1 8 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No 492 



the spectroscope unequivocal evidence of the presence of 

 aqueous vapor." 



The idea that vpater exists on Mars is supported by the 

 fact that white patches are seen on the poles, and that these 

 vary in size with variations of inclination of the axis toward 

 the sun. The white area is now well seen at this observa- 

 tory on one of the poles. So rapid has been the advance in 

 celestial photography, and in spectroscopy, and also in the 

 size of telescopic objectives during the last 15 years, that 

 without doubt much additional knowledge of Mars will be 

 gained in August. 



Knox College Obserratory, Galesburg, 111., July 1. 



CROSS-FERTILIZING AND HYBRIDIZING. 



The following excellent suggestions are from the emi- 

 nent horticulturist. Professor T. J. Burrill, of the Illinois 

 experiment station. The subject is one calling for the co- 

 operation of farmers and fruit growers everywhere with the 

 experiment stations, for where nature has laid the founda- 

 tion for improvement by giving us such a wild seedling as 

 the Concord grape, that should be made the basis for further 

 work. 



Cross-fertilizing and hybridizing have been carried on to 

 some extent, both for the effects of crossing and for the pur- 

 pose of producing, if possible, new varieties of value. A 

 number of crosses have been made in the apple, as for in- 

 stance, between Ben Davis and Grimes, Ben Davis and 

 Minkler, or Ben Davis and Duchess, with a view of getting 

 something that will bear like the Ben Davis, but have the 

 better quality of Grimes or Minkler, having the keeping 

 quality of Ben Davis and the hardiness of tree of the Duch- 

 ess. Different varieties of strawberries have been crossed, 

 and plants are growing from the crossed seed. Blackberry 

 varieties have been crossed, seeds planted, and plants are 

 growing. Raspberries have been crossed — black varieties 

 together, red varieties together, black with red, and black- 

 berries with raspberries. We have now ready for planting 

 more than a quart of seed from crossed raspberry and black- 

 berry, or from selected varieties. 



Results are problematical, but there is certainly great 

 room for improvement in our blackberries and raspberries. 

 There is entirely too much seed for the amount of flesh. 

 When we consider that our apples originated from a crab in 

 no way superior to many of our own native wild crabs, and 

 the excellence that has been developed by cultivation and 

 selection, what may we not expect from our raspberries and 

 blackberries, which are so much better naturally ? We have 

 only begun with the raspberry and blackberry group of plants. 

 I believe none of the blackberries or dewberries now cultivated 

 are the result of growing plants from seed, but that all are the 

 result of propagating natural seedlings, and it is not at all 

 certain that we have yet the best of the wild varieties. Most 

 of our raspberries are the result of chance. 



During the past three seasons some work has been done 

 in the line of crossing and selecting corn. The results seem 

 to indicate that corn grown from crossing two distinct varie- 

 ties will be larger than the average of the kinds crossed, or 

 where the parents are nearly equal in value. To be sure, 

 nothing has yet been reported in that line, though there 

 would seem to have been abundant time for seedlings to 

 have been grown. If the results of our crosses in corn are 

 to serve as an index, we might expect to find in a second or 

 third generation fruit of the Vinifera type on vines of the 



Labrusca. There is a great difference in the susceptibility 

 of fruits to the influence of man. Our grapes have had 

 more time spent on them, extending over a longer period, 

 than have our strawberries; yet the results from grapes are 

 hardly to be compared with the results from strawberries. 



A small start has been made in the growth of nuts. The 

 attempts at improvement heretofore have been confined 

 almost exclusively to the pecan and chestnut. Attempts at 

 improvement by growing seedlings from the best native 

 trees have usually been a disappointment, because the seed- 

 lings have been inferior to the tree from which seed was 

 taken, just as 999 of every 1,000 seedlings grown from the 

 Concord grape have been so inferior to the parent as to be 

 unworthy of general distribution. But it must be remem- 

 bered that while there are comparatively few chances for 

 improvement by growing seedlings there are none from 

 simply budding or grafting. 



The filbert and walnut of Europe are too tender for our 

 climate. Why may not our hazel nut and walnut be im- 

 proved so as to take their places, and be made valuable crops 

 for the rough lands along our streams ? 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



An interesting feature has been added to the first United 

 States Food Exhibition, to be held at Madison Square Garden, 

 New York, in October next, in the way of a national exhibit of 

 dairy products. This department will be in charge of Professor 

 James Cheesman, who represented the dairy interests of the 

 United States at the late Paris Exposition. Professor Cheesman 

 has a wide reputation as a dairy expert and as an authority ou all 

 matters pertaining to the dairy interests. This part of the expo- 

 sition promises to be one of its most popular features. 



— The Journal de Colmar of June 19 says : The president of 

 the committee entrusted with the erection of a monument to 

 Hirn has received a letter from the maire of Strasburg, in which 

 he makes the following statement : " I have the pleasure of an- 

 nouncing that, upon the receipt of your letter of the 33d, relative 

 to the participation of the city of Strasburg in the election of a 

 monument to M. Gr. A. Hirn, the municipal council has deter- 

 mined to contribute to this work the sum of 800 marks. I have 

 ordered this amount to be credited to you, and it may be obtained 

 from the municipal collector, who will transfer it to the treasurer 

 of the committee, M. Baer. I trust that the example of Stras- 

 burg will find many imitators." 



— Cornell University closed the college year 1891-2 on June 16, 

 conferring above 300 degrees, of which about one-half were in 

 scientific and technical courses, and a large number of which were 

 the higher degrees. The graduating class was the largest in the 

 history of the University, and is said to have been the strongest. 

 The year terminates the connection of a number of the members 

 of the faculty with the university, and this fact and the antici- 

 pated growtli for the coming year will render it necessary to ap- 

 point a still larger number of new professors and instructors. 

 The indications, judging from the numbers entering at the June 

 examinations, are said to point to an entering class in September 

 of not far from 500, and of probably fifteen or twenty per cent 

 more in the upper classes and as graduate students, making a 

 probable total of about 1,600 in all departments and classes. Sib- 

 ley College, with its special and graduate schools and depart- 

 ments in mechanical engineering, will prepare for a total of 635 

 students, a hundred more than in 1891-3. In addition to new 

 appointments already made, it is expected that professorships will 

 be filled in geology, chemistry, and possibly one or two other 

 subjects; also a number of assistant professorships and many 

 instructorships in all departments, including physics, engineering, 

 and mechanic arts. The appointments in scientific departments 

 are usually such as demand familiarity with laboratory instruc- 

 tion, especially in electricity and mechanics. 



