E;XPIi;RIMENTS IN PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE. 2$ 



made concerning the location of buildings ; construction of walks 

 and drives; making of lawns; what, when and how to plant; 

 native trees and shrubs valuable for planting ; the best hardy 

 sorts to get from nurseries ; trees and shrubs tried and found 

 wanting. (Annual Report 1897, and Bui. 42 and 46.) 



P'RUIT GROWING. 



Fruit growing undoubtedly offers better opportunities than 

 any other line of commercial horticulture in Maine, and its 

 increasing importance demands more special attention on the 

 part of the Experiment Station in the future. From the nature 

 of the case, results are necessarily slow ; but a large amount of 

 work has been done, and partial reports have been made. 

 Briefly summarized, the following statement indicates the nature 

 and scope of this work : 



Since 1890 the Station has had under observation, both at the 

 home orchard and in northern Maine, hardy fruits from Russia 

 and from the Northwest. All of these varieties are hardy and 

 most of them are productive ; very few of them, however, are 

 worthy of general dissemination in those parts of Maine where 

 the well known varieties of English and American origin will 

 thrive. In the extreme northern part of the State some of them 

 are valuable, and a few are worthy of culture under any con- 

 ditions. (See Annual Reports, 1891, '92, '96, and Bulletin 82.) 



Many fruits of unknown, or of doubtful value in this State, 

 are sold by agents every year. For the information of growers, 

 a catalogue of the leading sorts was prepared with a statement 

 as to their character, quality and value for home use or for mar- 

 ket, both for the northern and for the southern counties. (Annual 

 Report 1893 and Bulletin 6.) 



For a stud}^ of the comparative eft'ect of cultivation and 

 mulching, as well as for experiments with fertilizers, a young 

 orchard in Kennebec county was selected in 1898. In the same 

 region an old orchard is the basis of work in orchard renovation ; 

 and more recently another young orchard has been chosen for 

 experiments in top-grafting. Studies in the use of cover crops 

 are made in the Station orchard at Orono, and in orchards in 

 other sections of the State. From data thus far published, it is 

 found that, in the case of the Gravensteins, the number of trees 

 producing some fruit was nearly 50 per cent greater on the culti- 



