ABSTRACTS. 



341 



Features specially commending it for cultivation are its constant 

 growth amid loose open sand, and in proximity to or in immediate contact 

 with the sea. 



Along the sea front many thousands of quarts are gathered annually, 

 which are used in part as a delicious table fruit, but in larger part are 

 converted into jelly preserves. A considerable trade in the fruit exists 

 along the Cape Cod and Plymouth coasts. 



By judicious cultivation and selection it is certain that many and finer 

 varieties might be secured, since the plant in the wild state has already 

 developed so favourably. 



Experiments are still in progress towards the solution of these 

 problems. — 31. C. C. 



Plums, A Chat about. By E. Bartrum, D.D. (Gard. Ma#. 

 No. 2515, p. 20; 11 1/1902). — In this number Dr. Bartrum commences 

 an interesting article (continued in No. 2516) upon Plums, a subject 

 with which he is evidently thoroughly well acquainted. He bases his 

 comments upon the Chiswick Reports, which he critically discusses, and 

 various useful hints occur in his remarks, and particularly in regard to 

 the value of certain sorts in small gardens or in localities near towns. 

 A separate paragraph is devoted to the Bohemian Plum 1 Reine Claude ' 

 or 1 Conite d'Althann,' a dessert Plum of high merit, which from one of 

 its names is apt to be confused with the older 1 Reine Claude de Bavay,' 

 which is quite distinct from the Bohemian. Notes on American Plums are 

 given, and also on Damsons. — W. G. 



Plums, Japanese. By W. Watson {Garden, No. 1585, p. 221 ; 

 5 4 1902). — Japanese Plums have been brought into notice by our 

 American cousins who grow them largely. When they were first tried in 

 the United States they were condemned on account of the tenderness of 

 the tree and the poor quality of fruit. It is clear that the evidence was 

 insufficient, and luckily it was not considered conclusive. Probably we 

 shall find the objections against them in this country to be unfounded. 

 They possess some characteristics which the best garden Plums do not, 

 productiveness, freedom from disease, &c. and the best of them compare 

 well in quality with the common Plums. — E. T. C. 



Plums, Varieties and Culture. By Arthur Bryant (U.S.A. Hort. 

 Soc. Illinois, 1901 ; pp. 181-186). — From this paper it would seem that 

 the cultivation of Japanese and native varieties has baen very great in 

 the United States. The most formidable obstacles experienced in Illinois 

 State have been the curculio and rot. For the former the author recom- 

 mends spraying, also spreading sheets under the trees and jarring the 

 insects off ; for the latter disease spraying with Bordeaux and thinning 

 of the fruit at an early date. — U. J. 31. 



Podocarpus, Gametophytes and Embryo of. By W. C. Coker 

 (Bot. Gaz. xxxiii., No. 2, p. 89, pis. 5-7). — The author treats of the 

 pollen sac, grain and tube, the female prothallium, archegone, and 

 embryo, as well as the affinities of Podocarpus, with literature. 



G. H. 



