740 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



No increase resulted with cherries. Dwarf phims on irrigated plats gave 17 per cent 

 better yields than on unirrigated. The fruit was somewhat larger. Much difference 

 occurred in the time of ripening of different trees of Newman plum and Crawford 

 and Susquehanna peaches. Sneed was the earliest peach to ripen, followed 3i weeks 

 later by Triumph, the second earliest, and 3 weeks after Triumph by Champion, 

 the third earliest. Sneed has not yet proved very productive, Triumph somewhat 

 more so, and Champion very productive. Crosby has been a sure bearer, with 

 medium sized fruits. 



Three peach trees set according to the Stringfellow method and 3 according to the 

 usual method came into bearing in 1900. On the whole, trees set according to the 

 usual method yielded 28 per cent more fruit than those set by the Stringfellow method. 

 Along with this experiment another in thinning was undertaken. Where over two- 

 thirds of the fruit set was removed in thinning, 2.83 baskets of fruit, worth $2.83 per 

 basket, were produced. Where only one-third of the set was removed, approximately 

 1 basket more fruit per tree w^as obtained, but its value was only $1.76, as against 

 $2.83 in the preceding case. In the case of the third tree where the total set was not 

 quite as large as the others and with 28.84 percent removed in thinning, 3. 53 baskets, 

 worth $1.59, were obtained. 



Some data with illustrations are given showing the value of renewing old peach 

 orchards by cutting back. 



Horticultural division, F. W. Card and G. E. Adams {Rhode Island Sta. Jipt. 

 1901, pp. 227-244, pis. 5).— Notes and some data are here given on the fruiting hab- 

 its of blackberries, pollination and manuring of blackberries and raspberries, plant 

 selection, mixing of field and sweet corn when planted in close proximity to each 

 other, crossing and pollinating melons, and methods of planting fruit trees. Some 

 data on the San Jose scale, apple maggot, and carnation stem rot included in the 

 report are noted elsewhere in this issue. 



With Agawam, Ancient Briton, and Early Cluster blackberries, the flower clusters 

 were near the main stem, usually within 2 to 4 buds, while with the Taylor variety 

 there were found to be nearly always 4 to 8 sterile buds next to the main stem, and 

 unbranched canes often did not develop flowers within 2 or more feet of the ground. 

 It is suggested, therefore, that it is not advisable to practice as close pruning with 

 Taylor as with the other varieties noted. Agawam and Early Cluster blackberries when 

 planted together were observed to give considerably better yields than when planted 

 separately, due, it is thought, to better pollination being secured. Some data on the 

 yield of blackberries and raspberries fertilized with different combinations of com- 

 mercial fertilizers are given but no conclusions drawn. 



In experiments in plant selection, work with especially early fruiting canes of 

 Taylor blackberries and of Cuthbert raspberries is noted. It is hoped to propagate 

 the early fruiting tendencies of these selected specimens. In this connection, 5 

 plants of Kansas raspberries which to the eye promised to be among the best and 

 most productive plants were marked, and the fruit at picking time counted and 

 weighed. With these 5 plants the number of berries varied from 576 to 851 per 

 bush, and the weight of fruit from 648 gm. to 1,130 gm. The average weight of the 

 berries from different plants varied from 1.13 to 1.43 gm. It is pointed out that 

 these variations might have been very much greater had the comparison been made 

 between the poorest and best ])lants in the field rather tlian between the 5 best ones. 

 The experiment here reported on planting sweet corn in close proximity to Long- 

 fellow flint corn is in continuation of that reported in 1898 (E. S. R., 11, p. 928). 

 At that time no kernels of the sweet corn type were observable on the flint corn ears, 

 while there was an abundance of yellow kernels on the sweet corn ears. The year 

 following 3 plantings of corn were made from the crossed corns as follows: (1) With 

 yellow kernels found on the sweet corn ears; (2) with apparently normal sweet corn 

 kernels from sweet corn ears that also contained yellow kernels; and (3) with ker- 



