JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



sulphur-salt wash. Fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas has been very 

 effective in practically all experiments against scale insects. Arsenical 

 poisons, such as Paris green and arsenate of lead, and arsenite of soda 

 in combination with Bordeaux mixture, are recommended for use by most 

 stations against leaf-eating caterpillars. In some of the experiments 

 dust-spraying was found very effective, as, e.g., a mixture of pulverised 

 copper sulphate, slaked lime, and either Paris green or arsenate of lead 

 was found very effective in Delaware, 2 lb. of the dry mixture being 

 required to spray an amount of foliage which could be covered with 

 four gallons of liquid mixture. Codlin moth and apple scab were satis- 

 factorily controlled by dust spraying. The use of whale-oil soap as an 

 insecticide has met with varying results, probably owing to variations in 

 the composition of the soap. The New Y r ork Station recommends that 

 the soap be made at home from 6 lb. caustic soda, 22 lb. fish oil, 

 and H gallon of water. This will make 40 lb. of soap, which may be 

 used at the rate of .1 lb. in seven gallons of water. 



An interesting summary of the work carried on against various insects 

 is given ; but as most of horticultural interest has already been referred 

 to in these abstracts under the various experiment stations, it need not 

 be further dealt with now. — F. J. C. 



Insects and Fungus Pests in Illinois, Fifty Years' Progress 

 in Control Of. By S. A. Forbes (Trans. Hort. Soc. Illinois, 1905, 

 pp. 219-227). — Paris green was first used in the early 'sixties as a potato- 

 beetle poison. By 1877 its use in orchards for canker-worm was fairly 

 general. In 1878 London purple began to be used against the codling- 

 moth. But a serious bar to the use of these arsenical poisons was their 

 caustic action, which induced Professor Gillette, of Iowa, to add lime. 

 The use of hellebore and pyrethrum dates from 1858 and 1879. Kerosene 

 was first used in 1865. The author's experiments with lime and 

 sulphur washes caused their adoption as recently as 1902. Bisulphide of 

 carbon against weevils in mills and granaries, hydrocyanic gas for 

 fumigation, Bordeaux mixture as a fungicide, and ammoniacal carbonate 

 of copper for the same purpose, have all been introduced in the last fifty 

 years. — C. H. L. 



Ipomoea murucoides {Bev. Hort. February 1, 1907, p. 55).— 

 A Mexican tree convolvulus of the habit of the elder, but with long 

 sarmentous roots. As it withstands fairly hard frosts, it would probably 

 succeed in Cornwall and other places where mild winter conditions prevail. 



C. T. D. 



Iris verna. By W. Watson (Bot. Mag. tab. 8159).— Nat. ord. 

 Iridaceae ; tribe Moraeae ; United States. Leaves 6-8 inches long, 

 veined ; perianth purple ; falls pale violet with orange claws. — G. H. 



Irises, American. By G. B. M. (Gard. Chron. No. 1070, June 29, 

 1907, p. 417 ; No. 1071, July 6, p. 6). — The American irises are, according 

 to the author, not so weU known in this country as they ought to be, and 

 he gives the names and descriptions of twenty-three species and varieties, 

 with directions as to their cultivation. In conclusion the author says : 



