358 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Stuart, The late Dr. Charles. By R. D. (Joum. Hort. p. 171 ; 

 Feb. 20, 1902). — A brief notice of his useful work amongst florist's 

 flowers, especially in new varieties of Viola. — C. W. D. 



Stylidium gypsophiloides. By S. L. Moore {Joum. Bot. 469, 

 pp. 27, 28 ; 1 1902). — Description of a species, E. Pritzel's No. 116, from 

 the Murray District, West Australia. — G. S. B. 



Sugar Beet, Influence of Environment on. By Harvey W. 

 Wiley (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Bur. Chem., Bull. 64). — Contains records of 

 careful chemical analysis of the proportion of sugar in sample Beets 

 taken from crops grown at experimental stations in various districts of 

 America. The crops were all produced from a single packet of Austrian 

 Kleinwanzlebener Beet seed imported for the purpose of establishing, as 

 far as possible, what climatic and cultural conditions were most favour- 

 able to the production of a Beet containing the highest possible propor- 

 tion of sugar for commercial purposes. 



Each table of analysis contains headings for " Number of Beets 

 examined," " Dates of examination," "Weight," "Sugar by polarisa- 

 tion," " Sugar in Beet," and " Purity," and is accompanied, whenever 

 possible, by a table drawn up at the nearest weather bureau giving the 

 meteorological data of the district. 



Further on these facts are all collected in an ingenious series of 

 charts by means of variously produced lines crossing or corresponding 

 with each other. 



The experiments have so far only been carried on for one year, and 

 are necessarily to a certain extent incomplete and inconclusive. Even 

 those facts which have been arrived at seem only in some cases to reveal 

 the existence of new problems, but it seems possible to conclude already 



that— 



1. Low temperature and high sugar go together. 



2. Short days and low sugar go together. 



8. Altitude as it affects temperature has an evident effect upon the 

 production of sugar in the Beet, as has also 



4. Rainfall, though in this case it is not greater or less amount which 

 is important so much as its even distribution during the season of actual 

 growth, and its reduction during the period of ripening. — M. L. H. 



Sugar Beets. Influence of Manure upon. By W. H. Jordan 



and G. W. Churchill (New York Agr. Bull. No. 205, December 1901).— 

 The experiments, extending over four years, were undertaken to test the 

 accuracy of the statement that Sugar Beets are of inferior quality when 

 grown on land heavily manured in spring with stable dung. 



Comparisons were made of^ the quality of several varieties of Sugar 

 Beets -town with no manure, 1,000 lb. artificials, and 40,000 lb. to 

 80,000 lb. stable dung per acre respectively. 



All three methods gave Beets of high quality, those on the stable 

 dung plots being slightly better than those manured with 1,000 lb. of 

 commercial fertiliser per acre. — J. P. 



