BORTICTJLTUKE. 465 



Section 2 gave the largesl total yield, 1,724 gm.; Bection '■'> yielded L, 272 gin., indi- 

 oating that the sulphate and chlorid residues of the fertilizers used on this plal 

 injurious to cucumbers, while section l, which had no chaffed Btraw, yielded the 

 smallesl crop of all, ; ! ; >-> u r m. 



Report on the fruit industry of Great Britain, A. <■ I '. i \i 



{London: Dept. Com. Fruit Cult., 1905, pp. Ill 39). This is a reporl of the com- 

 mittee appointed by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, to investigate the pre* 

 cut condition of fruil culture inGreal Britain and to consider methods i<>r it- promo 

 tion and encouragement. 



The total acreage under orchards in 1904 was lm:;.oi>s, of which 236,705 acre* were 

 in England, 2,490 acres in Scotland, and 3,813 acres in Wale- There wen 

 77/>47 acres in small fruits, of which 70,612 acres were in England, 6,072 :i 

 Scotland, and 1,263 acres in Wales. The fruit industry of Greal Britain while -mall 

 appears to he the only form of agriculture which has exhibited any Bign of progress 

 in recent years. The various difficulties and draw hacks t<> the fruit industry of 



Great Britain were examined into at length from the standpoint of knowledge of the 

 industry, land tenure, taxation, railway grievances, foreign competition, lab 



As a result of the investigation, it is believed that there is opportunity for a con- 

 siderable extension of the fruit industry. Forty recommendations are made. One 



of these is to the effect that a special department of the board he established w hirh 



shall consist of a bureau of information and an experimental fruit farm. It is recom- 

 mended that horticulture he taught in elementary schools and country districts, and 

 that the study of practical horticulture in training colleges he encouraged. 



Studies on apples, W. D. Biqelow, H. ( '. Gore, and B. .1. Mow un. | /. >. />,/,/. 

 Agr.j Bur. Chem. />'"/. 94, pp. 100, pis. 5, figs. 30). — Details are given of an extended 

 investigation on the chemical changes which take place in the storage, respiration, 

 and growth of apples and on the insoluble carbohydrates or marc of apples. The 

 results of microscopic and macroscopic examinations of apple starch are also given. 

 Preliminary to the experimental details an extensive review is given of the work on 

 the ripening and respiration of fruits as observed by many other investigators. 



In the present work the varieties Hen Davis, Bough, Early Strawberry, Huntsman, 

 Northern Spy, Rhode Island, Winesap, Winter Paradise, and Yellow Transparent 

 were used. These are described and the nature of tin- soil on which t hey were grown 



noted. Analyses are given of these varieties when picked at different date- and 

 when held in common storage and in cold storage. From the results Becured in this 

 work it appears 'that the changes in composition i the content of starch, sugar, and 

 acids i in cold storage do not greatly differ from those which occur in common stor- 

 age, the chief difference being in the rapidity with which the changes take place." 



The results of respiration experiments with apples in common and cold storage 

 indicate that the fruit kept in common storage at the higher temperature ripened 

 much more rapidly than that kept in cold storage. Iu comparing the amount <>f car- 

 bon dioxid eliminated from the fruit in these experiments with the malic-acid curve, 



it did not seem possible that the carhon dioxid could he accounted for by the disap- 

 pearance of malic acid, as some other authors have considered to he the 

 "On the other hand, the curve representing the content of total carbohydrates, 



expressed as invert BUgar, is approximately the reverse of the curve representing the 



evolution of carhon dioxid. The probability that the carbon dioxid results from 

 the decomposition of carbohydrate bodies is strengthened by the fact that after pro- 

 tracted storage the apple has apparently lost vitality, and changes iu composition 

 proceed much more slow ly than in the early days of storage." 



In considering the grow th of apples, the work w as not begun until after the ".June 

 drop" was over. It was found in this work "that the less mature the fruit is when 

 gathered the more rapid are the changes tending to maturity after picking. It would 



