No. 1, pp. 

 11, 12) . — The opinions of 14 different nursery growers are given as to the best method 

 of storing nursery stock over winter. 



The preservation of fruit, apples and pears, in cellars, Truelle, Plucuet, 

 and Teisserenc de Bort (Bid. Soc. Nat. Agr. France, 64 (1904), No. 9, pp. 755-769).— 

 Largely a review of the literature on this subject. 



