October 7, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



477 



plants ever made. Every other year I have prepared a frame 

 in a partly shaded position out-doors, and watched them very 

 carefully. This year, for lack of time and convenience at the 

 right time, they were left, just after final potting, on the north 

 bench of a greenhouse, and seeing they commenced at once 

 to grow nicely I left them there, and they are doing admirably. 

 My gardening acquaintances say the plants would have done 

 better in a frame. I reply, " Nothing succeeds like success." 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Hollyhock Diseases.— The Hollyhock has suffered for the past 

 few seasons from at least three fungal diseases. There is 

 the leaf-spot fungus, Cercospora althaina, Sacc, that is wide- 

 spread and very destructive, particularly to the foliage in early 

 summer, causing it to become covered with dead specks, 

 from the size of a pin's head to that of a pea, and frequently 

 entirely defoliating the stems about the time the blossoms 

 should appear. The Hollyhock rust, Puccinia malvacearum, 

 Mont., while comparatively new to this country, is spreading 

 rapidly throughout the whole United States. This develops 

 upon leaves, petioles and stems, causing all parts to sicken 

 and die. Still more recently found is the leaf-blight, Colleto- 

 trichum malvarum (B. and C), South, but it is making its 

 presence felt in the propagating bed, where it ruins foliage 

 and stems, and is preventing many growers from raising the 

 Hollyhock. Last of all, and the form about which this note is 

 particularly written, is a second form of leaf-spot, Phyllosticta 

 althceina, Sacc, entirely different from the first one mentioned, 

 in general appearance as well as in microscopic structure. The 

 only place in American publications where the species is 

 mentioned is in the Journal of Mico logy, where, under Septoria 

 Fairtnani, E. and E. — which, by the way, is the fifth and last 

 injurious fungus of the Hollyhock found in this country — Mr. 

 Ellis states that on the same leaves was a Phyllosticta which 

 agrees well with Phyllosticta althceina, Sacc. This species 

 occurs in northern Italy and France, and it would be interest- 

 ing to know how this pest found its way across the sea, pro- 

 vided it is not a native here upon some one or more of our 

 wild Mallows or Mallow-like plants. This leaf-spot is quickly 

 recognized by the naked eye by the large brown patches, an 

 inch or more in diameter, upon the leaves, the centres of 

 which are usually broken away, thus presenting large ragged 

 holes and a dilapidated appearance. , 



Rutgers College. Byron D. Hals ted. 



Recent Publications. 



