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NATURE 



[July 22, 1909 



Experiments made in Cape Colony, and reported in the 

 Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, show 

 that Turkish tobacco of good quality can be grown in 

 certain districts. Irrigation was not found necessary, ex- 

 cepting when planting was to give the crop a good start ; 

 indeed, the crop will stand drought quite as well as vines 

 when once it is established. The price realised in 1907 was 

 IX. I id. per lb., being sd. in excess of the previous year's 

 price ; nearly three times as much was grown in 1908 as 

 in 1907, and there has also been a great improvement made 

 in the method of curing. Although the labour required 

 is somewhat special, it has not been found impracticable to 

 train women, girls, and boys to do the finer work. 



The removal of charlock from corn crops was formerly 

 a costly matter when it had to be effected by hoeing, but 

 has become much more simple since chemical methods were 

 devised. Experiments carried on at various centres are 

 reported by Mr. G. F. Strawson, and confirm the results 

 obtained by other investigators. They show that young 

 charlock can be destroyed in growing corn crops without 

 injury to the latter by spraying with fifty gallons of a 3 per 

 cent, solution of copper sulphate per acre. If the charlock 

 is older a stronger solution must be used ; early spraying is 

 therefore economical. The crop — whether corn, tares, 

 beans, or peas — increases considerably when the competing 

 weeds are killed, and young grass seeds and clover sown 

 in with the corn are not injured by the copper sulphate 

 because their leaves are too smooth for the solution to 

 remain on. 



A WELL-ILLUSTRATED description of the Polish Miocene 

 species of Turritella is given by M. W. Friedberg in the 

 Bulletin international of the Cracow Academy, 1909, 2. 

 The author finds that the genus is well represented, and 

 contains a number of varietal forms differing from those 

 ordinarily described. This applies specially to T. Turris 

 and T. pyihagoria, of each of which M. Friedberg describes 

 five varieties. 



The probable origin of the white Florentine iris forms 

 the subject of a note by Drs. R. Pirotta and M. Puglisi 

 in the Atti dei Lincei, xviii., 10. Forms have been observed 

 with blue spots variously arranged, and it is found that 

 these are not peculiar to individual plants, but may occur 

 on different plants in different years. From this, as well 

 as from geographical considerations, the authors propound 

 the view that Iris florentina is a variety of I. pallida which 

 nas become permanent. 



By the publication of a well-arranged catalogue, the autho- 

 rities of the Bradford Public Libraries have shown in the 

 most practical way their appreciation of a large collection 

 of scientific books and pamphlets acquired from the library 

 of the late Dr. F. A. Lees, the author of the " Flora of 

 West Yorkshire." The collection is especially rich in local 

 floras of the British Isles. The herbarium of 25,000 

 specimens collected by Dr. Lees was acquired at the same 

 time, and is arranged in the Cartwright Memorial Hall. 



An account of the black wax of Burma known in the 

 vernacular as " pwfi-nyet " is provided by Mr. D. Hooper 

 in the Agricultural Ledger (No. iii., 190S). The wax is 

 stored by a small bee, Melipona laeviceps, which forms its 

 hive generally in a hollow tree, and constructs a peculiar 

 trumpet-shaped entrance. The bees commonly swarm in 

 the kanyin-tree, Dipterocarpus turbinatus, because in tap- 

 ping for resin large holes are made in the trees which 

 furnish suitable cavities for the construction of the hives. 

 Incidentally, Mr. Hooper publishes analyses of resins from 

 various species of Hopea, Shorea, Dipterocarpus, and Cana- 

 NO. 2073, VOL. 81] 



rium for comparison with the wax. The chemical tests 

 point to the wax being similar to the resins of Diptero- 

 carpus and Hopea, while the substance forming the vestibule 

 is almost certainly the resin of Dipterocarpus. 



A FOURTH article on the sylva of Colorado dealing with 

 forest formations and forest trees is contributed by Prof. F. 

 Ramaley to vol. vi.. No. 3, of the University of Colorado 

 studies. There is a well-differentiated forest region in the 

 river valleys, where cotton woods and willows predominate ; 

 two mesophytic formations are the canyon and aspen forests 

 of the foothills ; the higher montane and sub-alpine forma- 

 tions are composed of pines, firs, and Douglas spruce. The 

 flora contains a number of interesting trees. The pinyon, 

 Pinus edulis, yields large edible seeds ; the rock pine, P. 

 scopulorum, is recommended for planting in semi-arid dis- 

 tricts ; the Colorado blue spruce, Picea parryana, is a fine 

 ornamental tree. The genus Populus includes the aspen, the 

 balsam poplar, broad-leaf cotton-wood, P. Sargentii, narrow- 

 leaf cotton-wood, P. angustifolia, and lance-leaf cotton- 

 wood, P. acuminata. Rhamnus purshiana furnishes the 

 drug " cascara sagrada." 



There are differences of opinion as to the best method 

 of improving the Indian cottons, but there can be no doubt 

 as to the advisability of testing the possibilities of improve- 

 ment by the hybridisation of native varieties. The problem, 

 which furnishes a capital opportunity for disciples of the 

 Mendelian school, has been broached by Mr. P. F. Fyson, 

 who records his experiments in the Memoirs of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in India (vol. ii. No. 6). His object 

 was to test the stability of certain characters as a pre- 

 liminary to more definite investigations. Colour of flower, 

 shape of leaf, and fuzziness of seed were selected as likely 

 characters. With regard to colour, yellow appeared to be 

 dominant over white, and since the colour in Gossypium is a 

 sap colour, this conforms to general experience. The 

 pointed leaf characteristic of Gossypium neglectum 

 (arboreiim) was dominant over rounded herbaceum, but 

 the segregation of " fuzzy " and " naked " seeds was not 

 distinct. 



In the July number of the Reliquary, Mr. E. H. Goddard 

 continues the useful series of articles dealing with local 

 collections of antiquities, his subject being Roman objects 

 discovered in Wiltshire. Though the county possesses no 

 Roman sites ranking in interest and importance with those 

 of Dorchester, Silchester, Bath, or even Lydney or Wood- 

 chester, it contains Cunetio near Marlborough, villas at 

 Box, Colerne, and Wraxall, and, in particular. Old Sarum, 

 which will remain a sealed book until the excavations now 

 projected are taken in hand. But besides these there are 

 numerous smaller sites, of which only one, Rotherley, has 

 been properly investigated. The best collection of late-Celtic 

 pottery is that gained from the Westbury Ironworks. Mr. 

 Goddard figures and describes a number of interesting 

 objects — pottery, bronze rings and fibulae, kitchen utensils, 

 the sole of a Roman lady's shoe, and a curious bronze 

 plaque with a figure of Minerva, the last from the downs 

 above Lavington. On October 21, 1638, the Devil visited 

 Widdecombe Church, a fine building on the river Webburn, 

 in Dartmoor, a full account of which remarkable event is 

 recorded on a tablet in curious versification, the work of 

 the village schoolmaster, which is preserved in the church. 

 As a matter of fact, the place was the scene of a terrible 

 thunderstorm, which caused the loss of several lives, 

 damaged the tower, and caused such consternation that it 

 was attributed to demoniacal agency. The original tablet, 

 a curious instance of the popular beliefs current at the 

 time, is reproduced by Mr. Le Blanc Smith in the July 

 number of the Reliquary. 



