286 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



kinds of plants ; the name appears very frequently in garden literature. 

 The question is thoroughly discussed, and various old authors are quoted, 

 but no very definite conclusion is come to. — G. S. S. 



Bauhinia yunnanensis. By Sir J. J). Hooker (Bot. Mag. tab. 

 7814). — Nat. ord. Leguminosce, tribe Bauliinicce. Native of China. 

 This is a very graceful greenhouse climber. It flowers freely at Kew and 

 at Cambridge. The flowers are pale pink in colour, the three perfect 

 stamens carmine. — G. II. 



Beans : Their History and Cookery : By H. Roberts (Gard. Mag. 

 No. 2527, p. 217 ; 5/4/1902). — The writer of this article succeeds in giving 

 a new interest to the prosaic subject of the Broad Bean and its usual accom- 

 paniment of bacon. He even invests it with additional value as an 

 ornamental plant, which it undoubtedly is, though it is rarely seen in a 

 hardy flower border. Why the ancient Egyptians should have considered 

 the Bean an unclean thing and why it was held in high esteem by Greeks 

 and Romans is unexplainable, and if correct the facts show the eccen- 

 tricities of human nature. From the historic notes of the Broad Bean, 

 its introduction into England, the allusion to it in Chaucer's writings, the 

 article ascends or descends to the more practical uses of the Bean in the 

 various ways of cooking it. Cooks and housewives should read this article. 



W. G. 



Begonia ' Gloire de Lorraine,' Dwarf (Be v. Hort. p. 102 ; 



March 1, 1902). — A very dwarf form, compact, with very large flowers, is 

 described as exhibited at the Florists' Club, Philadelphia. — C. T. D. 



Begonia x Kyddii (J. H. Murray in Amer, Gard. xxiii. p. 150 ; 

 8/3/1902). — A handsome Begonia raised by D. Kidd for Mr. Weiland, of 

 New Haven, Conn., between B. Scharffiana and B. metallica, and quite 

 distinct from B. Haageana. Flowers many, in large clusters, rose-pink ; 

 males with two round and two narrow petals, females with five equal 

 petals ; peduncle erect, Hfoot above the leaves. — C. C. H. 



Berry Growing". By Geo. W. Williams (U.S.A. St. Bd. Missouri 

 Bull. vol. i. No. 11 ; 1902). — Good description of American methods of 

 growing Blackberries and Strawberries. When you can pick up a hand- 

 ful of earth and squeeze it into a mud-ball, it is too wet for hoeing. 



C. H. H. 



Black Currant Mite, The. By W. E. B. (Gard. Chron. No. 790, 

 p. 105 ; 15 2/1902). — An interesting resume of a paper published in the 

 Royal Agricultural Society's Journal of the life-history of this mite. The 

 first notice of this pest was published in 18G9 by Prof. Westwood in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, and for many years the life-history of these mites 

 was practically unknown, the minute size of the creature (it is invisible 

 to tin- naked eye) rendering observations very difficult ; but Mr. C. 

 Warburton, with the assistance of Miss A. L. Embleton, has cleared up 

 many points in its history, but at present there does not seem to be any 

 satisfactory method of destroying this pest. — G. S. S. 



