eORTICULTI RE. 141 



Mr. s. A. Bedford, of the Manitoba Station, gives a List of varieties of standard 

 apples root-grafted on Pyrus baccata which have been planted at the station ;in<l the 

 effect of the winter on them. Most of the varieties were killed back more or less, 

 but many varieties made a strong growth during the season. Plums were a heavj 

 crop at the station. Three native varieties which fruited for the first time proved 

 superior to anything tested as regards earliness and flavor. The fruit ripened early 

 in August, which was fully 2 weeks sooner than fruit of any other varieties found on 



the farm. The plums are c paratively large, <!»*»■] » reel in color when ripe, skin 



sweet and juicy with no sign of astringencj . and the stone was nol out of proportion 

 to the flesh. The fruit from all :; trees is very similar and has been given the name 

 of Major. 



Fall-><»\\ ii seed of ( 'aragana arboresa n& lias given much stronger plants than spring- 

 Bown seed. Various tender species of Philadelphus have been successfully grown at 

 the station when bent to the ground and sufficient soil thrown over the tips t«> hold 

 ih« 'in there during the winter. < rradus has proved the earliest large pea yel tested. 



Report of the professor of horticulture, II. L. Hi it i .1////. /,'/-/. Ontario Agr. 

 Cbl. and Expt. Farm,S0 I 1904), pp. I0i 1-116, figs. 5).— This report gives an outline of 

 the horticultural work at the < mtario Agricultural ( !ollege during the year, with notes 

 on various cover crops, orchards, small fruits, vegetables, and ornamental shrubs. 



The severe winter killed 10 per cent of the tree- in the apple Orchard, 20 per cent 



of those iii the plum orchard, 35 per cent in the pear orchard, and 44 per cent in the 

 cherry orchard. Twenty peach and L'() quince trees which had survived several 

 winters were also killed. 



How to make a vegetable garden, Edith L. Fullerton, illus. by II. B. Ful- 

 lerton (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1905, pp. XIX 347, figs. 253). — Popular 

 directions for making a garden and the culture of all the usual vegetables and small 

 fruits. The illustrations form a prominent feature of the work. A table 18 given 

 Bh owing when to plant each of 74 different vegetables, depth to plant them, distance 

 apart, the period when the crop matures, and other information as to cultural 

 method-. 



Test of the vitality of vegetable seeds, E. II. Jenkins ( Connecticut State SSfo. 

 h'/ii. 1904, pt. •'. pp- '/■• s U8).—k table is given showing the results of germination 

 tests of 415 samples of seeds representing .'!4 different vegetables. 



The age of the samples varied from 1 to 12 years, most of them being I to - years 

 old. They were sent in by the seedsmen or growers themselves with the understand- 

 ing that the results of the test wore not to he published as representing the char- 

 acter of their goods. Sweet corn and onion seed are grown in large amounts in the 

 Stale and more tests of these varieties are annually made at the station than of all 

 other kinds of seeds. 



California-grown onion seed showed a higher percentage germination than Con- 

 ■ecticut-grown seed, and seed less than l year old germinated hotter than older 

 Bed. The vitality of crops of onion ^'i'>\ for 1880 and each of the years 1894 to 

 1904 is tabulated and another table given -how ing the sprouting ability of different 

 varieties of union seeds and sweet corn. 



Mushroom growing for amateurs, (i. 1- . Atkinson and K. Shobe (New >'"/•/, 

 pornell s/a. Jin/. _'_>;. pp. 415-424* J".i- < - 4). — Experiments were undertaken in the 

 Culture of mushrooms to learn what sucees< might be expected by amateur growers 

 where no elaborate preparations were made as to special bouses 



Cellars or basement rooms may he used for mushroom culture in winter provided 

 the temperature does not go below 55° F. or rise above 65° F. They should not he 

 grown in cellars under the living part of a house, as the fumes of manure will rill 

 the house. They can be grown in stables which are not too cold. 



In the stat ; <n experiments they were grown in part in boxes under benches in the 

 greenhouse vij ire the temperature during the winter was about 55* F. at night and 



