B0BT1C1 J.TI BE. 367 



thus prevenl sunburn. The chief disease is blighl and this is kepi under control by 

 planting the melons on ne^ ground al leasl everj second year. Plant lice are con- 

 fcrofled \>\ spraying with soap mixtures. 



Fall and winter culture of Pe'-tsa'i, J. Ci re Rev. Hart. [Paris'], 

 No. 6, pp. 148, 149).— The author gives his results in the winter culture of P£-tsai or 

 Chinese cabbage. The plant appears to be nearlj as hardy as ordinary cabbage. 



Water cress supplies ( Gard. Mag. [London], f8 \ : 

 />. ?52). —An investigation was made, under the auspices of the London County Coun- 

 cil, of the water cress beds grown within a radius of 50 miles of London. 



v me hundred and fifty beds ranging from less than a quarter of an acre to upwards 

 of it i acres in extent were visited. Of this uumber 35 beds were not liable to pollu- 

 tion and 67 beds were probably polluted, the water used in the majority of the cases 

 on these beds being about equal in quality to that of the Thames. There were 27 

 beds that were actually polluted and 1 1 beds in which there was a gross actual pol- 

 lution. The possibility of thoroughly cleansing the cress grown in polluted water 

 was investigated. 



The results indicate thai thorough washing will remove a large proportion of the 

 impurities, bul *' thai no ordinary amounl of washing could be relied on to rid cress 

 grown in polluted waters of all undesirable microbes. This may be due either to 

 bacteria so firmly adhering to the exterior of the plant as to resisl being Bwept away 

 during the washing process, or to the cress harboring microbes within it- -tincture, 

 or to a combination of these causes." Under normal kitchen conditions it is believed 

 that the chances for cleaning the water cress would be less favorable than exists in a 

 laboratory. 



An apple orchard survey of Orleans County, < r. F. W \i.i;i:\ I \> w York < 'ornell 

 Sta. Bid. 229, pp. 461-499, figs. l-~>\.— This is the second reporl on this subject. The 

 firsl reporl dealt with orchard conditions in Wayne County, New York (E. S. R., 

 17. p. 41). 



The present report presents the results of a similar survey of Orleans County. In 

 this cminty 564 orchards, containing 4,881 acres, or a little more than one-fourth of 

 the total area in apples in the comity, were personally examined with reference to 

 topography, soils, varieties, tillage, drainage, fertilizers, cover crops, pruning, spray- 

 ing, yields, markets, prices, income per acre, etc. From 70 to 90 per cent of the fruit 

 grown in Orleans County is barreled and sold, while in Wayne County tbegreater 

 part is evaporated. 



< ienerally speaking, better cultural practices are observed in the apple orchard- in 

 Orleans County than in Wayne County. It is believed that greater profit would be 

 obtained by orchardists in Orleans County if greater attention was paid to sorting 



and grading the fruit and more extensive use made of the apple evaporator. 



Briefly, the survey shows thai Baldwin and Rhode Island Greening are the Leading 



varieties of apples grown in the county. The 5-year average yield of orchards culti- 

 vated 10 years was 86 per cenl greater than for orchards 10 years in Bod. Apples 

 from tilled orchards have broughl slightly better average prices than from orchards in 



Bod. < me-fifth of the orchards in sod have given as 'i 1 results as the average tilled 



ones, but no method of sod treatment has been found toequaJ tillage in average yield 

 or income. ( !over crops are used in about 3 percent of the area examined, red clover 

 and buckwheat being the favorite crops for this purpose. 



The average income per acre from well-cared-for orchards was as follows-. I n- 

 sp rayed. sio:; ; sprayed once, $139; sprayed twice. $143; sprayed :; times, $184. In 

 1904 most of the unsprayed orchards showed about 90 percent of scabby fruit, while 

 over half of the orchards sprayed •"> time- were practically free from scab. 



The best orchards wen- found on loamy soils. Good apples were also grown on 



<|iiite sandy soil. A loss of 8 to p> per cent of apple tree- was found to he -hie to ] r 



drainage. The gross income in over half the orchards ha- averaged over $100 per 



