HORTICULTURE. 541 



In the matter of hastening maturity the stake method of training was first, 

 the trellis method second, and no training third. Pruning and training tended 

 to reduce the number of decayed and cull tomatoes, but the highest yields were 

 secured where no pruning was done. The plants which were grown on trellis 

 and received no training gave the highest number of boxes of all grades, but 

 the cost of trellising reduced the net profit from this system of training below 

 that received for the fruit grown on plants that were unpruned and untrained. 



In general the yield and net profit per acre were the smallest when plants 

 were pruned to 1 stem and increased in both yield and profit as the amount of 

 pruning decreased, all of the plants having been set 4 ft. apart each way. The 

 average price per box received for each grade of tomatoes, as a whole, was used 

 in estimating the gross returns from the crop on each plat. 



The pollination of the pomaceous fruits. — I, Gross morphology of the 

 apple, E. J. Ke.^us (Oregon Sta. Research Bui. 1, pt. 1, pp. 12, pis. 7). — In a 

 proposed study of the pollination of pomaceous fruits the author has selected 

 the apple as the first fruit to be considered. In the present paper, which deals 

 primarily with the gross moriihology of this fruit, the origin and development 

 of the several parts of the blossom are considered in detail, the subject matter 

 being accompanied by a series of plates. A bibliography of cited literature is 

 included. 



Thinning' apples, L. D. Batchelor (Utah Sta. Circ. 12, pp. 2-S). — The au- 

 thor here calls attention to the importance of thinning the fruit as a means of 

 producing the maximum number of first-class apples and gives some data on 

 thinning experiments conducted with the Ben Davis and Jonathan varieties in 

 1911 and with Jonathan and Gano trees in 1912. 



Eight-year-old Ben Davis trees with the fruit thinned to a minimum distance 

 of 4 in. apart gave a net increase per tree of $1.16 as compared with unthinned 

 fruit. The Jonathans showed a net increase of 30 cts. per tree. The same 

 Jonathan trees thinned in the same manner in 1912 gave a net increase of 71 

 cts. per tree over unthinned trees. In practice the cost of thinning appears to 

 be offset by the reduced cost in sorting when the fruit is pacl^ed. 



The peach, A. Z. Salv adores (Bol. Min. Agr. [Buenos Aires], 15 (191S), No. 

 Jf. pp. 399-/i29, pis. 11, figs. 33). — A monograph on the peach in which are dis- 

 cussed its botany, the culture and care of peaches, harvesting, marketing, insect 

 pests and diseases, and varieties adapted for Argentina. 



Oriental pears and their hybrids, H. R. Cox (New York Cornell Sta. Bill. 

 332, pp. U5-^86, figs. iS).— This bulletin comprises a study of the cultivated 

 varieties of the Oriental pear {Pyrus sinensis) and more especially of the 

 hybrids between the Oriental and the common, or European pear (P. com- 

 munis), with special reference to their value for the pear industry of New 

 York State, and also to ascertain whether the Kieffer and its allies in this 

 group of pears can be satisfactorily utilized as stocks for the top grafting of 

 the European varieties and their descendants. 



The data here presented are based upon observations covering about 25 years, 

 made by Bailey, Craig, the author, and others connected with horticultural 

 work at Cornell University. The subject matter is discussed imder the follow- 

 ing general headings: Position of Orientals among cultivated pears in this covm- 

 try; botany and early history; appearance of the hybrids; status in the pomology 

 of the United States, including importance of the hybrids in the pear-growing 

 industry of the country, statistics of pear growing in 1890, 1900, and 1910, 

 decrease in number of trees of bearing age, increase in production, range of 

 adaptability, conditions affecting quality, yields and profits, picking, marketing, 

 cold storage, packages, and canning and evaporating; culture; self-sterility; 

 enemies; and variety descriptions. 



