58 



BOOKS AND BULLETINS. 



health is concerned, A gratifying incidental result of 

 the experiment is to the effect that one vineyard of some- 

 what over an acre in extent yielded S674.30 per acre, 

 after deducting the expenses of harvesting, shipping and 

 commissions. 



Professor Chester's general conclusions are as follows • 

 "(i) In cases where vineyards have become seriously 

 affected by disease, so that it is necessary to use heroic 

 measures, the Bordeaux mixture or the carbonate of 

 copper in suspension in water, with glue, offer the most 

 promising results. The latter, on account of its cheap- 

 ness, has points in its favor. (2) The carbonate of cop- 

 per and carbonate of ammonia mixture is to be pre- 

 ferred to the ammoniated carbonate of copper, and may 

 be used for the last application where the Bordeaux 

 mixture is previously applied, in order to overcome the 

 necessity of washing the fruit, or it may be used with 

 the winter treatment for all applications in vineyards in 

 which the rot has been reduced to a minimum by one 

 or two years' treatment with stronger fungicides. (3) 

 The modified eau celeste and mixture No. 5, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture, are effective fungicides, but on 



account of their tendency to scorch the 

 Professor foliage, are open to objection. (4) 



Chester's Where the Bordeaux mixture is used. 



Conclusions. the last application with this mixture 



should be made lightly, and the final 

 application should be made with either the carbonate of 

 copper and carbonate of ammonia mixture, or with the 

 modified eau celeste. (5) In using the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture it is not necessary to plaster the vines ; one gallon 

 to every five vines of average size is sufficient. (6) The 

 cost of application where the Bordeaux mixture is used 

 need not exceed three cents per vine for the season, and 

 with greater economy in the use of the material, this can 

 be reduced. (7) By the use of the carbonate of copper 

 in water, the cost of treatment can be diminished about 

 one-half ; but as this item is small compared with the 

 value of the fruit, it is questionable whether it would be 

 justifiable to select the cheaper mixture, until further ex- 

 periments have been made. (8) Complete annihilation 

 of rot in a vineyard cannot be expected from one years' 

 treatment, but may be assured as a result of persistent 

 effort. (9) Anthracnose can be controlled with either 

 the Bordeaux mixture or the precipitated carbonate of 

 copper. (10) The nozzle to be used in applying fungi- 

 cides should throw a misty spray, and the nearer it ap- 

 proaches this the better. [Recommends Galloway's new 

 lance nozzle.] (11) Wet every part of the vine, but 

 avoid unnecessary waste of material. (12) The pump 

 should have the parts that come in contact with the 

 fungicides made of brass, and should give a strong and 

 steady pressure. (13) The receptacle for holding the 

 fungicide should be of liberal size, and should be drawn 

 by a horse. (14) For diseases of the grape, spray the 

 vines before the buds swell with a solution of sulphate 

 of copper, one pound of the sulphate to twenty gallons 

 of water. Make the first application in the middle of 

 May, then every two weeks for five or six applications." 



Bulletin No. 7, Vol. Ill, Ohio Experiment Station. 

 Strawberries, Raspberries. By Wni. J. Green. Pp. 16. 

 The best small fruit report which has been made by an 

 experiment station is Mr. Green's report on strawberries 

 in this bulletin. If such investigations as this should be 

 applied to the study of varieties, complaint could not be 

 made that testing varieties is unprofitable. 

 Mr. Green hopes that "variety testing, as A Good 



commonly understood, may be largely dis- Strawberry, 

 continued." The author discusses the es- 

 sentials of a good strawberry, and he thinks that they 

 are as follows : ' ' To meet the wants of strawberry grow- 

 ers, a variety ought to have sufficient health and vigor 

 to adapt itself to widely varying conditions, and to pos- 

 sess one or more marked characteristics. It is not worth 

 while to seek to find varieties that are adapted to partic- 

 ular soils, since varieties that have a limited range are 

 generally found to be variable and untrustworthy. The 

 most valuable varieties are the least variable, and are 

 easily suited as to soil and climate." 



What Relation do Length of Bearing Season and Frtiit- 

 fulness bear to each other ? — "If varieties of strawberries 

 are separated into two classes, viz : those that continue 

 a long time in bearing, and those that have a short sea- 

 son, it will be found that the most prolific fall into the 

 first class, and the least productive into the second. It 

 is also true, in general, that the greater the number of 

 pickings during the season, the greater the total product. 

 It might seem that the aggregate 



crop would depend as much or Seasons of 



more upon the quantity of fruit the Strawberry 

 ripe at each picking, as upon the and Fruitfulness. 



number of pickings. It would also 



seem that varieties which ripen slowly would be more in 

 danger of dry weather or other unfavorable causes than 

 those that yield their crop in a short time ; but such 

 does not appear to be the fact. A short strawberry 

 season means a short crop, whether varieties are con- 

 sidered individually or in the aggregate, and the con- 

 verse is equally true. A variety that gives three pick- 

 ings during the season will yield about half as large a 

 crop as one that gives six. 



"These generalizations refer particularly to varieties 

 that have well-fixed characteristics. Some of the vari- 

 able varieties may, in many cases, appear to be excep- 

 tions. There are also varieties that have neither a long 

 nor a short season, hence can hardly be classified. All 

 things considered, the long season varieties are more sure 

 and profitable than those that continue but a short time 

 in bearing, and yield comparatively few pickings." 



How do Early and Late compare with Meditiin Varieties 

 in Fruitfulness ? — " Nearly all of the very early varieties 

 continue but a short time in bearing, 

 give comparatively few pickings, and Early and Late 

 produce light crops. The same is Strawberries, 

 true, in a more marked degree, of the 

 extremely late ripening sorts. The effect is the same as 

 though the last pickings of the early varieties, and the 

 first of the late had been destroyed. Both early and 



