712 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Sparaxis pulcherrima. By J. Day (Gard. Mag. No. 2G08, p. 704 ; 

 24/10/08). — The successful cultivation of this beautiful South African 

 bulb is the exception rather than the rule, and the writer of these notes 

 describes in detail his method of growing it well. He writes from 

 Wigtownshire, where the climate is mild and probably especially suitable 

 to the requirements of this capricious plant. — W. G. 



Sphaerocodon obtusifolium. By W. B. Hemsley (Bot. Mag. 

 tab. 7925). — Nat. ord. Asclepiadacece, tribe Marsdeniece. Native of 

 Tropical Africa. It is dwarf and sub-erect in wild state, but is a partial 

 climber under cultivation. Stems 1-3 feet long ; leaves oval. Flowers 

 6-8 lines in diain., purple-red. — G. H. 



Spores, Formation of the, in the sporangia of Bhizopus 

 nigricans, and of Phycomyces nitens. By Deane B. Swingle (U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr. Bur. PL Ind. Bull, 37 ; June 1903, with 6 plates).— The 

 essential processes in the formation of spores are thus summarised : 



1. Streaming of cytoplasm nuclei and vacuoles up the sporangiophore, 

 and out toward the periphery, forming a dense layer next the sporangium- 

 wall, and a less dense region in the interior, both containing nuclei. 



2. Formation of a layer of comparatively large, round vacuoles in the 

 denser plasma, parallel to its inner surface. 



3. Extension of these vacuoles by flattening, so that they face to form 

 a curved cleft in the denser plasma ; and, in Bhizopus, the cutting upward 

 of a circular surface furrow from the base of the sporangium to meet the 

 cleft formed by these vacuoles, thus cleaving out the columella. 



4. Division of the sporoplasm into spores ; in Bhizopus by furrows 

 pushing progressively inward from the surface and outward from the 

 columellar cleft, both systems branching, curving, and intersecting, to form 

 multinucleated bits of protoplasm, surrounded only by plasma-membranes 

 and separated by spaces filled with cell sap only ; in Phycomyces, by 

 angles forming in certain vacuoles containing a stainable substance, and 

 continuing outward into the spore-plasm as furrows, aided by other furrows 

 from the columella cleft and dividing the protoplasm into bits, homologous 

 with and similar to those in Bhizopus, and separated by furrows partly 

 filled with the contents of the vacuoles that assist in the cleavage. 



5. Formation of walls about the spores and columella, and, in the 

 case of Bhizopus, the secretion of an intersporal slime. 



6. Partial disintegration of the nuclei in the columella. — M. C. C. 



Spraying*, Directions and Formulae for (Trans. III. Hort. Soc. 

 L902, ]>. 7). — Some useful directions as to the materials, preparation and 

 application, and the judgment necessary to carry out spraying in a thorough 

 manner. Borne excellent recipes for five, fifty, and one hundred gallons 

 of the various washes are included. — E. F. H. 



Spraying Orchards (Journ. Hort. June 11, 1903, p. 514).— The 



Canadian Department of Agriculture have recently given a series of 

 practical demonstrations, in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to show 

 how spraying may be most easily effected.— C. W. D. 



