277 



gal ions coxering several years, together with tabulated reports on 

 tests made in 1889 and notes on some of the newer varieties. Espe- 

 cial attention is i)aid to transplanting, time of sowing the seed, and 

 uiannring. K.\i;eriments were made to -find a relial)le method of 

 determining the relative solidity of the fruit, the relation of solidity 

 to keeping qualities, and the cooking qualities of different varieties 

 as shown I)y the time required for cooking and the amount of shrink- 

 age. 'J'ln' results were chiefly valuable as indicating the unsatisfac- 

 tory natnre of the tests usually applied. Emphasis is laid on the fact 

 that very few of the numerous varieties of tonuitoes offered for sale 

 possess superior mei'it for general culture. The following sum- 

 mary is taken from the bulletin: 



(1) Fre(iuent traiisplantiiig of tiie young i)lant. and good tillage, are necessary 

 to best results in tomato culture. 



(2) Plants started under glass about ten weeks before trausplanting into field 

 gave fruits from a week to ten days earlier than those started two or three 

 weeks later, while there was a much greater difference when the plants were 

 started six weeks later. Productiveness was increased i).y the early planting. 



i?>) Liberal and even heavy manuring, (hiring the present season, gave great 

 increase in yield over no fertilizing, although the common notiou is quite to the 

 contrary. Heavy niamiring does not appear, therefore, to produce vine at the 

 expense of fruit. 



(4) The tests indicate that ))oor soil may tend to render fruits more angular. 



(5) Varieties of tomatoes run out, and ten years may perhaps be considered 

 the average life of a variety. 



(G) The particular points at present in demand in tomatoes are these: regu- 

 larity in shai)e, solidity, large size, productiveness of plant. 



(7) The ideal tomato would probably conform closely to the following scale 

 of points : Vigor of plant. .") : earliness, 10 ; color of fruir. 7> ; solidity of fruit, 20 ; 

 shape of fruit, 20: size, 10 : flavor, .5; cooking qualities, .> ; productiveness, 20. 



(8) .Solidity of fruit can not be accurately measured either by weight or keep- 

 ing qualities. 



(9) Cooking qualities appear to be largely individual rather than varietal 

 characteristics. 



(10) The following varieties appear, fi'om the season's work, to be among the 

 best market tomatoes : Ignotum, Beauty, Mikado, Perfection, Favorite, Potato 

 Leaf. 



(11) The following recent introductions appear to possess merits for market: 

 Bay State, Atlantic, Brandywine, .Jubilee. Matchless, and )H'rhai»s Tjorillard, 

 Prelude, and Salzer. 



(12) The following recent introdu<'tions are particularly valualile foi- amateur 

 cultivation: Dwarf Champion, Lorillard, Peach, Prelude. 



BULLETIX No. 11. NOVEMBER, 1889. 

 ()X .\ S,\V\ir,V BORER IN WHKAT, J. H. CoMSTOCK, B. S. (pp. 127- 



142). (illustrated). — This contains a detailed account of the Euro- 

 pean corn sawfly {Cephvs pyr/ma'in^). found in great abundance on 

 the University farm, though not previously recorded in this country. 

 The adult insects appear early in May, and the females oviposit about 

 the middle of the same month, chiefly in the upper portion of the 

 straw. " The e*^^ is pushed entirely through the wall of the straw 

 and left adhering loosely to the inside."' " The eggs hatch soon after 



