976 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the summer tor protection ami yet a loss of about 60 per cenl of the total crop was 

 sustained on the morning of August s . While this protection at the station was not 

 due to good drainage alone, there is no doubt that it had much to <lo with warding 

 off the frost." Data are tabulated showing the higher temperature on bare sanded 

 bogs over bogs covered with a mat of vegetation. 



Detailed directions are given for laying large ditches and flooding. Observations 

 relative to the value of sanding bogs indicate that vines on the nnsanded bogs grew 

 more rapidly and vigorously. Weeds also grew more vigorously. The use of choice 

 varieties for planting is urged. The hest time for planting seems to be from the first 

 to the middle of May or aboui the time cum is planted. The most popular method 

 of planting in the vicinity of Cranmoor is that of scattering the whole vines over the 

 ground and stamping them into the muck with sod hooks or some similar device. 

 Cutting the vines into short lengths and rolling them with a flange wheel has also 

 given good results. 



By attention to thorough weeding and good drainage vines at the experiment 

 station have yielded at the rate of 62.5 1>l>ls. per acre, while the average yield 

 throughout the State during the same year was 5 bbls. per acre. 



Experiments made in picking from September S to October S showed an increase 

 in size of fruit during the 30 days of 19 per cent. There was an increase of 10 to 11 

 per cent during the first Hi days from September S. It appears also that fruitfully 

 matured when picked keeps better than immature fruit. Illustrations and a descrip- 

 tion arc given of a successful grading machine. 



Grape culture, G. C. Burz (Pennsylvania ]><j>t. Agr. />'»/. t£8, pp. 68, pis. 8). — 

 Popular directions for the culture of grapes with statistics of production in each of 

 the counties of Pennsylvania. Nearly two-thirds of the grapes grown in Pennsyl- 

 vania are produced in Erie County bordering on Lake Erie. 



Failure of vines. Report of commission on alleged disease about Stellen- 

 bosch, R. Dubois et al. (Agr. Jour. Cape Good Hope, 26 \ 1904), No. 6, pp. 69S 70S, 

 fig. l). — Upon investigation it was found that instead of a disease w Inch was affecting 

 the vineyards, the principal causes of failure or partial failure were due largely to 

 some one or more of the following causes: Insufficient drainage, insufficient initial 

 preparation of the soil, use of stock unsuitable for the scion or the soil, failure to cut 

 roots forming from the scion, too heavy bearing in connection with insufficient 

 manuring, and too close planting. Suggestions to overcome these difficulties are 

 offered. 



Drainage of cacao land (Agr. News [Barbados'], i (1905), No. 73, p. 21 i. -An 

 account is given of the good effects following the drainage of cacao land in Dominica. 

 The plantation la\ near a river and apparently the natural drainage should have 

 been sufficient. The soil, however, had become so compact during long cultivation 

 as to respond remarkably to drainage. Trees which appeared to be slowly dying in 

 the spring took on new life during the summer and presented a healthy, flourishing 

 appearance in the fall. Further work by the Dominican planters along the same 

 line is advocated. 



The wild coffee trees of Mount Amber, Madagascar, M. Dubabu (Agr. Prat. 

 Pays Chauds, 5 (1905), No. 28, pp. 98-100, figs. S).— An illustrated account with 

 botanical descriptions is given of ."> new varieties of coffee found on Mount Amber. 

 Madagascar. These have been named respectively Coffea gaUienii, ' '. bonnieri, and 

 C. mogeneti. 



Caoutchouc gathering on the Amazon River, E. Tiki BeihefU Iropenpflamer, 

 6 ( 1905), No. J, pp. 1-71, figs. 11. map ?).— The author made a caoutchouc explora- 

 tion up the Amazon and some of its branches and here reports the results of his 

 journey. Descriptions are given of 13 species of llevea, which were collected, and 

 of a number of other rubber-producing plants. A description is given of the country 

 visited and of native methods of harvesting caoutchouc and preparing it for market 



