191 1.] Summary of Agricultural Experiments. 247 



the dominant factor in determining the quality of a cider is the quality 

 of the fruit, the importance of the factors which cause these differ- 

 ences in the quality of the fruit is evident, and an investigation of them 

 is being carried out. Among the most important of these factors 

 are soil, climate, the vigour of the tree, and ripeness. 



Influence of Grass on Fruit Trees (National Fruit and Cider Inst., 

 Report, 1909). — The injurious effect of grass growing round fruit trees 

 is well established, but an experiment has been begun to ascertain 

 whether the gain in growth is sufficient to pay for the labour necessary to 

 keep an area round each tree free from grass. Circles of 9 ft. and 6 ft. 

 in diameter have been kept free from grass round the stems of apple trees 

 of eight varieties since planting, and the effect produced has been 

 measured by the diameter of the stems. The most interesting feature 

 at present is that the advantage of the 9 ft. area over the 6 ft. area 

 was almost entirely in the first two years that measurements were taken, 

 i.e., the third and fourth years after planting. Each year there has 

 been an appreciable gain with both free areas over the trees planted in 

 grass land, but in the fifth and sixth years after planting it has only been 

 enough to justify the labour of keeping the smaller area free. This 

 leads to the suggestion that instead of planting directly in grass land, 

 as is customary, the better plan may prove to be to plant in cultivated 

 land, which may afterwards be sown to grass, since apparently it is 

 during the first season or two after planting that the tree reaps most 

 benefit from the absence of grass in its proximity. 



Young or Old Trees for Planting (National Fruit and Cider Institute, 

 Report, 1909). — From the trees that were used in the above experiment, 

 some conclusions are drawn as to the amount of loss in growth that 

 results from planting large trees, up to seven or eight years old 

 from the time of grafting. The trees ranged from three to seven or 

 eight years old when planted. No measurements were made until 

 1906, two years after planting, but it may be assumed that the larger 

 trees at that time were larger when planted, the difference in most 

 cases being considerable. The percentage growths made by 1909 are 

 given in the report, and it is shown that in nearly all cases the best 

 growths were made by the trees that were smallest in 1906, and therefore 

 presumably at planting. The significance of the results is increased 

 by the fact that the older trees were varieties that are usually the 

 strongest growers at the Institute, while the younger ones, which made 

 the best growth, are the weakest growers there. 



Strawberry Runner Experiments (National Fruit and Cider Institute, 

 Report, 1909.) — These trials were started in 1906, and have now 

 been completed. The "first" runner is the first produced from 

 the parent plant on a given stem, and the "second" is the next pro- 

 duced on the same stem. A larger yield has been obtained from the 

 firsts in all three years 1907-9, and the difference in the last year was 

 more pronounced than in either of the two previous years, so that the 

 result is not merely on account of the "seconds," which, as might be 

 expected, were more backward at the start, taking longer to reach 

 full vigour. The total crop for the three years with five different 

 varieties of strawberries was 1,517 lb. from "first" runners, and 1,207 

 lb. from "second" runners. Taking the varieties separately, President 

 gave the greatest difference; while Royal Sovereign and Latest of All 



