180 



THE CANADIAN HOR'nCULTDRIST. 



and Economic Relations of the Sorghum 

 Sugar Industry, being a Report made 

 in responses to a request from the 

 Hon. George B. Loring, U. S. Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture." The com- 

 mittee consists of Prof Bremer, of 

 Yale, Prof. Chandler, of Columbia, 

 Prof Johnson, of Yale, Prof. Silliman, 

 of Yale, Prof. Smith, of Louisville, and 

 Dr. G. E. Moore, of New York. 



The report shows clearly that essen- 

 tially the two points on which success 

 depends are maturity of the cane, and 

 prompt correctness in working. With 

 these, sugar from a field of sorghum can 

 be as surely and safely expected as from 

 a like field of sugar cane, and with per- 

 haps fully as great a return. — Scientific 

 American. 



PREPARING FRUIT FOR MARKET. 



In packing peaches, the first point 

 should be to assort them, making as 

 many grades as the condition of the 

 fruit requires. When brought to the 

 packing shed, the fruit is at once thinly 

 spread in the shade, in order that it 

 may cool as much as possible. In as- 

 sorting, any that are at all soft are put 

 aside, to be left at home ; then two or 

 three qualities, extras, firsts and sec- 

 onds, are made, and with the best 

 growers, the packages of each are alike 

 all through. It is allowable to turn 

 the colored sides of the top layer upper- 

 most, in order that the fruit may appear 

 i\t its best, but not to select large speci- 

 mens for the top layer. Those who 

 send peaches to market for the first 

 time, will find it to their advantage to 

 observe this rule. In packing grapes 

 foi- market, the box is opened at the 

 bottom, tine large bunches a)"(5 laid in 

 and the box filled up with smaller 

 bunches. This is done in order that 

 the fruit, when the top is taken off, 

 may present a good appeai-ance, and if 

 the filling is done with good fruit, even 



if not the most select, there is no harm 

 done. But if, as is sometimes the case, 

 poorly-ripened fruit, and even loose 

 berries are used to fill up, the grower 

 will in time find that his brand is not 

 in demand in the market. The friiit- 

 grower, who expects to continue in the 

 business, can not afford to pack his 

 fruit dishonestly. — American Agricul- 

 turist/or August. 



SEED BREEDING. 

 N. Y. Aqricultltrai, Expkriment Station, 

 Geneva, N. Y., July 7th, 1883. 



The fundamental principles of repro- 

 duction seem alike in the animal and 

 vegetable kingdom. In both, the 

 mystery of life ; in both, accretion 

 through cell multiplication ; in V)oth, 

 changes of form as arising from imme- 

 diate heredity and as governed by en- 

 vironment. In our domesticated plants, 

 as in our domesticated animals, we 

 have the male and the female element 

 of varying potency whose union is pro- 

 ductive of the new individual. Both 

 classes are alike influenced by the con- 

 ditions described under ihe term, selec- 

 tion. We can, hence, speak of breed- 

 ing the plant as legitimately as we can 

 speak of breeding the animal. We 

 may also use the term, pedigree, as 

 applied to improved forms of plants, 

 as legitimately as we can use the term, 

 pedigree, as applied to the improved 

 forms of animals. As in our domesti- 

 cated animals, improvement is brought 

 about through that systematic mating 

 and selection which constitutes pedi- 

 gree, so the same system in bur do- 

 mesticated plants will avail to produce 

 an improvement which may be describ- 

 ed in the same terms. If a pedigreed 

 animal is superior in value on account 

 of the conditions which allow this term 

 to apply, then a j^edigreed plant must 

 necessarily possess superior value over 

 the plant which has been developed only 

 through unsystematic effort. As the 



