598 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



it is a most delicious vegetable, for use when the seeds are nearly but 

 not quite ripe. Another plant now much grown is Physalis edulis, the 

 fruits of which resemble the tomato but are much smaller. They are 

 eagerly bought by hotels and the " gourmands." Physalis Alkckengi and 

 P. Franchetti have similar fruit, and are rather smaller though edible as 

 in P. edulis. — G. B. 



Virescence of Oxalis stricta. By H. Hus {Rep. Miss. Bot. Gard. 

 1907, pp. 99 ; 2 plates). — In a form termed 0. stricta viridiflora, found 

 wild near St. Louis, the green petals are little affected by light and 

 persist till the fruit is nearly ripe. The form is self-fertile. — G. S. B. 



Weeds, Treatment Of. By G. E. Stone and H. F. Fernald 

 (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Massachusetts, Bull. 123; April 1908).— Plants like 

 chick weed (Stcllaria media), moneywort (Lysimachia Nummularia), and 

 other running weeds can be largely eradicated from lawns by treatment 

 with nitrate of soda, which should be used strong enough to kill the 

 weeds. This may also kill the grass, but a good growth of grass will 

 come in again to the exclusion of the weeds. Dandelions on lawns may 

 be sprayed with iron sulphate at the rate of It, lb. to 2 lb. to 1 gallon 

 of water. Golden hawkweed on hay land is lessened or destroyed by 

 the application of 3,000 lb. of salt per acre. For wild mustard 

 (Brassica sp.), smartweed (Polygonum sp.), pigweed (Amaranthus sp.), 

 cocklebur (Xanthium canadensc), and ragweeed (Ambrosia sp.), in oat 

 fields and grass land, spray with sulphate of iron at the rate of 100 lb. 

 to 52 gallons of water. The sulphate of iron application is said to cost 

 \0d. to Is. per acre, 52 gallons being sufficient for 1 acre. Lime and 

 wood ashes are valuable for eradicating sorrel, mosses, ferns, &c. which 

 grow in acid soil. 



Arsenate of soda — 2 lb. to 10 gallons of water — is a successful weed 

 killer ; but being poisonous, care should be taken in handling, nor 

 should it be used too freely near valuable trees. It can be used to kill 

 ivy on trees or buildings, by two or three waterings, and to kill tree 

 stumps, holes being bored with an augur, arsenate of soda put in and 

 the holes plugged up with corks. Spring is probably the best season for 

 this treatment, which effectually prevents sprouting, and often obviates 

 the necessity of digging out the stumps. — C. H. H. 



Willow Growing 1 in Lancashire. By W. Dallimore (Kcio Bull, 

 9 ; 190>s). — Willows are grown at Mawdesley, S. Lanes., for basket 

 making, fancy work, &c, on ground similar to that on which ordinary 

 farm crops are grown, instead of the usual wet or marshy land, and to 

 this the special toughness of the rods produced is attributed. An 

 account of the method of cultivation adopted and a list of the varieties 

 found most suitable for local conditions is given. Some 500 acres are 

 under this crop on one farm in addition to other land in the neighbour- 

 hood.— F. J. C. 



Wood Distillation. By W. ('. Geer (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Forest Ser- 

 Vtce, Oirc. 1] I). — This is an important circular which has been compiled 

 to meet the demand for information regarding the commercial distillation 



