for August, 1920 



287 



Colonedstcr huinifiisa. — This is the must prostrate of all the 

 Cotoneasters, a plant that rapidly creeps with ruddy stems over 

 the surface of tlje soil and soon makes a dense mat. The leaves 

 are large, over an inch long, and of a fine Myrtle-green, which 

 is chequered in Autumn and Winter with the yellow and crimson 

 of the few older ones which are shed annually. The flowers 

 and scarlet fruit are small, but as the latter are held erect on long 

 stems they are effective and pretty. C. humifusa is a u.seful plant 

 for covering steep banks or the face of a rock and it does not seem 

 fastidious as regards position or soil. The trailing stems will 

 easily run two feet the first season. — The Garden. 



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I BOOK REVIEW DEPARTMENT | 



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The Apple. By Albert E. Wilkinson; 8vo, cloth; 492 pages, with 

 195 illustrations and 4 color plates ; Ginn and Co., Boston. 



This book, one of the important new Country Life Education 

 Series, is certainly an outstanding work that in every way de- 

 serves to be regarded as a standard. "Deeply convinced of the 

 need of a single volume that would present, in a logical manner, 

 the most essential of the recent practical ideas and methods," the 

 author seems to have succeeded well in supplying the need even 

 for the different apple-producing regions of North America. 

 Throughout his treatment at every point he kec^s in mind the 

 superior adaptation of certain varieties to particular localities, 

 soils and sites. He gives good advice to the student, the farmer, 

 the fruit specialist, the middleman and the person who buys for 

 his own consumption. He has drawn exhaustively, but with nice 

 discrimination upon the experiences of successful growers, upon 

 the findings of the prominent governmental experiment stations 

 of this country and of Canada. Particularly valuable is the chap- 

 ter summarizing investigations that have determined, with a high 

 degree of reliability, the adaptation of the standard and impor- 

 tant varieties to particular climates and soils. Another valuable 

 subject, that perhajis ought more to be elaborated upon, though 

 it is treated suggestively enough, is "pedigree trees" ; the nursery- 

 man's common practice of obtaining scions from blocks of nursery 

 stock but recently propagated and not from the best of trees that 

 have proven themselves by bearing is evidently, in view of 

 all that has been accomplished by' selection in different fields, not 

 commendable. In the treatment of windbreaks it would have been 

 better to give caution against planting soft maples at all near 

 apple trees the roots of which can not compete in their work with 

 the extraordinarily lusty roots of the rapid-growing shade tree. 

 And why should omission be made of the two trees best for the 

 purpose in every way, the red pine and the Douglas spruce? Both 

 of these grow more rapidly than the Xorway spruce and are long- 

 lived, as the Xorway spruce is not. Then, too, attention might 

 have been drawn to the fact that on many sites the windbreaks 

 might well consist of a row or two of the hardier apple trees that 

 would yield a crop of considerable value while shielding the more 

 tender trees of better quality. Another rather serious shortcom- 

 ing consists of omitting lo treat of the subject of Double Working 

 in the grafting of apple trees. Several varieties need to be handled 

 in this way and exjieriments just now going on in Europe, seem 

 to indicate that the habit of bearing a crop only in alternate years, 

 which marks some varieties in particular, can be eradicated by 

 budding them upon stocks of kinds not so prolific. 



The person intending to plant an orchard of any size would 

 profit by studying the chapter "Laying Out an Orchard," in which 

 is shown, very graphically, the advantages of the quincunx and 

 the hexagonal' arrangement over the common method by squares; 

 the superiority of the first methods varies, of course, according 

 to the extent to which use is made of fillers ; but the hexagonal 

 method permits the planting of about 15 per cent more trees 

 than does the square system. The chapter Insects, Diseases, 

 Spraying and Miscellaneous Injuries is thoroughly admirable: 

 the one devoted to Renovating Neglected Orchards, that should 

 be of unusual interest in these days, demonstrates that "good 

 business principles applied to a young or moderately old neg- 

 lected orchard may result in profitable results. A good system 

 of orchard management thoroughly applied will develop w-on- 

 ders from neglected sound trees.'' The alphabetical list of 88 

 of the most common varieties, with a short description and 

 evaluation of each, is a splendid feature and. although tastes differ, 

 all judgments here expressed seem to have been fonuulated with 

 great care. The Baldwin, for example, which not every one would 

 be inclined to say has "very good quality," is pronounced "very 

 good." but several others "very good to best" and some even 

 "best." Such a list obviously can never be quite up-to-date; but 

 a careful reading of it entire helps to rank, with a good degree 

 of probability, the most promising introductions, like the new 

 "Golden Delicious," that appear from time to time. 



