624 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Streptocarpus Holstii. By W. Watson {Bot. Mag. tab. 8150).— 



Nat. ord. Gesneraceae ; tribe Cyrtandreae ; East Tropical Africa. A 

 slender branching herb, 18 inches high ; flowers mauve-purple, with a 

 white throat, 1-1^ inch long. — G. II. 



Sugar-cane Experiments in West Indies {Joum. Imp. Dep. 

 Ayr. W.I. 1907, 1). — This bulletin contains Reports of the West Indian 

 Agricultural Conference, 1907, with reprints of papers read, chiefly of 

 local interest, including — ■ 



Seedling Canes in Jamaica. By the Hon. H. H. Cousins, M.A., 

 F.C.S. 



Sugar-cane Expedients in the Leeward Islands. By the Hon. 

 Francis Watts, C.M.G., D.S., F.C.S. 



Sugar-cane Experiments in Barbados. By J. R. Bovell, F.L.S., 

 F.C.S. 



Breeding Hybrid Sugar-canes. By F. A. Stockdale, B.A. 



The Rational Use of Manures for Sugar-cane in Jamaica. By 

 Hon. H. H. Cousins, M.A., F.C.S. 



Selective Cane-reaping in Jamaica. By Mrs. A. Charley, Jamaica. 



The Polarimetric Determination of Sucrose. By Hon. Francis Watts 

 C.M.G., D.S., F.C.S., and H. A. Tempany, B.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S. 



Jamaica Bum. By Hon. H. H. Cousins, M.A., F.C.S. 



M. C. C. 



Tamarix pentandra. By 0. Stapf {Bot. Mag. tab. 8138).— Nat ord. 

 Tamaricaceae ; tribe Tamariceae ; South-Eastern Europe and Orient. 

 Flowers in panicles, rose-coloured or white. — G. H. 



Tampico Fibre. By A. Ravaioli {Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. Ort. 9, 

 1907, p. 265). — This fibre, known also as istle or ixtle, is obtained 

 principally from certain varieties of Agave. The name istle is the 

 native name, while the former name is due to its being exported, at 

 least in part, from Tampico, on the Gulf of Mexico. It is obtained 

 from four or five different species of plants growing on the arid region 

 of Southern Mexico — viz., in the western part of the State of Tamanlipas 

 (from 1,500 to 4,000 feet above the sea), in sterile, calcareous soils. 

 Three kinds are known in commerce : the Jaumave, the Tula, and the 

 Palma. The Jaumave is the best quality, and is obtained from Agave 

 lophantha. The part of the plant yielding the fibre is the central apical 

 mass of youngest leaves. The leaves are transported by mules two 

 days' journey across country to Vittoria. This quality of istle is 

 20-10 inches long, whitish in colour, flexible, and strong like sisal or 

 hemegueny also from a species of Agave, but with which the istle 

 must not be confused. The Tula istle is from Agave Lcchuguilla, 

 which abounds not only in Mexico but also in Texas and New Mexico ; 

 it is white, but only 12-20 inches long, and hence not so highly prized 

 as the former kind. A third variety, whose commercial value is about 

 that of the last-named, is obtained from a plant called in Mexico a 

 palm {Samuella carnerosana), one of the Liliaceae. It has a stem 

 6-15 inches in diameter and a bundle of pointed leaves 20-30 inches 

 long. Another plant producing this same variety of fibre is Yucca 



