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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



experiments, mainly with regard to Strawberries, which he summarises 

 thus : " Frames glazed with blue glass and shaded preserve the ripe fruits 

 placed within them for about a fortnight longer than under white glass, 

 and the ripening of full-sized berries can also be retarded for ten or eleven 

 days in the usual way. For retarding vegetative growth, however, the 

 frames are useless, the plants becoming etiolated." — C. T. D. 



Streptopogon, Wils. : A Monograph of the Genus. By Ernest 

 S. Salmon, F.L.S. (Ann. Bot. xvii. No. lxv. p. 107, January 1903; with 

 plates viii., ix., x.). — Few of our readers probably are interested in 

 exotic muscology, but this is an important monograph and a valuable 

 dissertation on a genus which evidently required to be placed in order. 

 It comes near to Tortula ; the headquarters of the genus is in the Andes 

 of Ecuador and Colombia, whence the species spread north to Mexico and 

 south to Brazil, but there is the remarkable fact of the occurrence of two 

 species in Madagascar. — B. I. L. 



Sugar Beet, Composition of the. By Harvey W. Wiley (U.S.A. 

 Dept. Agr. Bur. Chem., Bull. 74, 1903.) — A comparison of data afforded 

 by a series of experiments with regard to the influence of environment on 

 the composition of the Sugar Beet, conducted in collaboration at many 

 different stations, viz. Washington, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, 

 New York (Geneva), Cornell (Ithaca), Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. 



The data collected from these experiments is shown in a series of three 

 charts. 



Number 1 show r s the percentage of sugar in the Beet, the latitude of 

 the station, and the sunshine record. In general, the latitude follows the 

 sugar content. The percentage of sunshine seems to have but little effect 

 upon the latter. 



Number 2 shows the percentage of sugar in the Beet, the purity of the 

 juice, the temperature and the average length of day at the station. It is 

 interesting to note from this chart that the percentage of sugar in the 

 Beet increases with the length of the day. 



Number 3 shows the percentage of sugar in the Beet, the altitude of 

 the station, and the rainfall record. 



A striking effect of environment on the composition of the Beet is 

 shown here in the increased sugar content connected with the rise of 

 altitude at the Blacksburg station. But this effect can only be taken in 

 connection with other features of environment, such as extensive plateaus, 

 &0., as altitude does not in every case mean the increase of sugar content. 

 With regard to rainfall, so long as the Beet has a sufficient supply of 

 water, it does not seem sensitive to slight variations. — C. H. C. 



Sugar-Beet, Observations on the Cultivation of. By M. M. 



lifrtlinult and Bretigniere (Ann. Agr. pp. 30-56 and 65-102; Jan.-Feb. 

 1902). — A paper of considerable length which should be consulted en bloc. 



C. IT. H. 



Sugar-cane Culture in Spain. By C. Bprenger (Bull. B. Soc. 

 Tosc. Ort. LI, p. 829; November 1903).— The production is larger than 

 the consumption, [n Malaga are 21 large factories, and 10 smaller ones. 



