NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



Gil 



the author deprecates the unscientific practice of some amateurs, who 

 cross species chosen apparently at random just to " see what will happen." 

 Given a complete acquaintance with the ancestry of the parent plants, the 

 production of fresh varieties of orchids of increasing value should be a 

 matter of almost scientific certainty. Method is, however, essential, and 

 each successive cross should be made with some definite object in view. 

 Nothing less than perfection should be aimed at, but one point only 

 should be considered at a time, first form and then colour being the 

 most correct order. That is to say, having produced a flower of the 

 desired size or beauty of form, the hybrid must be recrossed with the 

 colour parent several times if necessary to reach the greatest attainable 

 perfection of colour. M. Duval looks forward to the appearance of 

 varieties of orchids of surprising beauty and perfection, produced by the 

 intercrossing of already improved hybrids. A study of the nature of 

 colour and of the chemical composition of pigments in flowers is 

 recommended to the serious worker in the hybridisation of orchids. 



M. L. H. 



Oryctes nasicornis. By J. Vercier (Le Jardin, vol. xxi. No. 497, 

 p. 830 ; November 5, 1907 ; 1 fig.). — The larva of this insect is fatal 

 to the green vegetables it attacks. It resembles the cockchafer grub, 

 being white and similar in shape, but is much larger — 3 to 4 cm. long. 

 It inhabits, and is doubtless introduced by, manure and leaf-mould, 

 whence it ravages the roots and stems of vegetables. The larvae should 

 be sought out and destroyed in autumn, after which the ground must 

 be disinfected with formol to destroy the survivors. — F. A. W. 



Paeonia Cambessedesii. By W. Watson (Bot. Mag. tab. 8161).— 

 Nat. ord. Banimculaceae ; tribe Paeonieae ; Balearic Islands and Corsica. 

 Perennial, 1^ feet high ; flowers deep rose-pink, 3^ inches diameter ; 

 carpels 5-7, purple. — G. H. 



Paeony, Yellow (Le Jardin, vol. xxi. No. 496, p. 306 ; October 20, 

 1907). — Paeonia lutea 1 Mme. Louis Henry', hybrid from P. lutea and 

 P. Moutan var. ' Elisabeth.' A beautiful new variety, striped pink and 

 yellow, with marked characteristics (absence of shoots and woody stems) 

 from both parents. — F. A . W. 



Palm Seed, Germination Of. By E. Draps-Dom (Le Jardin, 

 vol. xxi. No. 497, p. 325 ; November 5, 1907). — Palm seeds often take 

 several years to germinate, but M. Draps-Dom finds that by placing 

 them on arrival in hot, almost boiling water, and leaving them to soak 

 for twenty-four hours they can be made to germinate in a fortnight. 



F. A. W. 



Palms, Branching' in. By H. N. Ridley (Ann, Bot. vol. xxi. 

 July 1907, pp. 415-422). — Previous writers have considered that palms 

 are normally unbranched, and that growth takes place by the continuous 

 development of a single monopodial bud. The author of this paper 

 believes that the greater number of palms are really branched, at all 

 events at the base, and that cases in which there is but one axis produced 

 are a departure from the normal. He shows that soboliferous palms 



