EXPERIMENT STATIONS- 217 



Woodruff Bed. Anew red grape. Vine vigorous, healthy and hardy; 

 hunches small; berries large, bright red, with a beautiful bloom; flesh 

 foxy, pulpy and sweet. We have fruited it but one season. I think it of 

 too poor quality to pay for planting. 



Wyoming Red. Vine vigorous, hardy and healthy, but only moderately 

 productive with us; bunches small to medium in size, compact; berries 

 medium size, bright red; flesh sweet, pulpy, quite foxy, but it is very 

 good for such an early variety. It is said to be growing in favor in the 

 East as a very early red grape, and is well worthy of trial by vineyardists 

 here. 



Varieties planted at the experiment station that have not yet fruited; 

 Eaton. Dracut Amber. Poughkeepsie Eed. 



Herman Jaeger. Rommel. Peter Wylie. 



G. W. Campbell. Brilliant. Ebony. 



Atavite. Red Bird. Monitor. 



Solin Crup. Tbeophile. Marie Louise. 



Illinois City. Bertha. Dr. Warder. 



Emma. "Witt. Nectar. 



Rockford. Mills. Triumph. 



Colerain. Early Ohio. Geneva. 



EVERGREEN SEEDLINGS. 



The work of raising coniferous evergreen seedlings, referred to a year 

 ago, has been continued the past season. Further work shows the great 

 superiority of a sun screen, that is high above the bed and allows for a 

 good circulation of air underneath it, over a low screen. This was one of 

 the worst of seasons for "damping off'' in the seed bed, yet under screens 

 six feet above the bed, such as I have recommended for shading straw- 

 berries, there has been almost no loss at all. 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN EVERGREENS. 



After a careful study of these very beautiful and useful evergreens, I 

 have commenced raising the following kinds from seed obtained from 

 high altitudes on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains: 



Heavy-wooded or Bull Pine (Pinus ponderous), Colorado Blue Spruce 

 (Pica pungens), Engleman's Spruce {Picea Engelmanii), Abies concolor 

 Douglas Spruce. {Pseudosaga taxifolia) and Mountain Balsam (Abies siib- 

 alpina.) 



Experiments of minor importance whicli have been completed or are in 

 progress are: 



Variety tests with 21 kinds of tomatoes; variety tests with 50 kinds 

 of potatoes; variety tests with 26 kinds of sweet corn; variety tests 

 with 20 kinds of garden peas: experiments in grafting grapes; experi- 

 ments to demonstrate the effect, if any, of electricity on plant growth 

 when applied to the soil; experiments in shading of strawberry beds to 

 increase the certainty and amount of the crop; experiments with rais- 

 ing sand cherries from seed with the object of producing improved fruit. 

 (In conducting this work over 4O0O sand cherry seedlings have been raised, 

 and I consider the work of great promise.) Experiments with raspberry, 

 strawberry, grape and gooseberry seedlings, the object being to produce 

 kinds of these fruits that are better adapted to our conditions than 

 any we now have. In conducting this work over 5,000 seedlings of these 

 fruits have been raised. 



