254 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Plums of large size and good quality can be raised in abundance in all the farming 

 regions of South Dakota and in the grazing regions wherever irrigation can be had. 

 The only varieties which succeed, however, are native kinds. Of the hundreds of 

 varieties which have been brought from Europe, Japan, China, Persia, other parts 

 of Asia, and from the Gulf and Atlantic regions of the United States all have proved 

 unsuitable owing to the vicissitudes of the climate. The varieties which succeed best 

 are those which have been developed from the native sorts which grow in the region 

 from Iowa and Nebraska northward through Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, 

 Manitoba, and Assiniboia. 



Historical notes and brief descriptions are given of 83 named varieties of plums 

 and of a number of seedlings. The fruit of many of these varieties is illustrated. 

 A discussion is given of different sorts of stocks for plums and plum propagation, 

 cultivation, marketing, and breeding, with notes on the culinary uses of plums. 



Keeping- apples, J. C. M. Johnston {Country Gent., 70 {1905), No. 21 '32, p. 538).— 

 To keep apples successfully over winter the author states that the storage room 

 should be cold to prevent rot, damp to prevent wilting, and dark to prevent ripening. 

 Cellars which have water on the floor from September to June are considered best 

 for apples. In the fall the cellar windows should be left open on cool nights and 

 not closed permanently until there is danger from freezing. A cellar temperature of 

 about 30° F. is advocated. 



Small fruits in 1903, J. P. Pillsbury {Pennsylvania Sta. Ppt. 1904, pp> 253- 

 262). — This work with small fruits is in continuation of that previously reported (E. 

 S. R., 16, p. 773) and deals with the yields of strawberries, gooseberries, and currants 

 at the station. 



The wide-matted row and hill systems of strawberry culture which have previously 

 been observed at the station have been changed to the narrow-matted row with 

 better results. The berries in the narrow-matted row are of a more uniform size and 

 the percentage of small ones is decreased. The principal factor influencing the crop 

 of strawberries is the amount of rainfall in May and June, especially in the former 

 month. A lack of rain, however, can be partially overcome by the use of a mulch 

 and thorough cultivation. 



By these methods at the station berries were secured in spite of dry weather long 

 after local dealers were able to obtain fruit from other sources in the neighborhood. 

 A table is given showing the sex, fruiting season, freedom from disease, vigor, yield, 

 etc., of a large number of varieties. 



The ferment of the tea leaf, III, H. A. Mann {Indian Ten Assoc. [Pamphlet 2], 

 1904, pp- 12). — In the present report experiments conducted on a practical scale are 

 cited which confirm the results given in the two former reports (E. S. R., 15, p. 451) 

 relative to the dependence of the fermentation upon an enzym, and the relation of 

 the quantity of this enzym to the quality of the tea. 



Data are given showing more exactly the time required for the best results in 

 withering when the temperature is high, low, and medium, and when the atmos- 

 phere is dry or wet. Relative to the latter the table below is given, which shows 

 the maximum time required for the greatest development of enzym in the wither- 

 ing leaves at different temperatures under normal conditions and in a saturated 

 atmosphere: 



Maximum time required for the greatest development of enzym in tea during withering. 



