HORTICULTURE. 1035 



creating an intiuiatp contact between the roots and the soil. Altbonjih soil 

 which lias been pndtllcrt so severely is in an nnsuitable condition for vegetation, 

 the rannning takes i)]ace only over the roots themselves, and before the end of 

 the first season the new roots are found to have penetrated beyond the puddled 

 earth. Trimming the roots back^ to i of their length was found to be advan- 

 tageous since it stimulated the development of fibrous roots. It is conceded 

 that rammed trees may fruit somewhat less during the first few years in con- 

 stxpience of the more vigorous growth, although no such reduction was noted 

 in some cases under observation. Ramming can have little or no effect in 

 light, sandy soils. 



Unsuccessful attempts were made to secure beneficial effects similar to those 

 which resultetl from ramming the tree by both plastering the roots with 

 various substances and by surrounding the roots with very fine- sand. 



From the results thus far secured, the authors are of the opinion that 

 trenching or deep cultivation will benefit trees only where it materially im- 

 proves the drainage and where the subsoil is sufficiently rich to encourage 

 fruit development. 



Autumn was found to be the best time to plant trees during the dormant 

 season. In such early plantings the adventitious I'oots were in most cases 

 formed before the following January. The formation of adventitious roots 

 was greatest In cases where the roots had been most damageil in the lifting 

 and where they had not been trimmed. The authors are at a loss to exjilaiu 

 the benefit to be derived from not trimming the injured roots, and advise that 

 they be trimmed, owing to the danger from penetration of fungi. 



Comparative tests of the hexagonal, square, and rectangular planting sys- 

 tems resulted only slightly in favor of the hexagonal arrangement and were 

 not suflicient to counterbalance the disadvantage of the narrower alleys between 

 the trees. No material advantage was found in running the rows of trees north 

 to south and east to west as compared with running them northeast, south- 

 west, etc. 



Contribution to the study of the injection of nutrients into fruit trees, 

 G. Frox (Jour. Soc. yat. llort. France, J/, set:, JO (W09), pp. .5'/-.5.'^ ftgs. 2). — 

 The author reports on some experiments conducted during the i)ast 2 seasons in 

 the injecti(m of nutritive fluids into the stems of fruit trees according to the 

 method used by J. M. Simon ( E. S. R., IS. p. (536). He gives a detailed account 

 of the wr)rk as conducted with some pear trees, in which sulphate of iron was 

 used as a nutrient in one case and nitrate of lime in the other. Roth solutions 

 appear to have increased the vigor of the trees. In most of the experiments, 

 however, the improvement was confined to a small portion of the tree. The 

 author is of the oi)inion that although this method of treating trees is of little 

 \alue in practical fruit culture it might, if carried on for several years, serve 

 as a guide for detcrniining which elements should be added to the soil. His 

 experinit'Mts are t<» be continued. 



A radical change in the method of determining fniit varieties, A. Jaxson 

 (Gartcnuclt, 12 (U)08), No. 63, pp. 7//6-7//S).— The author points out the diffi- 

 culties of correctly identifying little known varieties of fruits, and discusses the 

 possil)ilities of classifying fruits by means of their specific weights. 



rrdiminary tests of this method lead the author to conclude that, as soon as 

 sutficieiit data have been gatlici-ed relative to the specific weights of the known 

 varieties of fruit, specimens can be easily identilicd by a comparison of their 

 specific and molecular weights. The desirability of further comparison with 

 the poniological descriptions is i)ointed out. since there might be a similarity of 

 weight between certain hybrids or little known fruits and some of the varieties 

 which had iireviously been determined. The method is to be tested further. 



