154 



JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



inoculation material sent out dry on absorbent cotton was useless for 

 the purpose for which it was intended, and now report similarly upon 

 cultures which had been protected by being enclosed in tin boxes. It 

 had been claimed for these that as the cultures were kept dry they 

 would remain uninjured for a long time,— F. J. C. 



Lemon Rot. By R. E. Smith (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. California, null. 

 184 ; 3 figs. ; January 1907). — The trouble dealt with is known as 

 "brown rot," and spreads very rapidly through lemons in the packing- 

 house and marketing box. The loss in one season amounted to 75,000 

 dollars. The rot has been found to be due to a hitherto undescribed 

 fungus, Pythiacystis Citrophthora, the spores of which are developed in 

 the soil beneath the trees. Some fruit becomes infected in wet weather 

 on the trees, but the ehief source of infection is the water in the washing 

 tank, which soon contains numbers of spores from the dust and dirt of 

 the orchard. The fungus spreads from fruit to fruit through contact 

 between them, but no spores are developed upon the fruits.— F. J. C. 



Lilac, Double. By Georges Bellair (Rev. Hort. June 16, 1906, 

 pp. 321-324 ; 3 illustrations). — An interesting article describing some 

 very fine forms raised by M. Lemoine, and figuring two of the finest, 

 ' Alphonse Lavallee ' and ' Docteur Masters,' both white. A list of early 

 and late forms is given, many of which by their description merit a place 

 in our gardens and are of value for forcing purposes.— C. T. D. 



Lilacs, The. By W. J. Bean (Garden, No. 1799, p. 253 ; May 12, 

 1906). — Garden varieties of lilac, which now constitute one of the most 

 beautiful groups of hardy shrubs, are derived from two species of Syringa 

 only. These are the common lilac (S. vulgaris) and the Persian lilac 

 (S. persica). It is to the former of these that the finest of the garden 

 varieties owe their origin, although some of the hybrids between it and 

 the Persian lilac are very delightful, notably, the old Rouen lilac. 



Lilac-time, of which the poets sing, is a time of fragrance and colour 

 in the garden, for it comes in later May ; but there is nothing sweeter in its 

 perfume or more alluring in its beauty even then than a flower-laden lilac. 

 Although the common lilac is not a native of Britain, it has for over 300 

 years been an inmate of our gardens, and is as closely associated with 

 rural scenery as almost any native plant. It is even doubtful if it be a 

 native of Europe, for, although it has been found apparently wild in the 

 region of the Danube, it was not till 1828 that it was admitted into the 

 European flora. This seems a very late date for so noticeable a plant to 

 have been discovered. Some authorities believe that it is, like the Persian 

 lilac, of Asiatic — probably Chinese — origin. However this may be, the 

 common lilac reached Western Europe about the middle of the sixteenth 

 century, and the Persian lilac about the beginning of the seventeenth. 



The first variety or hybrid of which we have any record is the Rouen 

 lilac : this is said to have been raised in the Botanic Garden at Rouen 

 near the end of the eighteenth century. — E. T. C. 



Lilium Brownii. By H. P. (Garden, No. 1797, p. 234 ; coloured 



plate ; April 28, 1906). — The typical Lilium Brownii, that is to say, the 