A LESSON ON THE VALUE OF VEGETABLES 



(ContUiued from page 283.) 



diet would undoubtedly lend to save our teeth. In ages past 

 man needed no dentrirtces for his mouth, and his teeth were 

 cleaned and disinfected several times daily by the acids in the 

 raw vegetables and roots that were eaten. 'The teeth of early 

 races, and of the native races of many countries today, were 

 also strengthened and polished by the exercise they got in crack- 

 ing nuts and chewing fibrous vegetables. All evidences point to 

 the fact that the farther we have got away from a natural diet 

 the more trouble we have experienced from mouth infection and 

 dental decay. 



One investigator recently produced proof which appeared to 

 show that the removal of fiber or cellulose from our diet through 

 the refining and cooking processes is tending to reduce the size 

 and number of our teeth. In fact the mouth is becoming more 

 and more merely an opening through which we swallow than 

 an efficient machine for masticating food, and it appears evi- 

 dent that under the conditions now generally prevailing we shall 

 eventually evolve into a race having no teeth at all. 



The moderate use of vegetables in the form of pickles, pro- 

 vided the pickles have been prepared without the addition of 

 harmful matter, is no doubt a good practice, as pickling does 

 rot entail the loss of any of their vital ingredients. One fre- 

 quently sees children walking along the street luunching a pickle. 

 W hile we are apt to think that this may not be a very desirable 

 food for a child, it is extremely probable that in eating the 

 pickle the child is Obtaining some valuable ingredient or in- 

 gredients which are absent from its ordinary diet, and is there- 

 fore doing itself good, or at all events less harm than by spend- 

 ing its pennies in some of the kinds of candy that are known to 

 contain deleterious materials. 



The economic value t f vegetables is not of transcendental im- 

 portance ; it is, however, of interest and worth brief considera- 

 tion. 



The vegetable having the greatest economic value is that which, 

 upon a given area, gives the greatest amount of calorific food 

 at the least cost and in the shortest time. 



A couple of years ago some experiments were carried out in 

 England by Dr. F. Stoker, with a view of finding out the differ- 

 ent economic values, possessed by soine of the more popular 

 and useful vegetables. The method adopted was to devote plots 

 of ground of equal areas to each kind experimented w'ith, and 

 to keep an exact record of all expenses in the w^ay of labor, 

 seed, manures, etc. ; to observe the period the crops occupied 

 the ground ; to weigh the resulting crops and to calculate the 

 actual food each plot produced. Without giving the figures by 

 which the results were arrived at, it was found that the com- 

 parative values of the vegetables tested were as follows : 



Yield in .Assimilable 



lbs. per calories Principally Economic 



Crop square perch, per perch. valuable for value 



Potato 176 73.949 Carbohvdrate 69.5 



Carrots 392 31,360 Carbohvdrate 31.6 



Beans (drv).. IS 23 325 Protein 28 



Peas (shelled) 63 26,460 Protein 18 



Parsnip 480 19.2t» Carbohvdrate 15.5 



Onion 210 9,450 Oil & Vitamine 4.3 



Cabbage 93 1,395 Salts and bulk 3 



The following formula was used in making the calculations: 



Caloric value X Yield in pounds per perch 



: = Economic Value. 



Ccst of crop; number of weeks the 

 ground is occupied 



It must be understood that the term "economic value" is used 

 in this connection only in the home gardening sense, and has no 

 reference to the commercial production of vegetables for profit. 



We must not be understood as advocating vegetarianism pure 

 and simple, as without doubt some animal foods are necessary. 

 Animal foods contain a high percentage of muscle-forming ma- 

 terial, but eaten in excess cause an acid reaction in the system 

 and tend to produce many functional troubles. There is more 

 fatigue caused by faulty eating than by hard work and for animal 

 food to do us any good wc must consume a sufiiciency of properly 

 prepared, or raw, vegetables, which will produce an alkaline re- 

 action to counteract the acid reaction of the meat. 



There is. however, considerable room for a great increase in 

 the vegetable part of ordinary diets, and we feel sure that a 

 greater daily consumption of the pn due's of our gardens, espe- 

 cially in the form of salads, and a more rational and less wasteful 

 ire! hod of preparing those having to be cooked will not only 

 immensely increase our health and vigor but also prove of great 

 benefit to cur pockets, and, conversely, produce the reverse of 

 benefit to the pockets of druggists and doctors. 



