286 THE NA TURE-STUDY RE VIE W [ 2 : 8-nov., .906 



are valuable for all who are interested in the practical applications of biology. 

 Injurious insects like the San Jose scale are especially well treated. The 

 25,000 copies regularly issued must certainly be doing a great work for the 

 agricultural interests of the State. 



Nitro-Clilture. The experiments in inoculating soil with certain species 

 of bacteria which will develop on the roots of legumes (beans, pea, clovers, 

 and similar plants) and store up nitrogen food for plants, are quite familiar to 

 all who even occasionally glance at agricultural journals. Numerous failures 

 in attempting inoculation of soils from the packages of dried cotton sent out 

 by experiment laboratories have been discouraging to some agriculturists. 

 Bulletin 270 from the Experiment Station at Geneva, N. Y., points out that 

 the method of drying on cotton is the cause of the failures, and that improved 

 methods of distributing bacteria must be adopted. 



NATURE-STUDY AND SCIENCE NOTES 



Do Snakes Charm Birds? A writer in Btrd Lore for August concludes 

 from his own observations that snakes do not charm birds; but that the parent 

 birds attempt to drive the intruding snake away and becoming bolder and 

 bolder finally come within striking distance of the snake. Have any readers 

 of The Review made observations in this line? 



Protection Of Native Plants. At the 1906 annual meeting of the 

 Society for Protection of Native Plants, Professor Fernald, of the Gray Her- 

 barium, pointed out that with the disappearance of woodlands many delicate 

 wild flowers disappear and in the cleared space coarser flowers like golden- 

 rod and asters flourish. Over six hundred weeds of the old world are 

 already here and rapidly spreading where woodlands formerly existed. 

 Spots of woodland under natural conditions should be reserved for the 

 vanishing native plants. \_Piant l>Vorld.~\ 



Swans in New Zealand. The black Australian swan is nearing 

 extinction in its native home, but the same species introduced into New 

 Zealand has flourished. Great flocks of five and six thousand individuals 

 may be seen, and ducks and geese are being driven away. [1905 Report of 

 N. Y. Zoological Society.] 



Diamonds in Brazil. The finest diamonds come from Brazil and not 

 from South Africa as is popularlv believed. Along with the diamonds occur 



