HORTICULTURE. 47 



Twelve methods of training grapes were compared, and notes are given on the 

 results secured with each. Cay wood or arbor system, umbrella Kuifiin, and the 

 true or three-wire Munson system were most satisfactory. 



Work with cantaloupes consisted of a test of 43 varieties planted at different dates. 

 The first seed was planted in Neponset pots on March 24. On April 7 a second 

 planting was made, and these were transplanted in the field April 30, at which date 

 seed was also planted in the ground. The average yield per vine for the different 

 plantings was as follows: March 24, 3.89 lbs.; April 7, 4.97 lbs.; April 30, 4.06 lbs. 



Thirteen varieties of onions were tested; one-half of each plat was fertilized in 

 1899 with lime at the rate of 50 bu. per acre, and in 1900 at the rate of 25 bu. per 

 acre. The best yields were made by Prize Taker, 391 bu. per acre on the limed soil, 

 and by Gigantic Gibraltar with a yield of 252 bu. per acre, also on limed soil. The 

 greater part of the latter crop rotted in the field. The effect of lime on the whole 

 was contradictor}^ 



Of a number of varieties of celery grown, Golden Self-Blanching, Giant Pascal, 

 and Boston Market are considered the best. 



Report of the chief of the division of horticulture, botany, and. entomolog-y, 

 W. F. Massey {Xorth Carolina Sta. RjU. 1900, jyp. XXI-XXIX). — The author reviews 

 the work of the year, mentioning briefly the results in some instances. A large 

 number of orchard fruits have been planted, and experiments in bulb culture, 

 tomato growing, and seed growing carried out. Good narcissus bulbs have been 

 I)rodueed, and very favorable results secured in the bulb culture of the Bermuda 

 Piaster lily. In experiments with tomatoes, limed plats were entirely free from the 

 bacterial blight known as "Southern blight," while on unlimed plats nearly all of 

 the plants died of the disease. The following season when tomatoes were planted on 

 both limed and unlimed plats, without further addition of lime, the plants on both 

 plats died, showing that the lime to be of benefit must be renewed each year. Some 

 experiments in seed production seemed to show that some of the late-blooming 

 fiowers may be profitably grown for seed in that State. 



The effects of continued use of immature tomato seed, E. S. Gofp ( Wiscon- 

 sin Sill. Jijit. 1900, pp. 'J95-J97). — Experiments with Cook Favorite tomatoes in 1891 

 (E. S. R., 4, p. 155) with seed from mature and immature fruits, through six gen- 

 erations, indicated that the use of immature seed reduced the growth of the plant, 

 increased its prolificacy, and promoted early maturity. In the fall of 1891, samples 

 of seed from mature fruit, and from fruit that had not commenced to redden, were 

 savcil from Cook Favorite, Little Gem, and Potomac varieties. With the Potomac 

 variety, the seed from fruit that had just commenced to redden was also saved. 

 These were planted the following season and seed again saved for the next year's 

 crop, the mature seed being taken from plants grown from the mature seed, and the 

 immature seed from the jilants grown from the innnature seed. This method of 

 sek'ction has been continued up to the present time. The yield of fruit per 100 lbs. 

 of vine, percentage of crop that reddened before frost, and the percentage of fruit 

 gathered in the first four pickings, from both the mature and innnature seeds, are 

 arranged in tabular form. A study of these data shows results entirely at variance 

 with those reported in 1891. The use of the immature seed in this second experi- 

 ment had no uniform effect " on the prolificacy or the maturing season of the plants, 

 and no effect could be seen at any time upon the vigor of the plants." 



The horizontal training- of tomatoes, Cf. (iuiNN {Juar. Agr. and Lid., South 

 Aii.^lndid, 4 (1901), No. 7, pp. 5SS-585, fujx. S) . — Wire netting with large meshes is 

 stretched horizontally about a foot alxjve the tomato rows. Tlie vines grow through 

 the meshes and are thus kept off the ground. Good results have been obtained by 

 the author by this method of training. 



Fertilizer and cultural tests -with different varieties of tomatoes, J. Troop 

 {Indiana Sta. Jlpt. 1900, ]>p. oH-JJ). — Results are here reported of fertilizer and 



