NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



487 



This paper treats of the different strains of peanut, of the equip- 

 ment of the factory, of roasting, blanching, grinding, blending, bottling, 

 and packing. — M. L. H. 



Pear Culture in the Prairie Northwest. By C. G. Patten (U.S.A. 

 Hort. Soc, Iowa, Ann. Rep. 1912 ; pp. 160-164; 1 photo). — It is 

 stated that not one variety of the old lists, whether they originated 

 in England, France, Belgium, or the United States, can long endure 

 the coldest winters or hottest summers in the northwest. The writer 

 claims to have obtained a strain or race of hardy pears by natural 

 crosses or inbreeding of the ' Longworth,' ' Seckle,' and ' Chinese Sond 1 ; 

 also by crosses of ' Keiffer ' and ' Winter Nelis,' ' Russian No. 15/ and 

 'Anjou,' and others ; and he expects that this new race will provide 

 stocks on which such pears as 'Winter Nelis/ ' Flemish Beauty,' 

 ' Seckle,' &c, can be grown with fair success in a climate where the 

 winter temperature falls 30 0 to 40 0 below zero. — A. P. 



Peat and Muck Soils. By J. A. Bonsteel (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., 

 Bur. of Soils, Circ. 65 ; Aug. 20, 1912).— It is computed that there 

 is still an area of probably 15,000,000 acres in the Eastern United 

 States of unreclaimed deposits of what is called muck and peat. Both 

 these types of soil are formed in the same way, by the disintegration 

 of vegetable matter in swampy low-lying positions in comparatively 

 cool climates. The writer confesses that it is difficult to draw a 

 distinct line of difference between muck and peat, which may even 

 occur with intermediate grad tions in the same deposit, but in 

 general peat may be said to consist of brown or black fibrous or cellular 

 remains of organic matter formed chiefly in bogs or ponds, while in 

 muck the organic remains have reached a more advanced state of 

 disintegration, and the accessory mineral matter is more apparent. 



The surface features of both peat and muck deposits are almost 

 universally those of a level plain, though when they become partially 

 drained through natural or artificial causes irregularities in shrinkage 

 may give rise to slight differences in elevation. They are always 

 found in depressed areas where the natural drainage is deficient, and 

 thus are always swampy. This fact causes the first difficulty met 

 with in attempting to reclaim these soils. It is only after the instal- 

 lation of drainage systems that either class of material may be brought 

 under cultivation. Even then there is considerable variation in the 

 agricultural adaptability and cropping value of different areas even 

 of the same deposit. It has been the usual experience that areas of 

 muck are more easily reclaimed than areas of peat. This arises from 

 the fact that the more advanced stage of decomposition of the muck, 

 coupled with the universal presence of an appreciable amount of 

 mineral matter, renders it more compact and better fitted to hold the 

 growing crop in an upright position and to furnish a regular and 

 adequate supply of moisture throughout the growing season. The 

 fibrous peat is too loose and too light to maintain any high-growing 

 crop in position ; thus Indian corn and even the small grains are liable 



