HORTICULTURE. 535 



The general conclusion is reached that although strawberries will grow on 

 various types of soils they will thrive best on a deep mellow soil, rich in iron 

 salts. Analyses of the strawberries grown on different soils and treated with 

 various fertilizers indicate that the fertilizer treatment should vary with the 

 type of soil in question in order to produce the best fruit. A number of general 

 fertilizer formulas for different types of soil are suggested. 



Application of cold in the agricultural industry. — The conservation of 

 strawberries, I. Mauro (Agr. Mod. [J/iZon], 19 {1913), No. 23, pp. 210, 271, 

 figs. 3). — A general discussion of the application of cold storage to the preser- 

 vation of agricultural products, including some data on cold storage experiments 

 with strawberries conducted at Breganze in cooperation with A. Cogo. A 

 bibliography of literature on the conservation of food supplies is included. 



New varieties of roselle, P. J. Wester (Philippine Agr. Rev. [English Ed.], 

 7 {1914), No. 6, pp. 266-269, pis. 3). — The author. here describes and names the 

 following varieties of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) : The Temprano, which origi- 

 nated at the I.amao Experiment Station ; the Archer, which was introduced 

 from the British West Indies; and the Altissima, which was introduced from 

 the Gold Coast. West Africa. 



Parthenocarpy and seed formation in bananas, A. d'Angremond (Ber. Deut. 

 Bat. GeselL, 30 (1912), No. 10, pp. 686-691, pi. 1; Flora, n. sen, 7 (1914), No. 1, 

 pp. 57-110, pis. 8, figs. H). — In the first part of this paper the author gives 

 the principal results secured from his observations and pollination experiments 

 with bananas conducted in Surinam from 1901K1911. The second part of the 

 paper describes studies of fixed material conducted at the Ziirich Institute for 

 General Botany iu 1911-1913. The subject matter is discussed under the follow- 

 ing general headings : Morphological and experimental studies on the fruit 

 formation in seed-containing and seedless bananas in Surinam ; the historical 

 and cytological development in seed-forming and seedless bananas from Suri- 

 nam ; and hypothesis on the origin of edible bananas. The literature dealing 

 with parthenocarpy in fruits is briefiy reviewed and a bibliography is appended. 



The investigation as a whole shows in brief that our common edible bananas 

 are naturally parthenocarpic. Their own pollen is practically sterile and the 

 fruit is not improved by cross-pollination. In addition to practically sterile 

 follen. there is a more or less complete degeneration of the embryo saclis, par- 

 ticularly in the Jamaica variety commonly shipped to the United States. 



The changes occurring in the ripening coconut, B. M. Gonzalez y Sioco 

 {Philippine Agr. and Forester, 3 (1914), No. 2, pp. 25-31). — This comprises a 

 Iirelimiuary study of the ripening coconut with reference to the changes in size, 

 weight, and color of the nut and the chemical changes in the milk and solid 

 endosperm. 



From the data thus far secured the ripening of a coconut is divided into 

 three periods, during the first of which there is an accumulation of invert sugar 

 and amino acids in the milk or watery portion ; the meat is still absent, the 

 shell and husk are soft and watery, and the nut as a whole has its greatest 

 diameter along the main axis. During the second period water is lost from the 

 coconut though its total weight continues to increase. Sucrose appears in the 

 milk and the specific gravity of the latter is high. During this period the nut 

 begins to acquire its greatest diameter in a direction at right angles to the 

 main axis. During the third period of ripening there is a sudden rise in the 

 content of oil in the endosperm and the specific gravity of the milk falls owing 

 to the transfer of nutrient materials or to respiration. During this period the 

 shell becomes impervious and the drying out of the husk results in loss in 

 weight, thus overbalancing the gain in weight due to other changes. 



