74 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



[February 3, 1912. 



Professor Bateson on Genetics. — In 

 his second lecture Professor Bateson dealt with 

 the question of meristic phenomena, i.e., the 

 division and repetition of parts, including also 



Bequest to Linnean Society.— By the will 

 of Mr. Francis Tagart, late of Stoke Bishop, 

 Bristol, recently proved, a sum of £500 is be- 

 queathed to the Linnean Society. The testator, 



the formation of pattern. The repetition of parts, who died on November 25 last, aged 92, was a 

 r reduplication, is one of the most characteristic director of the Surrey Commercial Dock Company. 



Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. — 

 The Bulletin of Agricultural Statistics for Janu- 

 ary has just been published by the International 

 Institute of Agriculture. The final returns of 

 the cereal harvest in 1911 are given for Norway, 

 Sweden, and Canada. In the last-named country 

 the Wheat harvest is given as 115,604,000 cwts., 

 and Oats as 105,669,000 cwts., being 143.9 per 

 cent, and 107.6 per cent, respectively of the pre- 

 vious year's crops. Figures for the production 

 of wine in the whole of France have now been 



features of living organisms. Yet we have no 

 exact knowledge of the process. The division of 

 a cell into two similar halves can be watched 

 with the aid of a good microscope, but there is 

 no clue as to what are the essential forces which 

 come into play. It is by means of division that 

 the phenomena of heredity are carried through, 

 and the resemblance between two halves of a 

 dividing cell is the simplest case we can imagine 

 analogous to heredity. Photographs were shown 

 of meristic variation in man and animals. 

 They included a case of the reduplication of the 

 nostrils of a woman, of the bones of a horse's 

 foot, and also of homologous triplets, i.e., triplets 

 that presumably arise from the division of a 

 single egg ceU The members of the set exactly 

 resembled one* another. Such meristic variations 

 point strongly to the view that we are concerned 

 with a mechanical phenomenon. The resem- 

 blance between one tooth and another, one 

 vertebra and another, should be considered as 

 comparable with such repetitions as the ripples 

 on sand caused by the wind, or any other simple 

 mechanical repetition. In the same way that a 

 ripple on the sand forks and reduplicates itself, 

 so when a part divides in the living creature it 

 can do it in such a way as to make a reduplica- 

 tion. But there is a striking difference between Professor Zacharias, who died last year, took a 

 waves which can be produced mechanically and long and honourable part in the intellectual life 

 the reduplications of living organisms, because, of Hamburg, where he held the post of Director 



of the Botanical "State-Institute." His contri- 



fertilisers tends to restrict their more general 

 use. The French supplies of rock phosphate, 

 from which superphosphate is prepared by treat- 

 ment with sulphuric acid, are insufficient to meet 

 the demand, and phosphates are imported into 

 France from North America, Africa and else- 

 where. When it is remembered that the world's 

 consumption of phosphates has increased from 

 4^ million tons in 1898 to 10 million tons in 1908, 

 it is easy to see that the price of the commodity 

 is likely to increase considerably in the future. 

 In illustration of the value of phosphates in in- 

 creasing not only yield but quality, mention may 

 be made of the observations of Miintz, which 

 show that dairy produce — and particularly but- 

 ter — is only obtained from pastures rich in phos- 

 phates. Again, as shown by M. Paturel, the 

 quality of wine appears to depend in the most 



received, and show a total production of intimate way on the supply of phosphates to the 

 987,482,000 gallons, as compared with 627,659,000 vines producing it. Analyses prove that it is 



possible to grade wines according to the quantity 



of phosphoric acid they contain. Wines of the 



Roumania, Switzerland, Algeria, and Tunia is first class are found to be richest and those of 



gallons in 1910. The production of wine in 

 Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, 



now given as 141.2 per cent.- of last year's pro- 

 duction, as compared with 136.4 per cent., as 

 stated last month. 



The Late Professor Zacharias.— The of Plant Pests. 



many friends of the late Professor Eduard 

 Zacharias have decided to perpetuate his 

 memory by a likeness in relief, and are inviting 

 those who share their esteem for the life and 



the other classes progressively poorer in phos- 

 phoric acid. 



The Vacuum Cleaner as a Destroyer 



It appears that the ingenious 

 Americans have discovered a new use for the 

 vacuum cleaner in sweeping up the larvae of the 

 Alfalfa beetle. According to the WestminsU 

 Gazette, the only successful means of getting 



tnose wno snare uieir esteem ior tne me cuiu .,.„,. i • i i _ u A^^ina 



, , rj , u -u 4. i\ ~„i rid of this pest, which does so much damage 

 work of Zacharias to subscribe to the memorial. liU U1 Uil ° ^ .' „ _ 



to Lucerne and Alfalfa, is to turn the vacuum 

 cleaner on to the affected fields. Will some 

 enterprising horticulturist take the hint and 

 ascertain whether this new "insecticide" is 



in the former, we have not to take into account of the iiotamcal Mate-instate H.s contn- •„ ^^ 



*w ^omi^l nlinncroa wViirh nrrnmnanv the latter. butions to the advancement of botanical science ^ ** L 



COB/EA SCANDENS VAR. DEUTSCHER RUHM. 



Mr. D. Tinzmann, writing in Moller's 



the chemical changes which accompany the latter. 

 It is for the physicist to explain this repetition 

 accompanied by chemical differentiation ; it is to 

 the geometrical structure of the organism that 

 attention must now be turned. Such cases as 

 that of the Flaked Carnations must be connected to Professor H. Fitting, Director der Botanis- leaved variety of Cobsea scandens. The grey- 



a. _ V - ■ 



were both numerous and important, and gained 

 for the late professor a world-wide reputation. 

