SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.—K, K*. 389 
AFTERNOON. 
Demonstration of exhibits in the Botany Laboratory (2.30). 
SEMI-PopuLar Lecture by Prof. V. H. Blackman, F.R.S., on Botanical 
work on the cold storage of fruits and vegetables (5.0). 
DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY (K*). 
Thursday, September 6. 
JomnT PROGRAMME with Section K (Botany, q.v.). 
AFTERNOON. 
Excursion to Fetteresso by permission of Major Duff. 
Friday, September 7. 
Mr. Henry P. Hutcuinson.—General willow cultivation (10.0). 
Willows, for economic reasons, may be conveniently classified in two 
groups—viz. the group comprising species which are suitable for basket- 
making purposes, and the group comprising species capable of producing 
timber. Certain species serve both purposes, but generally the former 
attain the size of shrubs or bushes, while the latter become timber trees of 
considerable magnitude. 
The cultivation of basket willows involves considerations of soil condi- 
tions, such as its state of natural fertility, and particularly its water supply. 
The degree of suitability of varieties to certain types of soil is important, 
_ and in the management of an established crop the recognition and apprecia- 
_ tion of ecological factors are important economic determinants in the 
_ financial results attending the cultivation of the crop. 
The research work on pests—insect and fungal—which has been carried 
_ out at Long Ashton has given valuable results in enabling control to be 
_ effected. 
_ The factors affecting quality in the production of willow timber have been 
_ extensively investigated on the lines of propagation from seed and by 
_ vegetative methods. 
4 
t Dr. J. Burtr Davy.—Occurrence of male trees of Salix alba, var. caerulea 
(11.0). 
| The opinion is widespread that there is no male of Salix alba var. 
caerulea Smith. Buyers of first-class bat-timber reject (or give a lower 
: price for) trees known to be males, and growers do not knowingly plant 
a male ‘setts.’ In East Anglia the writer has found staminate trees which 
& _ clearly belong to this variety, having similar characters of inflorescence, 
leaf, bark and branching. Smith did not himself say that the staminate 
_ sex was unknown, and in 1829 a male specimen was figured in Salictum 
Woburnense, a book produced by the authority of the Duke of Bedford, who 
was in close touch with Smith, by whom, probably, the plates were seen. 
No evidence has been produced, as far as we are aware, to indicate that 
