b4 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



October 



the beds about ten days later without any 

 intervening transplanting. As soon as the 

 young plants show through the soil they 

 are given full sunlight and from then en 

 do not get any shade at all. They are 

 planted in solid beds. Our beds being a 

 little over five feet wide we set three rows 

 of plants, placing them alternately so that 

 the best use is made of the ground spaee. 

 The plants are trained to a single stem 

 secured to a bamboo until the overhead 

 wires are reached at 6 feet. Heie they are 

 allowed to develop two main laterals which 

 are trained along the wires. The side 

 shoots that come from the main stem, and 



the laterals, are pinched back to the first 

 leaf l)eyond the first fruit. As soon as 

 the wires are covered the ends of the 

 laterals are pinched back, as are all the 

 young hoots that break out from the lat- 

 erals, and when the vines are gi-owing vig- 

 orously this is an endless job as every joint 

 seems able to send out several shoots. 



AVhile the cucumber is not a staple art- 

 icle of food yet it is a profitable crop to 

 grow, as theie is a good demand for it at 

 good prices, and we think that with im- 

 proved varieties it will easily hold its own 

 with otlier greenhouse crops. 



Elementary Bacteriological Instruction in our 

 Public and High Schools 



By DAN H. JOXES, 

 Professor of Bacteriology. Ontario Agri- 

 cultural College, Guelph. 

 (Paper read at the National Public Health Crnvention. Toronto, May. 1921.) 



Bacteriology is the youngest of the na- 

 tural sciences. Though it is more than two 

 hundred years since Leeuwenhoeck first 

 observed and tentatively described certahi 

 unicellular microorganisms, it was not 

 until after the middle of the last century 

 that such minute forms of life were de- 

 monstrated to have any economic signifi- 

 cance. Then with the pioneer work of 

 Pasteur, Koch, Lister, Warrington, Beye» 

 rinck, AVinogradsky and others, it became 

 ap]iarent that human welfare was enorm- 

 ously influenced by their activities. It was 

 found that they were responsible for the 

 various infectious and contagious diseases 

 of man and animals; that they were the 

 agents of fermentation, putrefaction and 

 decay, inducing spoilage of food materials 

 not properly protected; that many species 

 were necessary in the soil to elaborate the 

 plant food for growing crops; that certain 

 very destructive i)lant diseases were due 

 to their ravages within the plant tissues; 

 that they were inseparably connected with 

 all forms of life, some being injurious t<> 

 life, others not only beneficial but absolu- 

 tely essential, either directly or indirectly. 

 Tbese were revolutionary truths, the dis- 

 ('over\- of wliicli. as tlie result of luoch jia- 



tient research work on the part of a small 

 but gradually increasing number of invest- 

 igators, resulted during the last thirt}' or 

 forty years in the establishment of the 

 science of bacteriology. As a result of 

 these labors there is now available a wealth 

 of valuable information regarding the nat- 

 ure, occurrence and significance of micro- 

 organisms. This information is imparted 

 in relatively small doses at certain of our 

 specialized higher educational institutions, 

 as for instance the medical, veterinary and 

 agricultural colleges and schools of hy- 

 giene. While, hoAvever, the pursuit of the 

 science of l)acteriology as a vocation will 

 necessarily always be the work of the spe- 

 cialist it is eminently desirable that not 

 only the relatively small number of indi- 

 viduals attending such institutions as above 

 mentioned should get some training in the 

 science, but that every member of the com- 

 munity should be tauglit a few at least of 

 the elementary but fundamental truths 

 which the science has demonstrated. 



Within the last few years something has 

 been done towards this end by occasitMial 

 articles in tlie daily papers, by the publica- 

 tion of circulai's and bulletins, by public 

 lectures and denionsti-titions, as for instance 