 Subscriptions toward the cost of the memorial Deutsche Gdrtner-Zeitung (No. 3, 1912), ex- 

 may be sent to the Deutsche Bank, Hamburg, or presses a high opinion of this new variegated- 



with the geometrical design of the plant. This 

 Carnation has coloured flakes on a white ground, 

 and almost certainly cannot breed true. It 

 throws whites, self-coloured, and flaked plants. 

 On tho other hand, Picotee varieties, in which 

 the red pigment forms a regularly arranged 

 edging to the petals, probably can breed true. 

 In the flaked form the pigment elements are not 

 in order, not geometrically arranged, and the 

 germ cells are in similar disorder. 



The Break-up of Estates.— In the course 

 of their report on land ownership, summarised 

 elsewhere (p. 69), the Departmental Committee 

 of the Board of Agriculture states that, as is 

 generally known, unusually large numbers of 

 estates are being broken up and sold at the pie- 

 sent time. The sales of agricultural land in 1910 

 realised 1£ million pounds, and in 1911 over 

 2 million pounds. The Committee believes 

 that these sales are likely to continue. Among 

 the reasons which were suggested by witnesses 

 before the Committee were, first, a feeling of 

 apprehension among landowners as to the course 

 of legislation and land taxation, though the Com- 

 mittee points out that no evidence was put before 

 it to show that purely agricultural land had been 

 adversely affected by existing legislation, except 

 in the case of the death duties. Second, there 

 is evidence that at the present time a consider- 

 able amount of agricultural land is let at rents 

 below its present value. Owing to a large mea- 

 sure of agricultural prosperity, and to a growing tilisers. Hence it is not surprising to learn that 

 demand For agricultural land', the landlord often French cultivators use annually a quarter of a 



chen Staats- Institute, of that city. 



W 



The Standard reports that a French Commis- 

 sion is studying the question of establishing pro- 

 vincial meteorological stations to serve the in- 

 terests of farmers and of agriculture generally. 

 The proposed scheme suggests that there should 

 be numerous advertising stations connected with 

 the existent meteorological stations, and that 

 these advertising stations should receive and 

 post conspicuously every day a telegram showing 

 the atmospheric conditions and giving the fore- 

 casts. The advertising stations would proceed 

 to deduce the atmospheric effects on the crops 

 in their various districts and to issue the re- 

 quisite warnings and directions with regard to 

 frost, hail, or the probable germination of an 

 insect pest. The advertisements might consist 

 of signals by sound, or by light at night, and 

 so the most distant farms would be kept in touch 

 with expected meteorological conditions. 



Phosphatic Manures. — An article of par- 

 ticular interest to horticulturists, dealing with 

 the use of phosphatic fertilisers in France, is 

 published in Nature. It appears from soil 

 surveys undertaken some years ago by 

 M. Risler that, out of the total agricul- 

 tural area of 122,500,000 acres in France, no fewer 

 than 90,000,000 acres are so deficient in phos- 

 phates as to be unable to yield profitable crops 

 without the liberal addition of phosphatic fer- 



prefers to realise by sale rather than to increase 

 his rents. Third, not a few estates are mort- 

 gaged, and either the owner prefers to sell and 

 realise the difference between the mortgage and 



cases 



realising their securities. 



million tons of basic slag on grass land and about 

 1£ million tons on arable land — this in addition 

 to the phosphate contained in guano, which 

 manure is used freely. Even so, the quantities 

 of phosphate employed are insufficient, and, un- 

 fortunately, the increase in price of phosphatic 



green leaves have a broad, irregular, white mar- 

 gin, the outer edges of which are of a delicate 

 rose colour. The brightness of the foliage and 

 young buds, the freedom of flowering, and the 

 attractiveness of the lilac-red flowers make the 

 Deutscher Ruhm variety of the utmost value as 

 a climber. It grows freely in the open, and 

 though it is necessary to bring it indoors into a 

 cool house or frost-proof room during the winter, 

 a well-established plant reaches during a season 

 a length of from 6 yards to 12 yards. The new 

 variety may be raised from cuttings. Established 

 plants require to be cut back hard in autumn. 

 Deutscher Ruhm does well in the open, and 

 appears to be an excellent subject for pergolas 

 or balconies. 

 Publications Received. — The Uses of 



Potash in English Agriculture and Industry. 

 (The Agricultural Offices of the Potash byn<n- 

 cate. 117, Victoria Street, London.) Gratis. ^ 

 West Virginia University Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Morgantotvn. W. Va. Bulletin 

 135: West Virgin a as a Poultry State, uj 

 Horace Atwood.— Board of Agriculture andttsn 

 cries, Agricultural Statistics, 1911. Acreage 

 and Live-stock Returns of Great Bntauu 



(London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, Ltd ) P« c f ^ 

 -Saturday in My Garden, by F H. Farthing, 

 (London : Grant Richards, Limited.) Price 3s. w. 

 net -"Press" Directory 1912. C "' rn *** 

 Alderney and Sark. (Guernsey: Guernsey rie 

 Company, Ltd) Price 6d. — Kew BuUetm • 

 Additional Series IX. The Useful &*»*'*] 

 Nigeria. Part II (London : Darling & ^n.; 

 Price is. 6d._J?ura/ Development \ and Dm 

 Holdings. Renort of the Proceedings of 

 National Congress held at the Festival of urn? ' 

 Crystal Palace. (London : P. S. King * - ^ 

 Price 2s. net.— Small Greenhouses, by ' ±> } 

 Sanders. (London: Agricultural and Horticu ^ 



Association.) Price Id.— Garden P** 1 *":^, 

 Theory and Practice by Mad el me * ^ 



(London : Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd.) Price 



