638 EXPERIMEITT STATION RECOED. 



lack of insects to aid in fertilization, 90 per cent of the blossoms drop off with- 

 out setting fruit. Many supposedly hardy varieties of plums have been grown 

 during the past few years but none of them has produced a bloom. 



The usual variety tests with vegetables are reported. A list is given of the 

 shrubs and vines that have proved to be adapted to southeastern Alaska con- 

 ditions. A list supplementary to that in the 1911 report (E. S. R., 28, p. 436) 

 is also given of hardy perennials, together with annuals or perennials that 

 blossom the first year from seed which were found to do reasonably well last 

 year. 



Biennial report State Horticultural Commission of the State of Utah 

 from December 1, 1912, to November 30, 1914 {Bien Rpt. State Hort. Com. 

 Utah, 1912-1914, pp. 68). — This report contains a statistical account of the 

 nursery and fruit industry in Utah for 1913 and 1914, together with an 

 account of nursery inspection and quarantine work, including a brief statement 

 of quarantine measures in adjacent States. In addition to statistics on fruit 

 trees planted in 1913 and 1914, data are given of an orchard survey including 

 some 727 blocks of fruit on 357 farms. The various fruits are classified, both 

 with reference to age and acreage and conditions with reference to spraying, 

 cultivation, and pruning. A report is also included relative to the possibilities 

 for fruit product factories in Utah, together with a paper on diversified fruit 

 growing by W. W. Knudson, in which the author gives an account of the man- 

 agement of a farm on which are grown small fruits, cherries, peaches, plums, 

 and vegetables. The data given include the varieties of fruit grown, time of 

 harvest, receipts, and expenses for the three years, 1912-1914. The report 

 concludes with a list of nursery licenses and a financial statement for the 

 biennial period. 



The determination of humidity in the greenhouse, M. A. Blake {New 

 Jersey Stas. Circ. 47, pp. 3-7, fig. 1). — This circular contains directions and 

 tables for the determination of humidity by means of a sling psychrometer. 



The origin and history of some of our more common garden vegetables, 

 O. E. White {BrooJdyn Bot. Gard. Leaflets, 3. ser.. No. 6 (1915), pp. 7, pis. 3). — 

 This comprises brief notes, together with a list showing the supposed origin of 

 most of our common vegetables and the certain or probable date of earliest 

 cultivation. 



Morphological and biological researches on the cultivated radishes, 

 Yvonne Trouard Riolle (Ann. Sci. Agron., 4. ser., 3 (1914), No. 7-12, pp. 346- 

 550, figs. 135). — The first part of the work here reported includes a study of 

 differences in color, as measured by the action of acids and bases on the an- 

 thocyanin solutions of radishes and by the spectroscopic absorptions of the 

 anthocyanin solutions treated with acids and bases; a study of difference in 

 form of cultivated radishes ; a quantitative and qualitative study of carbo- 

 hydrates in selected types among all the known European, Chinese, and Japa- 

 nese radishes ; a morphological and botanical study of cultivated radishes, in- 

 cluding the roots, foliage, flowers, and fruit ; and a comparative study of the 

 wild species of Raphanus, with special reference to determining the origin of 

 cultivated radishes. In part two of this work are grouped a number of bio- 

 logical investigations, including experiments in the amelioration of forms of the 

 wild radish Raphanus raphanistrum into forms of the cultivated radish R. 

 sativus; a study of the natural hybrids between the two species; hybridization 

 experiments between different genera of crucifers, different species of Raphanus, 

 and crossing experiments between different varieties of R. sativus; and a study 

 of the degeneration among cultivated radishes. 



Attempts to transform the wild radish R. raphanistrum into the cultivated 

 form through cultivation and selection were unsuccessful, although hybrid forms 