THE latest bulletin issued by the Horticultural Department 

 of the Census Bureau relates to seed-farms, and has been 

 prepared by Mr. J. H. Hale. Seed-production, as a business, 

 has been carried on in this country for more than a century, 

 although before the year 1800 there were but two seed-farms 

 in America, one established in Philadelphia in 1784, and the 

 other at Enfield, New Hampshire, in 1795. In 1820 there were 

 but three such farms, and in 1830 there were but six, and of 

 the 596 that were reported during the census year, containing 

 a total of 169,851 acres, more than one-half had been started 

 since 1870. These 596 farms are devoted exclusively to seed- 

 production, but besides them there are many test-gardens and 

 farms, which are conducted by extensive dealers in seeds, 

 where new and old varieties are grown side by side for pur- 

 poses of comparison. In such farms, too, are tested all the 

 seeds handled by the dealers who import their supplies or 

 contract with farmers in favored sections of this country to 

 grow such varieties of seed as are adapted to their particular 

 locality. Besides this, there are many farmers who grow one 

 or more varieties of seeds every year in connection with other 

 farming operations, so that their product has not passed into 

 record. This means that the total amount of garden-seeds pro- 

 duced in the United States is much greater than is shown in 

 this bulletin as the productions of the seed-farms proper. One 

 dealer, for example, reports that he supplies farmers annually 

 with 1,000 bushels of peas and 2,000 bushels of beans for 

 planting, and then buys back all the seeds that can be grown 

 from this stock, or about 10,000 bushels each of peas and 

 beans. This is only one of many contracts, so that it is plain 

 that the garden-seed business on this basis has become an im- 

 portant feature in the agriculture of the country. It should be 

 remembered, also, that most of the seed of grains, cotton, 

 tobacco and staple crops of this sort, which are used upon the 

 farm, is either of home or neighborhood production, where it 

 can be readily exchanged for other products. In nearly every 

 other county, however, there are one or more farmers who, 

 by careful selection of seed stocks and better methods of cul- 

 tivation, secure greater returns than their neighbors, and are 



able to dispose of part of their productions for seed purposes 

 at advanced rates. Of course, these men are not classed as 

 seed-farmers, and it would be hardly possible to estimate what 

 proportion of their crops are sold for seed, and yet Mr. Hale 

 assumes that one-third of all the small grains, corn, potatoes, 

 tobacco and cotton seed planted in the country is produced 

 in this way. Besides, there is annually sold for seed more 

 than a million bushels of selected grains of standard varieties, 

 very little of which is produced on the regular seed-farms, and 

 the same is true of Grass-seeds, which are produced in enor- 

 mous quantity in many of the states. 



Nearly one-half of the seed-farms are in the north Atlantic 

 division and they average 185 acres each, while in the north 

 central division there are 1 57 farms, with an average of 555 acres 

 each. The seed-farms of Massachusetts and Connecticut aver- 

 age 142 acres each, while those of Iowa and Nebraska average 

 nearly 700 acres in extent, and several of these farms embrace 

 nearly 3,000 acres each. Some of the details of the tables are 

 interesting, as, for example, those giving the yield per acre of 

 the different varieties of seeds. In several states beet-seed is 

 produced at the rate of 1,000 pounds and even more to the 

 acre, and in Nebraska it is reported that Asparagus will yield 

 800 pounds to the acre. Cauliflower is reported as yielding 

 less than 100 pounds. Lettuce averages less than 200 pounds. 

 Onions range from 200 to 600 pounds. Rhubarb from forty to 

 fifty pounds. The prices per pound at wholesale are averages 

 from the reports sent in by the majority of the seed-growers 

 in each state, and as most of the crop is delivered to contrac- 

 tors or dealers who supply the wholesale trade these prices 

 are below the market rates, even in commercial centres, and 

 yet there are striking variations in different localities. It is 

 singular that the price of seeds in Massachusetts is much in 

 excess of that paid to seed-farmers in other states, and aver- 

 ages at least twice as much as the prices in any of the states 

 which border upon it. One reason assigned for this is, that 

 one of the largest growers in that state is a dealer, and dis- 

 poses of most of his stock directly to planters, and thus secures 

 a somewhat higher price ; and a second reason is, that many 

 of the most successful gardeners of that state are afraid to risk 

 their success on seeds of unknown origin and are, therefore, 

 willing to pay higher prices to the neighboring seed-farmers 

 who grow their choice seeds from selected stock. 



It is stated that there is a feeling of depression among seed- 

 growers. They made exceptionally large profits in the busi- 

 ness up to the year 1883, and under the stimulus of these 

 prices more seed-farms were established than have been able 

 to find a profitable market since that date. The general feel- 

 ing now is that there must be an advance of prices, or else 

 methods of production must be improved, so that a greater 

 yield can be secured at less cost of labor. 



-II. 



Pomology. 



Meeting of the American Pomological Society. 



IN continuing the report of the meeting of the Pomo- 

 logical Society in Washington it ought to be said that 

 the intermingling of discussions and essays on widely dif- 

 ferent phases of Pomology helped to sustain an interest in 

 the sessions which did not flag until the final adjourn- 

 ment. Perhaps more time was devoted to the scientific 

 aspects of Pomology than to what may be termed its prac- 

 tical and commercial aspects, but every day the programme 

 had something to stimulate thought and arouse the atten- 

 tion not only of the men whose activities find exercise in 

 the nursery or orchard, but also of the trained investigators 

 in colleges and the experiment stations, who are studying 

 more profound problems. The most entertaining discus- 

 sion followed an address by Mr. Meehan on the " Influence 

 of Heredity and Environment in the Origination of New 

 Fruits." Mr. Meehan spoke without notes for half an hour 

 very forcibly to prove the baselessness of the notion that 

 any change in varieties could be produced by their sur- 

 roundings, and he fortified his arguments with a wealth of 

 illustrations drawn from human history as well as from 

 plants and animals under domestication. Dr. Riley at- 

 tacked the position of Mr. Meehan with great vigor, and 

 Professor Bailey added that he was unwilling to allow it to 

 be placed on record that the American Pomological Society 

 held heterodox opinions on so capital a point, and cited 

 numerous examples of variation in plants which he at- 



