Experiment Department. 



Bulletins during the year have been published on the fol- 

 lowing subjects : — 



Report on the comparative tests of varieties of small fruits : 

 Ninety-six varieties of strawberries, of which the following 

 seemed to give most promise of value for home use or for 

 market: Beder Wood, Belmont, Bubach No. o, Edgar Queen, 

 Haverland, Martha, Parker Earle, Parmenter's Seedling, Seed- 

 ling No. 24 and Wolverton ; twelve varieties of red and fifteen 

 varieties of black-cap raspberries ; thirteen varieties of blackber- 

 ries ; one hundred and fifteen varieties of grapes, of which the fol- 

 lowing were recommended for New England growth : Berckman's, 

 Brighton, Concord, Delaware, lona, Lindley (Rogers No. 9), 

 Moore's Early, Winchell (Green Mountain) and Worden. 



Report on the use of fungicides and insecticides for the grape, 

 peach, plum, pear, apple, potato and black or Italian poplar. 



Report on insects, containing brief histories of the canker-worm, 

 the apple-tree tent-caterpillar, fall web-worm and the tussock 

 moth, with directions for their destruction. 



Of special interest was a series of experiments conducted 

 by the meteorological division in electro-culture. The results 

 obtained would seem to be in every particular identical with 

 those recently published by Professor Chodat of Geneva. 

 Of two lots of seeds planted under the same conditions of 

 moisture, temperature and soil, those under the influence of 

 electricity germinated earlier, and there w^as a marked diflfer- 

 ence at first in the superior vigor of their stems, leaves and 

 roots. But in a short time the non-electrified plants seemed 

 to overtake them, and the diflference in foliage was not ap- 

 preciable to the eye. The crops, however, diflered materi- 

 ally ; those subjected to the influence of electricity being 

 larger, heavier and diflfering in form. The experiments con- 

 ducted here, at Geneva and St. Petersburg would seem to 

 bear out the conclusions that the use of electricity forwards 

 germination, growth in length and increase of size and 

 weight. 



