l6o JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



The following table shows the price per pound of the seeds of the principal 

 forest trees. Fluctuations, according to seed years, will naturally occur from 

 time to time. 



Broad-leaved Trees. 



Conifers. 



Species of Seed. 



Per Lb. 



Species of Seed. 



Per Lb. 



♦Oak (Q. pedunculata) . 

 ♦Oak (Q. sessiliflora) . 



Ash 



♦Beech .... 



Common Alder . 



White Alder . . . 



Sweet Chestnut . 



Horse Chestnut . 



Sycamore .... 



Norway Maple . 



Birch .... 



Hornbeam . . 



Wych Elm 



* Crop failed in 191 6. 



s. d. 

 0 I 

 O I 

 0 5 

 0 4 

 0 9 

 0 9 



0 3 

 0 1 



0 3 

 0 5 

 0 7 

 0 6 

 0 3 



Scots Pine (Scotch) 

 Scots Pine (Foreign) 

 Austrian Pine 

 Corsican Pine 

 Weymouth Pine 

 Larch (European) 

 (Japanese) 

 Norway Spruce . 

 Sitka Spruce 



Silver Fir .... 

 Douglas Fir 

 Thuja gigantea 

 Cupressus macrocarpa . 

 Nootka Cypress . 



s. d. 

 9 O 



5 0 



5 0 

 4 0 

 4 6 

 2 6 



6 0 

 2 6 



17 6 

 0 9 



15 0 



20 0 

 8 0 

 40 0 



A.D.W. 



Seed, Old versus New (Queensland Agr. Jour. Aug. 1917, pp. 59-60). — Whilst 

 new seed of onion and parsnip is advisable, it is found that in melons, cucumbers, 

 and pumpkins, seed two or more years old produces plants that are more fruitful 

 than from one-year-old seed. M. Vilmorin experimented with cucumber seed 

 ten years old which produced plants laden with fruit. R. L. Watts, Professor of 

 Horticulture in Pennsylvania, in his excellent work on " Vegetable Gardening " 

 gives the maximum age of satisfactory germination of well-matured and stored 

 vegetable seeds as follows : Carrot, parsnip, parsley, and onion — 1 year ; artichoke, 

 asparagus, celery, endive, kale, radish, and salsify — 2 years ; pea, bean, cabbage, 

 kohl-rabi, leek, pumpkin — 3 years ; lettuce, turnip, cauliflower, beet, okra — 

 4 years ; tomato, cucumber, melon, water melon, and egg plant — 5 years ; but 

 adds that the above may be taken as a general guide but by no means as a hard- 

 and-fast rule.— C. H. H. 



Senecio Hectori Buch. By J. Hutchinson (Bot. Mag. t. 8705 ; April 1917). — 



Native of New Zealand (South Island). A cool greenhouse shrub. Flowers 

 i|— 2 inches across ; Dec.-Feb. ; ray florets white, disc florets yellow. S. 

 Hectori is readily distinguished from other New Zealand species by its foliage, 

 the petiole of the lower leaves being pinnately lobulate, while the remainder of 

 the leaf is repand-dentate. — L. C. E. 



Senecio Monroi Hook. f. By J. Hutchinson (Bot. Mag. t. 8698 ; Feb. 191 7). — 

 Native of S. Island, New Zealand ; a shrub about 6 feet high with narrow leathery 

 leaves, thickened and undulate at the margin, and covered with white wool 

 beneath. Flowers yellow about the size of those of 5. Jacobaea. Hardy in 

 south-west Cornwall. — F. J. C. 



Sinofranchetia chinensis Hemsl. By O. Stapf (Bot. Mag. t. 8720 ; July 

 191 7). — Native of China. Lardizabalaceae. A hardy climbing shrub, flowers 

 inconspicuous, fruits showy and of bright lavender purple. — L. C. E. 



Srrnke and Funvs, Damage to Vegetation by. By A. Lauder (Trans. Roy. 

 Scott. Arb. Soc. xxxii. pp. 181-186, July 1918). — The comprehensive report of 

 the " Selby Smelter Commission " (published by the U.S. Dep. of the Interior, 

 Bureau of Mines, Bull. 98, 191 5) is the most important contribution to this 

 subject which has been made in recent years. 



The report is well worthy of serious study, not merely on account of the 

 exhaustive nature of the inquiries carried out, and the value of the results 

 obtained, but because of the great advance which has been made by the appoint- 

 ment of this Commission in the method of settling disputes involving scientific 

 evidence and investigation. — A. D. W . 



