SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, JULY 23. 



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SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE. 



July 23, 1907. 



Mr. E. A. Bowles, M.A., F.L.S., in the Chair, and fourteen members 



present. 



Dying Beech Trees. — Mr. Giissow reported that he had examined the 

 wood of the Beech sent to the last meeting and found the mycelium of a 

 Polyporus growing in it. He had little doubt that the death of the tree 

 was due to this parasite. 



Fuchsia, Vine, and Aucuba. — Messrs. Massee, V.M.H., and Giissow 

 reported that no fungi could be found in the tissues of either of these 

 sent to the last meeting. 



Memorial of Dr. Masters. — Rev. W. Wilks repeated a suggestion 

 he had already brought forward in the Press concerning the establish- 

 ment of a permanent memorial of the late Dr. Masters, to take the 

 form of a series of lectures to be delivered annually before the Royal 

 Horticultural Society by some eminent scientific man upon some phase 

 of the relationship between science and horticulture, the lectures to be 

 subsequently published. The suggestion met with the cordial approval 

 of the Committee, and Mr. Wilks undertook to bring the matter before 

 the Council. 



Germination of Seeds in Sterilised Soil. — Mr. Spencer Pickering, 

 F.R.S., raised the question of the germination of bacillus-free seeds in 

 sterilised soil, stating that he had found that the heating of soil to 60° C. 

 and upwards retarded the germination of the seeds to a very marked 

 extent, just as he had found the growth of trees in soil which had been 

 heated to be retarded. The seeds (Ryegrass and Mustard) had been 

 sterilised with carbon bisulphide, and had germinated after treatment quite 

 freely in ordinary soil. Different members of the Committee mentioned 

 sources of information upon this point. 



Galls on Willoiv.— Professor Boulger, F.L.S., showed some galls upon 

 Willow, similar to those shown last year by Mr. Chittenden, due to the 

 attacks of a mite. The galls were this year very common around 

 Loughton and Buckhurst Hill, in Essex, and formed large masses of 

 short shoots with crowded, much shortened leaves. 



Fasciated Lilium candidum—M.x. Bowles showed on behalf of 

 Mr. Hyde, of Enfield Highway, a fasciated stem of this Lily. The 

 stem was about 3^ inches broad, and bore a very large number of small 

 flowers. 



Lneddemannia Pescatorei. — Mr. Bowles also exhibited a large spike of 

 this remarkable species, which had already received a Botanical Certificate. 



Chlorosis in Fruit Trees. — Specimens of Apples on the Paradise stock, 

 Pears on the Quince, Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Raspberries, and Vines 

 were received from near Glastonbury, all with their leaves showing 



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