HOKTICULTtTRE. 1075 



Cook Islands horticulture, T. A\'. Kikk and W. A. TJoiumikr {New Zcahiud Dept. 

 A(/r. lipl. I'jn.;, pp. 4JJ-4J4, y;/.s. /y).— The autliorsvisittMl officially the different i^^li^llds 

 of the Cook group, and in their report give an account of the various horticultural 

 products grown on each island and the i)0ssibilities of future commercial develop- 

 ment. 



Commercial gardening, M. A. Oshanin {FromuisJdennoe Ogorodnichentvo. Rostov: 



A. K. Oppel, 1904, lip- ^31, figs. 159) . — Brief directions are given regarding the most 

 successful methods of cultivating, harvesting, and marketing various garden crops, 

 together with notes on the present extent of the industry in the region of Rostov. 



Experiments in crossing sweet corn. Anew variety: The Voorhees Red, 



B. D. IIalsted and J. A. Kelsey {New Jersey Stas. Bid. 170, pp. 22, ph. 4). — This is 

 an account of the development of a new variety of sweet corn by crossing Black 

 Mexican upon Egyptian and selecting in successive years the ears showing the largest 

 percentage of red grains. 



The first cross was made in 1900, and in 1903 a very large percentage of ears came 

 true to type. The mature grains of Black Mexican are black in color, while those 

 of Egyptian are white. The ears of the new variety when picked green have a pink 

 color and when mature they are red. The ears of Black Mexican are 8 rowed and 

 of medium size, while those of Egyptian are 10 to 14 rowed an<l of large size. The 

 cross o])tained follows the Egyptian in size of ears and number of rows on tlie ear, 

 ]jut is perhaps a little earlier. It has the good qualities of both parents and in addi- 

 tion the pink color of the ears when prepared for the table. It has lieen named the 

 Voorhees Red in honor of Director Voorhees of the station. A thousand packets 

 of 25 grains each are offered for free distribution to farmers throughout the State. 



Many of the details contained in the bulletin regarding the work in crossing have 

 been previously noted (E. S. R., 14, p. 369). Supplementary to that work it was 

 noticed that self-pollinated corn frequently produced all)ino plants, while such plants 

 were never ol)tained from cross-pollinated corn. Illustrations are given which show 

 the much greater^igor of cross-pollinated seedling corn as compared with the seed- 

 lings of inbred corn. The bulletin contains some historical notes concerning corn, 

 notes on the l^otany and races of corn, with a list of the varieties of sweet corn in 

 current seed catalogues. 



Solanum commersonii and its rose, yellow, and violate-skinned varieties, 

 Labekgerie {Rev. Vit., 21 {1904), No. 5SG, pp. 335-339, figs. 7).— This relative of the 

 potato was introduced into France by M. Heckel in 1901. Since then it has been 

 under cultivation, and rose, yellow, and violet-skinned varieties have been obtained 

 from it. 



The violet-skinned variety seems to be most promising. This variety resembles 

 the potato in appearance. The vines exceed 3.8 meters in length and are so vigor- 

 ous as to suppress all other vegetation. The violet-colored flowers are paler than the 

 jirimitive type, are without odor, and appear sterile. The stems produce numerous 

 bulblets in the axils of the leaves. Some of these bulblets, without contact with the 

 soil, attain a weight of 0.6 of a pound. The tubers are formed around the central 

 stem in a compact mass emerging out of the soil. The flesh of the tuber is white, 

 yellowish, and sometimes striated with violet or green. The flavor is reported as 

 slightly aromatic. The form of the tuljer is varying, but tends toward two types, 

 round and flat. Some agglomerated forms weighed as mucli as 1,400 gm. Good, 

 smooth specimens sometimes reache<l a weight of 800 to 900 gm. In good soil the 

 yield in 1903 in one instance was at the rate of 103,000 kilos per hectare, while on a 

 well-manured soil containing only a small amount of sand the yield was at the rate 

 of 53,000 kilos per hectare. 



One of the peculiarities noted in the culture of this plant was that wdien the stalks 

 were replanted after the tubers had been removed new tubers formed, which, in 



