I46 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



Eupator.um urticaefolium poisonous. By C. D. Marsh and A. B. Clawson 



(Jour. Agr. Res. xi. pp. 699-715, Dec. 1917 ; plates). — Confirms experimentally 

 the suspicion that Eupatorium urticaefolium is poisonous to stock. — F. J. C. 



Experiments in Field Technic in Rod Row Tests. By H. K. Hayes and A. C. 

 Amy (Jour. Agr. Res. xi. pp. 399-419 ; Nov. 19 17). — Discusses the effect upon 

 yield and growth of a variety in proximity to another variety in the same kind, 

 and shows that in certain circumstances the effect may be a significant one. 



F. J. C. 



Forest Entomology, The Practical Aspect of. Part IV. By W. Adkin 



{Onar. Jour. For. xii. pp. 80-98. April 1918). — The Pine Beetle. Hylurgus 

 piniperda is perhaps the second most dangerous pest in coniferous woods. 

 It is capable of so persistently boring the growing shoots of older pine trees 

 that in time the trees may succumb to its attack. It may also attack young 

 pine trees and reduce them to the condition of misshapen bushes. The beetle 

 is inconspicuous, black-brown, blunt-headed, about A inch long. It often may 

 be found in the twigs into which it has bored, even after they have been blown 

 off the tree. The beetle breeds beneath the bark, and prefers felled, dead or 

 sickly trees or branches, but apparently is capable of breeding in comparatively 

 sound stems if no other material is available. In most parts, pine logs which 

 have been left lying about for some time contain many borings, which may 

 easily be seen by stripping the bark. 



Vigorous growth throughout the rotation of a crop of trees is of importance 

 to our subject for two reasons : — 



1. Most of the insects, which devour the leaves of trees or bore into the 

 bark or wood, prefer those trees which are sickly or of weakly growth to those 

 which are in healthy and vigorous growth. 



2. Trees which are strong, healthy, and of rapid growth recover more readily 

 from insect attack than do trees which are weakly and grow slowly. — A. D. W. 



Forests of Porto Rico, Past, Present and Future, and their Physical 



and Economic Environment. By L. S. Murphy (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bull. 354, 



Oct. 19 16). — Porto Rico consumes over three times as much wood annually 

 as it produces. Great quantities of timber have been cut or burned by the 

 "conuco" to make clearings, which are abandoned after a few years and become 

 waste. The charcoal burner still destroys the young growth needed to keep 

 up the forest. These practices are rapidly reducing the forests, and failure to 

 develop and utilize them fully in a scientific manner has already brought about 

 a shortage in the domestic supply of wood and consequent hardship to the 

 people. 



Porto Kico is very sparsely wooded. The impenetrable forest jungles, 

 commonly associated with the West Indies, are scarce. With the exception of 

 those in the Sierra de Luquillo, they are in the more inaccessible parts into 

 which few except the ' jibaro ' ever penetrate. Around almost every habitation, 

 however, there are groups of such trees as the bread-fruit and mango ; and 

 numerous scattered single trees, mostly palms. The protective cover of shade 

 trees of the coffee plantations gives a decidedly forested appearance to many 

 localities. 



The mangrove is of considerable economic importance, furnishing fuel, 

 especially to the bakeries, from its limbs and branches, and posts and house 

 piling from the submerged parts. For the latter uses it is very highly prized 

 because of its resistance to decay and to the attack of the white ant. The bark 

 contains a tanning material and a dye, though to what extent it is used locally 

 is not known. 



There is at least one native industry of large proportions that might possibly 

 produce its own box material through the practice of forestry — the cigar industry. 

 At present the cedro used by the Porto Rican trade comes almost exclusively 

 from the virgin forests of Cuba: This wood is particularly prized for its light- 

 ness, clearness ofgrain, and strong, yet pleasant aroma. It is, of course, largely 

 conjectural how far these properties would inhere in the wood of a planted 

 growth. The cedro is a rapid grower under favourable conditions of soil and 

 climate.— A. D. W. 



Fruit Bottling without Sugar (Queensland Agr. Journal, Aug. 1917, p. 69). — 

 Warm bottle well in oven, then fill with fruit, pour boiling water till it is as full 

 as it can be. Put back in oven and leave until the bottle begins to boil again. 

 Take out and put on rubber ring and screw top, previously well warmed. Stand 

 jar on its head until cold, give an extra " screw if necessary. This method has 

 been found very successful for plums and nectarines. — C. H. H. 



