for November, 1920 



375 



see to it that sufficient is given to wet through the' original 

 soil, but on the other hand, do not make the soil become a 

 sodden mass by giving too much water. 



P'alms and stove plants need a moderate resting period. 

 Reduce the water supply somewhat and let the night tem- 

 perature fall to about 60 degrees F. at night. 



Large flowering English primroses offer something in 

 the way of variety. Plant them out in a violet house tem- 

 perature, or winter them in pots in frames bringing them 

 in sometime during I'ebruary for Easter flowering. 



Vegetables X'egetables are being grown more 



in the and more as winter greenhotise crops. 



Greenhouse j„ ^]^^ (>qqJ house, lettuce, radishes. 



>pinach, green onions, parsley and beets are all possible, 



and if space is available, cauliflower should be added to 



the list. 



In the same house under the benches, asparagus, rhu- 

 barb and french endive may be forced. 



In the warm house, that is, where a temperature of 

 60-65 degrees F. at night is available, beans, forcing 

 melons, cucumbers and tomatoes do well. They add 

 variety to the list of fresh winter vegetables. 



Mustard and Cress may be sown at intervals during 

 the Winter as required for the table. Mint and Tarragon 

 are useful for seasoning and should be lifted from the 

 open groutid before it freezes up. Plant them in boxes 

 and place in a cool house where they will soon start into 

 growth. 



In the fruit house the vines may be pruned as soon as 

 they have shed their leaves, and a sharp lookout should 

 be kept for mealy bug. Remove the loose bark, and fumi- 

 gate the house with hydrocyanide acid gas. Paint the 

 cane with wood alcohol and be careful to keep this liquid 

 awav from the eves. 



SULPHUR AS A PLANT FOOD 



That sulphur is an important plant food, often a limit- 

 ing factor in maximum ])roduction. is a recent discovery 

 in scientific research in the field of agriculture which 

 appears to have an important bearing upon agricultural 

 production in the Far West, inasmuch as it has already 

 proven its economic value in Oregon in districts similar 

 in many fundamental respects to many thousands of acres 

 of cultivated area in the eleven Western States. 



For many years it was known that sulphur in minute 

 quantities was utilized as plant food. The quantity ap- 

 parently was so small, however, that no provision was 

 made for supplying it in commercial fertilizers. It has 

 within recent years been determined that previous meth- 

 ods of analysis were incomplete and modern methods 

 brought to light the t:ict that leguminous crops, espe- 

 cially alfalfa and clover and members of the cabbage 

 family, were heavv feeders on sulphur and that its appli- 

 cation as a fertilizer to soils in the arid and semi-arid 

 districts proved highly beneficial to yields. 



Scientists on the staff of the Oregon State K.xperiment 

 Station began experimental work in 1912 and already it 

 has been learned that there are in that state approxi- 

 mately 100.000 acres growing alfalfa which will return 

 an increased yield of one ton per acre on an average, a 

 thirty per cent increase, from the addition of one hundred 

 pounds of flowers of sulphur. This single application 

 is sufTicient for three years in all districts and apparently 

 for four years in certain districts. 



No ill effects are noted in Oregon from the use of 

 sulphur, which might be expected to bring about an acid 

 condition in the soil. Freedom from acid conditions 

 is brought about bv the ].)revalence of lime in 



arid and semi-arid sods, there being ten times as much 

 lime in such soils as is the case under htunid con ■ 

 ditions. 



It is also believed that sulphur will also have an im- 

 portant eft'ect on Eastern agriculture. Many state ex- 

 periment stations in the East are now working on the 

 problem. In past years gypsum, a combination of lime 

 and sulphur, 15 per cent sulphur, was highly beneficial 

 to soils growing clover. This was attributed to the 

 stinmlating effect of the lime. After a few years of con- 

 tinuous application, the beneficial effects were lost. This 

 was believed to be due to acidity of the soil and such was 

 doubtless the case to some e.xtent. Professor F. C. 

 Reinier, of the Oregon Experiment Station, who carried 

 on the experiments there which are proving of so much 

 practical value, advances another probable occurrence, 

 the idea that since gypsum added only the sulphur and a 

 small amount of lime and at the same time stimulated 

 production to a great degree other limiting plant foods 

 Ixjcame exhausted to the point where production neces- 

 sarily diminished. He believes that if at this stage the 

 other elements had been supplied, the profitable returns 

 from gypsum would have been continued. This is a 

 basis upon which investigations in Eastern states 

 are being conducted. — F. L. B.\li,.\'rd, (Jregon State Col- 

 lege. 



TAMING THE WILD FRUITS 



.\11 of our culti\atcd fruits have been developed through years 

 or centuries of cuUivation from wild species. Grapes and apples 

 date from earliest history, but the grapes and apples as we know 

 them are much more palatable than the fruits of Bible times. 

 Peaches came into prominence among the Greeks and Romans ' 

 soon after the beginning of the Christian Era, and through gen- 

 erations of selection have been vastly improved. Oranges, 

 coming as they did from warmer climates, were known to the 

 Romans in the days of Caesar and Cicero, but they did not 

 possess the excellence of the Washington Navel or Valencia now- 

 grown. 



Much progress has been made in the improvement of some 

 kinds of fruits, but in the case of our native berries, such as the 

 blackberry, raspberry or dewberry, few cultivated varieties are 

 superior to wild forms. In very recent years attention has 

 been given to the cultivation of the native blueberry, with re- 

 sults that are highly pleasing, and from present indications the 

 blueberry is certain to soon be recognized as an important 

 fruit and possess a size several times that of the best wild 

 specimens. 



From the tropics now comes the avocado, a fruit that is gaining 

 popularity by leaps and bounds. Unlike the banana, pomegranate, 

 fig or orange, the avocado is neither sweet nor sour in taste. In- 

 stead, it is oily, like the olive, and from its size, shape and color 

 it has been dubbed the "alligator pear." The avocado is respond- 

 ing in a very gratifying manner to the influences of civilization, 

 as is evidenced by the general superiority of the recent named 

 varieties over the wild forms from Guatemala and the VVest 

 Indies. 



Much room for improvement still exists in all of our cultivated 

 fruits. Plant breeders are striving to improve peaches, apples, 

 pears, cranberries, oranges, grapefruits and others that have 

 been under cultivation lor many, many years, while the fruits of 

 more recent introduction, such as the everbearing strawberry, 

 blueberry and avocado are receiving the attention of skilled plant 

 breeders as well as of the amateur. 



Many wild fruits yet remain to feel the influence of civilization 

 and it is not to be doubted but that another generation will find 

 as commonplace many fruits that are entirely unknown today. — 

 Aiiicricaii Fruit Gron'cr. 



