HORTICULTURE. 975 



Experience with plums, II. T. Thompson (Trans. ///. Hort. Soc, n. set., 89 

 [1905), pp. 419 $28). — The author, located in Illinois, finds thai Japanese and Euro- 

 pean plums when grafted on native trees are bardier and better suited to the climate. 

 A table is ^ i \ « -i i showing tin- time of bloom, size, time of ripening, character of the 

 fruit as to cling or freestone, eating and cooking quality, tendency t<> i'"t. etc., for 7i» 

 varieties. 



Orang-e culture i A- // York: German A'"/' Works, pp. 68, figs. 14). Popular direc- 

 tions for the culture of oranges, including fertilizers, irrigation, protection from 

 frosts, etc. Much of the data contained have been drawn from experiment Btation 

 Bources. 



Orange hybrids | Rural New Yorker, 65 1906 . No. 2925, />. 182, fig. 1).— Further 

 notes are given on the hybrid between Citrus trifoliala and C. nobilis, which is char- 

 acterized by having 5 leaflets. (See I-'.. S. Et., I), p. 142. 



Studies on the banana, I.. B. Mendel and E. M. Bailey [Science, n. 

 [/!>(»;>, No. 583, /</<. ■ ■:■:. 884)' Notes on investigations relative to the influence of 

 various abnormal atmospheres and inerl surface coatings on the ripening of bananas. 



The normal ripening of the banana is essentially an almosl complete conversion of 

 starch int.* soluble carbohydrate, accompanied by a decrease in the total carbohy- 

 drate. When bananas were placed in atmospheres of hydrogen, carbon dioxid, or 

 illuminating gas they failed to produce notable amounts of soluble carbohydrate or 

 to show any considerable decrease in total carbohydrate. Practically the same results 

 Were obtained when the surface was coated with BUCh material as paraffin. In an 

 atmosphere of oxygen ripening processes were somewhat accelerated. 



"Autolyses with the green pulp, or with the green pi dp and scrapings of the inner 

 surfaces of the peel, or of the partially ripened pulp, carried out with toluene water 

 under varied conditions, have yielded negative results. The investigation is being 

 extended in various directions." 



The Indian jujube i Trop. Agr. and Mag. Ceylon Agr. Soc, 25 i 1905), No. 8, pp. 

 484, f85). — An account of the uses of the various species of Zizyphus, including 

 Indian jujube [Z. jujuba), also known as the wild "ber," and the common Indian 

 jujube ( /. vulgaris |, the dried fruit of which is an article of commerce. 



The fruit of the jujube is used in the preparation of sirups, confections, and loz- 

 enges. Its analysis is reported upon by Prof. W. R. Dunstan, of the Imperial Insti- 

 tute. The pulp of the fruit is composed chiefly of sugar with a small part of pectin 



ami extract matters. Specimens of the fruit were submitted t<> dealers in cattle f 1 



with the hope that it might be used in much the same manner as the carob bean, 

 hut as it i- nioii' bulky and less nutritious than the latter it is not believed that it 

 will become of commercial importance along this line. 



The experiment in cocoa curing- on the Gold Coast ( Trop. Life, .' ( 1906 \ 

 /. pp. 22, 28). — This is a brief review of a report by W. II. Johnson, director of the 

 botanical and agricultural department of the Gold ( !oast, for L904, in which the results 

 obtained with washed and unwashed cocoa and of varying periods of fermentation 

 are given. 



With 12 days' fermentation there was a lossof 27.21 per cent in weight, while with 

 4 days' fermentation there was a loss oi bul 1 L.42 per cent. When a lot of cocoa was 

 sent to Hamburg that which was fermented only 3 days was valued only 1 to 2 per 

 cent lower than that which had been fermented for 6 days, while the former had lost 

 approximately 10 per cent in weight during the process of fermentation and the latter 

 17 per cent. It would appear from the returns of the brokers that it is advisable t<> 

 send cocoa to market unwashed, and that a l days' sweating is likely to prove the 

 moBl remunerative. 



Annual report of the horticultural and viticultural expert, A. Dbspeissis 

 {.Ion,-. Dept. Agr. West. AusL, i . | 1905 I, No. 6, pp. 581-5 f5). — An account of the work 



