HORTICULTURE. 975 



ods of cultivation in many affected orchards were such as to hring about a weakened 

 condition of the trees, and thus to invite destruction at a critical period, such as the 

 prolonged cold of the winter season of 1903-4. Specific examples of the injury occur- 

 ring under each of the different factors are cited. Methods of culture which con- 

 tributed to escape from injury are thus summarized: 



" Providing that the orchards had been kept free from fungus disease and the San 

 Jose scale, by timely and thorough spraying, no injury of trees was found where 

 stable or barnyard manure had been used upon the ground within the last year or 

 two previous to the winter of 1903-4; rarely was an injured tree found standing in 

 sod; no injury was done where the surface of the soil, beneath the trees, had been 

 covered with even a very light mulch; little injury was done where the trees stood 

 in fairly well-drained soil containing a moderate amount of fertility and humus; 

 no injury was found where the trees were under the grass mulch method of cul- 

 ture; . . . no injury was observed in any case where the stems of the trees had been 

 slightly banked or mounded with a few shovelfuls or forkfuls of soil, peat, or manure. 



" Very few trees which, within the past few years, had been affected with leaf curl 

 or infested with San Jose scale or borers, remained alive or uninjured; and very few 

 trees existing upon infertile or exhausted soil, depleted of humus, escaped uninjured." 



The Tempe date orchard, A. J. McClatciiie (Arizona Sta. Rpt. 1904, pp- 474, 

 475) . — Statistics are given regarding the number of date trees in the orchard now 

 living, number of new suckers, number of trees blooming, and number that have 

 died during the past year, from which it appears that there is now a total of 448 trees 

 comprising 105 varieties now growing at the station and 757 suckers. It is believed 

 that practically all the varieties now under cultivation will succeed at the station. 



The fig, L. Tbabdt (Bui. Agr. Algirie et Tunisie, 10 (1904), Nos. 14, pp. 297-303; 

 15, pp. 321-328; 16, pp. 341-347; 17, pp. 361-368; 18, pp. 385-389, figs. 29).— A popu- 

 lar account is given of the culture of figs in Algeria and Tunis with descriptions of 

 the more usual varieties grown, of the insects and diseases affecting tigs, and of the 

 methods observed in drying rigs. 



Raspberries, L. ('. Corbett ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 213, pp. 37, figs. 25). — 

 This is a popular account of the culture of raspberries in the United States, including 

 methods of propagation, cultivation, fertilizing, harvesting, winter protection, prun- 

 ing, and the drying or evaporation of the fruit. Several different forms of evapora- 

 tors are illustrated and described. A map is given showing the sections in the 

 United States where the different species of raspberries are most extensively grown, 

 with lists of varieties most suited for cultivation in each of the different districts. 



Report on cranberry investigations, A. R. Whitson, E. P. Sandsten, L. P. 

 Haskins, and II. Ramsay ( Wisconsin Sta. Bui. 119, pp. 77, figs. 37, map 1). — An 

 abstract of the present investigations, which were conducted in cooperation with 

 this Office has been made from another source (E. S. R., 16, p. 778). Further 

 details are here given regarding frost protection, cultural methods, varieties, irriga- 

 tion and drainage ditches, and insect and weed pests, with descriptions and illustra- 

 tions of the more important weeds. The surest protection against severe frosts is 

 flooding. Heavy flooding is necessary only during the latter part of the season. 

 During occasional periods in the summer when frost threatens it will seldom be nec- 

 essary to flood so that the water in the ditches is raised above the surface of the 

 ground. As a prevention of frost thorough drainage, sanding, and freedom from 

 excessive vegetation have proven potent factors. With reference to this point the 

 authors state that "the effect of thorough drainage by the use of deep and close 

 ditches in aiding in protection from frost can hardly be overvalued. The State 

 experiment station has gone through the past summer in which there were several 

 frosts and one or two very hard frosts without any loss from freezing whatever, not- 

 withstanding the fact that certain parts of the bog were not flooded once during the 

 season. On other adjoining marshes flooding was resorted to many times during 



