A(;RICUi;niRAL science at the ST. LOUIS MEETING. 



E. V. Wilcox, Ph. D., 



Office of KxpermiPiit Stations. 



The fifty-third annual meeting of the American Association for the 

 Advancement of Science, held at St. Louis, December 28, 1903, to 

 Januar}^ 2, 1904:, was the occasion for the presentation of many pajjors 

 relating to agriculture and agricultural investigation. The most of 

 these were given before affiliated societies — The Society for the Pro- 

 motion of Agricultural Science, The Society for Horticultural Science, 

 The American Breeders' Association, and The Association of Economic 

 Entomologists, although several papers in this field were presented 

 before the association proper. Mention of the meeting as a whole 

 was made in the last issue (p. 421). 



HORTICULTURE. 



At the first meeting of the recently formed Society for Horticultural 

 Science, papers of a general nature were presented, in addition to 

 symposia on shading and cover crops. L. C. Corbett discussed 

 Coordinaton of Horticultural work, urging that local problems require 

 special treatment and should be solved largely by local workers, and 

 that in cooperative work a coordination of results must be based on a 

 detailed, uniform system of note taking. Attention was called to the 

 necessity of securing in this manner reliable data on the cultivation 

 and the varieties of common cultivated plants, which the society might 

 well assist in. As a result of this paper a committee was appointed 

 to consider the matter and report at the next meeting. 



D. G. Fairchild described the mangosteen and called attention to its 

 value. It was suggested that experiments be made to determine the 

 possibilit}^ of growing this fruit in Hawaii, Porto Rico, and perhaps 

 in Southern Florida. The fruit has recently been grafted on a com- 

 [)arativel3^ hardy stock, so that its cultivation in these countries is 

 considered possible. The mangosteen apparently requires a ver^- 

 moist soil. The seeds are planted singly in pots, and the trees should 

 not be transplanted until about 2 ft. high. 



R. A. Emerson presented a report on the principles underlying the 



use of cover crops. Orchards are more easil}" injured in winter on 



bare ground than on ground under cover crops. Peaches mature the 



wood earlier on cover crop plats. Cover crops may decrease the 



538 



