NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



767 



Broad-bean Weevil, The. By F. H. Chittenden, Sc.D. (U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr., Bur. Entotn., Bull. 96, pt. v. ; August 1912 ; 20 figs.)- — 

 This weevil (Laria rufiniana. Boh.) is known in Europe as the bean 

 beetle or bean-seed beetle. It especially infests broad beans, and, 

 it is said, peas, and some other legumes. 



Soaking the seed fifteen minutes in water of a temp, of 140 0 F. 

 before sowing the seed appears to be a good remedy. Also fumigation 

 with bisulphide of carbon, at the rate of 2 or 3 lb. of the chemical to 

 each 1000 cubic feet of air space for forty-eight hours. — V. G. J. 



Brown-rot Fungus (Zur Kenntnis der durch Monilia-Pilze 

 hervorgerufenen Bliiten- und Zweigdurre unserer Obstbaume). 



By Prof. Eriksson (Mycol. Centralbl. vol. ii. pp. 65-78, 1913 ; 

 figs.). — The author describes the attack of this fungus, Monilia 

 fruciigena, upon apples and cherries, both on the flower and the shoots. 

 It passes the winter on the latter and commences the attack upon the 

 flowers through spores from the spore groups which burst through 

 the bark. The author recommends spraying in spring and summer 

 with 2 per cent. Bordeaux mixture, the destruction of all mummy 

 fruits, and the pruning out of the diseased shoots. — F. J. C. 



Bulbs, Flowering, Culture of, by the United States Board of 

 Agriculture. By F. F. Matenaers (Die Gart. Feb. 1, p. 67). — 

 On account of the great increase in the import of Dutch bulbs, the 

 Board of Agriculture in the U.S.A. determined to make an attempt 

 to grow them in their own land. For this purpose a 10-acre piece of 

 land was acquired on Puget Sound, near Bellingham, Washington. 

 In the year 1908 170,000 bulbs were planted out, the number for 

 planting out increasing each consecutive year, reaching its maximum 

 last year of 869,000. The Board's officials concerned with this 

 maintain that they succeeded in growing bulbs quite as good as those 

 of Holland, if not better. To prove this, two rows of 50 of the same 

 variety of respectively American and Dutch grown bulbs were planted 

 out. The American bulbs bloomed from seven to ten days earlier, were 

 superior in size, colour, and quality of flower, and remained absolutely 

 free from disease, whilst those imported were inclined to be sickly 

 and a considerable number of the same failed to bloom at all. The 

 two drawbacks lie in the higher cost of producing and transport to 

 New York. With the completion of the Panama Canal they will 

 be enabled to transport to New York from the West Coast at less cost 

 than from Europe, and the cost of producing could be minimized by 

 the use of suitable machines. — G. R. 



Cabbage Web-worm, The Imported. By F. H. Chittenden, 

 Sc.D., and H. O. Marsh (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. Entotn., Bull. 109, 

 pt. iii. ; April 1912 ; 4 figs.). — The cabbage web-worm (Hellula 

 undalis Fab.) appears to attack all cruciferous plants. The larva 

 of a small grey moth, it begins work by first spinning a web in which 



