NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



397 



its attacks are limited to various species of Cucurbitaceae. Cucumber, musk- 

 melon, watermelon are commonly attacked. Leaves and stems as well as 

 fruits are liable to attack. The fungus fruits by means of acervuli, which are 

 usually formed on the attacked fruits and stems of the host plants. The disease 

 is disseminated by rain and drainage water. Spraying with Bordeaux mixture 

 is not practicable, and surface disinfection is suggested as a means of control. 

 The use of disease-free seed and a proper crop rotation are recommended as 

 control measures. — A. B. 



Cyclamen. By H. Correvon (Rev. Hort. vol. xc. pp. 180-183, 196-198). — 

 A monograph of the 24 varieties of Cyclamen growing wild in Europe. — 5. E. W. 



Date Palms. By B. Drummond (U.S.A . Dep. Agr., Farm. Bull. 1016, pp. 1-23 ; 

 10 figs.). — The Date Palm is propagated by offshoots cut from the parent with 

 a chisel in spring. The oftshoot is left on the ground for ten days to harden. 

 It is then planted at a depth of 8 inches in rich soil in a frame in which the air 

 is kept as warm and moist as possible and free from draughts. When well rooted, 

 the offshoots are transplanted in their permanent positions. The young palms 

 are wrapped in newspapers to protect them from frost in their first winter. It 

 is essential that the orchard contains male palms in the proportion of 2 to 50. 

 Artificial pollination is necessary to ensure good crops. — 5. E. W. 



Deinanthe coerulea. By P. Hariot (Le Jard. vol. xxxii. p. 268). — Deinanthe 

 coerulea is distinguished from D. bifida by its blue flowers and by its hairy leaves. 

 It is a native of Hupeh. — S. E. W. 



Desert Plants as Emergency Feed. By E. O. Wooton (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., 

 Bull. 728, pp. 1-31 ; 8 plates). — In times of drought, cattle and sheep on range 

 may be fed on the following plants, if the leaves and stems are chopped and 

 shredded by machinery : ' Soap Weed ' (Yucca elata), Y. macrocarpa, Y. baccata, 

 Agave lachuguilla, ' Sacahuista ' (Nolina erumpens), ' Bear grass ' (N. microcarpa), 

 and ' Sotol ' (Dasylirion Wheeleri) . — S. E. W. 



Digitalis, a Hybrid. (Rev. Hort. Dec. 16, 1919. No. 24, p. 396.) — Seeds 

 of a Foxglove which had appeared in the garden of M. Lutz, the Secretary of the 

 Societe botanique de France, and which he regarded as an imitation of D. purpurea, 

 were given to M. Ph. de Vilmorin in 191 1. Among the twenty-five seedlings 

 raised at Verrieres there were three forms : (1) with buff-coloured flowers and 

 hairy foliage ; (2) with purple flowers and glabrous foliage ; (3) with yellowish- 

 white flowers. Plants of each form were protected from cross-pollination ; and 

 from the seeds of (1) were raised thirty-seven plants, but most were weak and 

 did not flower. Only five produced good buff-coloured flowers. From (2) five 

 plants were raised, three with purple flowers and two with buff flowers. (3) 

 produced no seed. 



For the next generation the best of the seven plants with buff flowers was 

 selected but not protected from cross-pollination with the others, though the 

 purple-flowered forms were destroyed before the pollen became available. From 

 the seeds thus obtained some three hundred plants flowered in 191 3, of which all 

 but thirteen bore buff-coloured flowers. This hybrid foxglove grows to about 

 five feet in height and there seems no doubt that the original seeds owed their 

 hybrid character to the fact that M. Lutz had in cultivation D. lulea as well as 

 D. purpurea.— W. R. D. 



Dusting v. Spraying. By D. Reddick (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bull, hi., vol. xvii., pp. 

 52-68 ; 1 fig.). — As a check to chewing insects and fungus diseases, dusting with 

 a mixture of 90 per cent, powdered sulphur and 10 per cent, lead arsenate requires 

 less time and labour than spraying. — S. E. W. 



Dynamite in Planting. By T. E. Chase (U.S.A . Dep. Agr., Bull, hi., vol. xvii. pp. 

 27-35). — When a large number of trees have to be planted, it is economy of 

 labour to use dynamite in preparing the holes for the trees. The sticks of 

 dynamite are buried to a depth of 18-24 inches. — S. E. W. 



Electro-Culture. By H. Blin (Le Jard. vol. xxxiii. pp. 339-342, 347-350 ; 

 8 figs.). — Various devices are described for passing electric currents through the 

 soil. Increased crops result from this treatment. — 5. E. W. 



Explosives : Use of, in Orchards. By A. Piedallu [Le Jard. vol. xxxii. p: 285). 

 — In the devastated regions of France the work of replanting the orchards is 

 facilitated bv the use of explosives in preparing the sites for tree- planting. 



S. E. W. 



