HORTICULTURE. 965 



ing tlioni witli iron salts. Throe pots were tilled with 11.5 kg. each of earth. One 

 IX)t received in addition 0.5 yxT cent of iron hydrate and another 2 per cent of iron 

 hydrate. The third pot was used as a control. 



Spinach was grown in each pot. That in the pot containing 2 per cent of iron 

 hydrate made a poor growth as compared with that in the other pots. The plants 

 in all 3 pots were analyzed with reference to the amount of iron in the dry substance. 

 Spinach grown in the control pot contained 0.03 per cent of iron; in the i)ot fertilized 

 with 0.5 per cent of iron hydrate 0.18 ])er cent of iron, and in the pot fertilized with 

 2 per cent of iron hydrate 0.23 per cent of iron. It is thus seen that in both cases 

 where iron salts were used the amount of iron in the plant was increased, although 

 in tlu' latter case the amount of iron used was excessive and injured the growth of 

 the plants. 



The results indicate that the iron content of certain j>lants may be incn-aseil, and 

 this fact the author considers may be useful when it is desired to increase the content 

 of iron in food used for medicinal purposes. 



Field culture of watermelons and muskmelons in southern Russia, N. 

 KiTsciiUNOw {3rdlkr's Drat. Gart. Zt(j., 19 {1004), No. S, ])p. 91-'J4, Jigs. J). — An 

 account is given of the methods observed in southern Russia in the field culture of 

 watermelons and muskmelons, with descriptions and illustrations of a number of 

 different varieties of each. 



The garden and the orchard {Bui. Maine Dcpt. Agr., S {1904), Xo. 1, pp. oS, figs. 

 2, dijui. 1). — This consists of a nundjer of popular articles on various phases of 

 orcharding and gardening, with reports from the various counties of the State on 

 the condition of crops. 



Report of the School of Horticulture of Nova Scotia, F. C. Sears {Halifax, 

 y ova Scotia: School of Horticulture, 1904, PP- S2, pis. 4, fio^- S). — This is an account 

 of the attendance and work done at the School of Horticulture located at Woifville, 

 Nova Scotia, during the year 1903. Data are given as to meteorological conditions, 

 fruit now growing in the orchards of the school and the results secured in the use 

 of a number of cover crops, and on certain spraying experiments. 



It has been found possible to completely eradicate black knot from a plum orchard 

 which was so seriously affected as to suggest complete eradication as the only suc- 

 cessful remedy. In the treatment of this disease all the trees the first year were cut 

 back so severely as to remove all the knots, and in removing each knot the limb for 

 () inches underneath was also removed. All the trimmi;igs were then gathered and 

 liurned. During the summer the orchard was sprayed 3 times with Bordeaux mix- 

 ture, and in the fall the knots were again removed and ])urned. The following 

 seascjn the kuot.s were removed as soon as they appeared, and for this purpose the 

 orchard was gone over twice, once in July and again in August. AVhcn the wood 

 was soft it was found possible to pare off a knot instead of cutting away the entire 

 branch on which it grew. This treatment appears to be effective in completely 

 cnntrolling the disease. 



The results with cover crops indicated that crimson clover, tares or vetches, and 

 alfalfa are the best cover crops for that province. Crimson clover is believed 

 especially promising. The work of the school in establishing model orcharils 

 throughout Nova Scotia has Ijeen increased until at the present time there are 23 of 

 these orchards. A table is given showing the number of trees of tlie different kinds 

 of fruits i)lanted which died during the winter of 1903. 



Fruit trees frozen in 1904, ]M. P>. Waite ( U. S. Dcpt. Agr., Bureaxt, of Plant 

 Industry Bui. 51, pt. 3, pp. 7). — The author gives an account of his examination of 

 the orchards around Marlboro and Milton on the Hudson River, and also tho.se 

 located at South Glastonbury, Conn., with reference to the damage done to fruit 

 buds by freezing during the winter, with suggestions as to the treatment to be fol- 

 lowed in pruning the trees to overcome the effects of freezing. 



30972— No. 10—04 3 



