710 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Soils, Their Requirements and Improvements. By Dr. H. J. 



Wheeler (U.S.A. St. Bd. Agr. Neiv Jersey, Rep. 1902-3, pp. 128-158).— 

 In this excellent and practical discourse the need of considering the 

 physical as well as the chemical composition of the soil is shown. The 

 author considers that farmyard manure, if properly treated, is, except for 

 its deficiency in phosphoric acid, an ideal manure, but that since this 

 commodity is frequently scarce, recourse has to be had to artificial 

 fertilisers. The best forms and proportions in which to apply these are 

 pointed out, and the great value of lime as a corrective to acidity in soils, 

 with all the evils that follow from an acid soil, is pointed out. The one 

 drawback to an alkaline condition of the soil (caused frequently by the 

 presence of ammonia set free from farmyard manure) is, as was first pointed 

 out in 1891 in a Rhode Island bulletin, that the Potato scab fungus grows 

 best in an alkaline medium, and an attack of this disease, therefore, 

 frequently follows the application of farmyard manure. The whole 

 paper, which is too long for an adequate review here, is worthy of careful 

 attention. — F. J. C. 



Soil, Sterilisation Of. By A. Smith (Gard, Ghron. No. 885, p. 410, 

 Dec. 12, 1903). — It is mentioned that " there are few, if any, large market 

 gardeners and florists in the United States who do not now sterilise all 

 the soil used in the benches and beds of their greenhouses," and a descrip- 

 tion is given of the apparatus used for this purpose. It consists mainly 

 of perforated tubes round which the soil is placed and through which 

 steam is passed, raising the temperature of the soil to 210° Fahr. in about 

 twenty minutes. If this can be done economically, various pests should 

 soon be stamped out. — G. S. S. 



Soils we cultivate. By J. J. Willis (Gard, Mag. No. 2594, p. 475 ; 

 18/7/03). — A series of excellent articles on a subject most important to 

 gardeners, the wearing out of soils, the necessity of manuring, and the 

 results of the experiments carried out at Rothamsteid are dealt with. 



W. G. 



Solanum ciliatum. By Ed. Andre (Rev. Hort. November 1, 1903, 

 p. 500 ; coloured plate). — Bears large crimson Tomato-like berries 

 throughout the winter ; fruits as large as Mandarin Oranges. Highly 

 recommended for decoration of conservatories. Native of Brazil. 



C. T. D. 



Solanum Commersoni. Anon. (Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. Ort., 9, p. 277 ; 

 September 1903). — Described as a new Potato by the Director of the 

 Colonial Institute of Marseilles. It hails from Uruguay. It has been 

 cultivated for some years in France. It is adapted to growth in a low 

 marshy soil, does not mind frost, and yields successive crops from the 

 same bel without need of replanting. Its cultivation is of the simplest 

 kind, the soil only requiring to be dug over in spring. The edible aerial 

 parts of the plant are abundant and furnish a green fodder, the supply 

 of which is continued until the cold weather. The production of tubers is 

 uninfluenced by the removal of the aerial parts. They are as yet only 

 partially perfected and are not yet fit for human consumption, being too 



