558 JOUENAL OF THE HOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



Lagrerstroemia indica. By C. Raede {Die Gart. p. 13, 12/10/ 

 1901). — Description, culture, and illustration of this pretty shrub. Hardy 

 in the south-west of England. The author mentions how the plant is 

 grown in pots or tubs in Hungary, flowering freely during the summer in 

 the open, and wintered in a cellar. — G. i?. 



Leaf-cast of Conifers. By C. v. Tubeuf [Kais. Gcs., Die. Biology, 

 Leaflet No. 8 ; June 1901). — Pines and other Conifers while in the 

 nursery suffer severely from a leaf-cast caused by a fungus {I'ophodermium). 

 Bordeaux mixture sprayed over the beds twice during July and August 

 gives good results. A coloured plate showing sprayed and unsprayed 

 portions is inserted. — W. G. S. 



Lettuce **Drop" {U.S.A. Exp. St. Hatch, Report 10,1898).— 

 The loss from this disease frequently amounts to thousands of dollars in 

 a single season in Massachusetts. The fungus causing this disease is 

 said to be a mould {Botrytis). The disease makes its appearance in the 

 stem, close to the surface of the ground, where the tissue becomes slimy 

 and soft, and eventually the whole stem at this point disintegrates and 

 collapses. In the succeeding report (1899) it is stated that "it is certain 

 that the disease is not spread by Botrytis spores in the air, but by a 

 mycelium or mould-like growth in the soil itself." — M. C. C. 



Lettuce, the Rotting* of Greenhouse. By Messrs. G. E. Stone 

 and R. E. Smith {U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Hatch Bull. 69).— For the past five 

 years experiments have been made with a view to investigating the 

 diseases peculiar to Lettuce grown under glass (this being an important 

 industry in Massachusetts), of which "rotting " is the worst, and which 

 often causes 25 per cent, loss in the average crop. 



The trouble has been prevalent for some time, but is now found to be 

 due to various fungi, distinct from each other, and differing in their 

 relations to the crop. 



Botrytis vulgaris causes " damping-off," " mildew," kc. It is of minor 

 importance, and can be controlled by proper cultivation. 



The worst trouble consists in the rotting of the stem, and complete 

 collapse of the plant, known as the " Drop," and caused by Scleral inia 

 Libert iana. 



This fungus, causing similar diseases in other plants, spreads almost 

 entirely by growth in the soil by organs called sclerotia. 



Another disease, causing rotting of the leaf-blades, is caused by a 

 species of BhizQctonia, but is less prevalent than the Drop. 



By sterilising the soil, either wholly or in part, the Drop and 

 Bhizoctonia can be completely eradicated or suppressed. 



Treating the soil with hot water, or with a steam rake, proved variously 

 successful in reducing both the latter diseases. 



Experiments were tried with various gases, by sub-irrigation, by 

 freezing the soil, by desiccation, and by the application of such substances 

 as lime, sulphur, charcoal, coatings of sawdust, coal ashes and sand, with 

 very different results^ but proving less effective than the application of 

 heat. 



