THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
147 
Doings of Societies 
On February 22, a tri-county pomological meeting was 
held at Hartford, Michigan, under the auspices^of the^South 
Haven and Casco Pomological Society, The Michigan 
Original Fruit Belt Association met with this society, and the 
two were united into a federation largely for educational 
purposes. It is interesting to note that the chief subject of 
discussion was on fruit packages, inasmuch as Michigan 
now has probably less uniformity in her packages than any 
other state. The new association has the following officers; 
President, R. H. Sherwood; vice-presidents, C. E. Bassett, 
C. W. Wildy, George Friday ;_^secretary, Robert A. Smythe; 
treasurer, Hon. C. J. Monroe. , " 
SOCIETY FOR HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE 
“Factors Which Determine Color in the Forcing of 
Roses,” by M. A. Blake, of New Jersey, was an interesting 
paper. The varieties studied were American Beauty, 
Killarney, Bride, Bridesmaid, My Maryland, and Richmond. 
These varieties represent three colors, namely, red, white, 
and pink. Mr. Blake made the point that the trade prefers 
pink and white roses to all other colors. The deep pinks are 
the most popular. In the variety Killarney, which is now 
replacing Bridesmaid, the deep, rich pinks represent the 
desired types, but this variety has the defect of showing 
considerable variation. In this respect it resembles My 
Maryland, and the latter is influenced by the conditions 
under which it is grown. The New Jersey Station has 
studied Killarney and My Maryland, and has ascertained 
that the characteristic tints vary from light to a deep pink, 
according to the environment under which they are grown. 
In the case of My Maryland, the experimenter dis¬ 
covered that sunlight was essential to the development of 
characteristic deep tints. Whether this was the only 
factor necessary to the development of the desirable tints is 
still an open question. It was found that in the poorly 
lighted months of December and January, that if the soil 
was kept wet and the ventilation insufficient, the growth 
was soft and the flowers of both Killarney and My Maryland 
under size and poorly colored. 
Applications of high grade sulphate of potash upon My 
Maryland roses at the New Jersey Experiment Station 
showed no influence upon the color of the roses in cases 
where sufficient quantities of nitrogen and phosphoric acid 
were supplied, coupled with other suitable greenhouse con¬ 
ditions. 
SELF-STERILITY OF ROTUNDIFOLIA GRAPES 
F. C. REIMER 
The following is a summary of a paper on this subject 
given at the recent meeting of the Society for Horticultural 
Science in Tampa, Florida: 
The Rotundifolia grape is a fruit of considerable impor¬ 
tance in North Carolina. Mr. Reimer has been studying 
the peculiarities of this grape for some years, and in a paper 
under the above caption added a considerable amount of 
interesting information to our knowledge of this crop. The 
self-sterility of the grapes was tested by the bagging 
method, and he clearly proved that the species is practically 
self-sterile. These studies cover the James, Thomas, and 
•Scuppernong varieties. In germinating tests made with 
the pollen of the cultivated varieties, it was found that most 
of it is practically worthless. Not a single pollen grain 
germinated, except such pollen as was taken from male 
vines. Mr. Reimer showed, however, that if only one 
flower in every twenty-five would develop a normal berry, 
the yield would yet be at the rate of 250 bushels to the acre. 
This is explained by the fact that the blooming season lasts a 
whole month. If a single berry developed in every flower, 
the yield would amount to 6479 bushels per acre. It was 
found that no productive vines are ever found in regions 
where male vines do not exist. In the upper Piedmorit 
region of North Carolina, the variety is unproductive 
because of the scarcity of wild male vines in that section. 
The speaker has made a long and scrutinizing search for 
valuable cultivated and wild vines of this rotundifolia race. 
As a result of his search, he has found one wild vine which in 
his opinion may become the progenitor of a new race__^of 
rotundifolia grapes. This vine has unusually large flower 
clusters, produces long, upright stamens, and an abundance 
of fertile pollen. The vine is being carefully cultivated and 
studied with a view of propagating, should its good qualities 
be retained and transmitted. 
SOME EXPERIMENTS WITH PRESERVATIVES FOR 
RETAINING THE SHAPE AND COLOR OF STRAW¬ 
BERRIES 
W. R. BALLARD, College Park, Md. 
^ In a paper written for the Society for Horticultural 
Science, the writer describes experiments which were 
instituted in the spring of 1906, by Mr. M. N. Straughn at 
the Maryland Station, and since carried on by Mr. Ballard, 
himself. It is desirable to use wide mouthed bottles with 
glass stoppers, and perfect specimens with good color, but 
not too ripe, should be selected, picked with the stems on to 
facilitate handling. 
The method followed was to dip^the^berry quicklyJn the 
melted paraffin, which, after hardening in the form of a 
thin film, helps greatly in retaining the normal shape of the 
fruit. In some cases the paraffin was colored red with 
aniline dyes, which, it was found, helped to conceal the^film, 
but tended to darken the seeds. On the whole, the latter 
method seemed more satisfactory. The specific gravity of 
the preserving solution should be such that the berry will 
sink in it, leaving no part exposed. Berries placed in 
glycerine became shriveled, due to extraction of water, 
while in some other fluids the berries took up too much fluid 
and burst. A ten per cent, solution of formalin was satisfac¬ 
tory where only the shape of the fruit was to be retained. 
Alkali solutions soon destroy the color of the berry. 
Alcohol and formalin were used as a basis of most of the 
solutions, but either alone gave a dark, purplish red color. 
The most satisfactory solution used was equal parts of ten 
per cent, solution of formalin and acid potassium sulphate, 
and it was not necessary to keep the specimens in a dark 
room. 
