276 CROP GROWIXG AXD CROP FEEDING 



house is heated by steam from a boiler that heats all the Station buildings 

 with a pressure of five pounds The steam enters the house, passes over- 

 head to the further end and then returns in pipes under the benches. Venti- 

 lation is by a continuous line of ventilating sashes along the south side, 

 hinged at the top. North and south walls are both solid (without glass). 

 The front wall is twenty-one inches above the top of the bench, and the back 

 wall thirty-eight inches. 



The experiments were made on the centre bench of the house at the east 

 end section. This bench is nine inches deep, with a bottom of six inch boards 

 laid three-fourths of an inch apart for drainage, the cracks being covered 

 with coarse peat so that none of the soil could escape. Five plats were made, 

 each three feet six and one-half inches by three feet eleven inches, having an 

 area of 13.87 square feet. The soil was filled in to the depth of eight inches, 

 leaving room for settling after watering, and six plants were set in each plat. 

 "The soil for each plat was separately mixed, as follows: 300 pounds of 

 anthracite coal ashes, sifted to pass a wire screen with four meshes to the 

 inch, were spread on a cement floor, and 9 pounds of peat moss, such as is 

 sold in the cities for stable bedding, screened like the ashes, were scattered 

 over them. To these were added three and a half ounces of precipitated 

 carbonate of lime, to neutralize a slight acidity of the peat and give to the 

 whole a mild alkaline reaction. These materials were shoveled over twice 

 carefully and then spread as before. 



"The fertilizers designed for the plat were sprinkled over this mixture 

 and the whole carefully shovelled over twice again, to secure as perfect a mix- 

 ture as possible of fertilizers and soil, and then carried in a hand barrow to 

 the designated plat in the forcing house. 



"The north bench in the same division of the house was filled with a rich 

 soil prepared by composting good thick turf with one-third its bulk of stable 

 manure. Plants were set in this bench mainly to make a rough comparison 

 between crops grown on the two radically different soils. The exposure of the 

 two benches is slightly different, that of the north bench being, perhaps, some- 

 what less favorable as regards light. 



"Three varieties were used: Ignotum, Acme and Dwarf Champion, two 

 plants of each variety being set in each plat, and all receiving the same treat- 

 ment. The method of training adopted was the single stem system, which 

 has been successfully used at the New York Cornell Station. By this system 

 plants can be set closer, and while the yield may be much less per plant than 

 under other systems of training, it is as large or larger per square foot of 

 bench area devoted to the crop. The plants blossomed soon after setting. 

 The first pollenating was done January 5th. Pollenation was effected by 



