ABSTRACTS. 



721 



employed, followed by records of experimental study on spore germination, 

 extremes of temperature, action of an artificial digestive fluid, effects of 

 acids on germination, effect of light on germination, age of the spores 

 relative to their power of germination, a new factor in germination, 

 effect of mycelium on germination, concluding that it has been 

 determined that " if a few spores are able to germinate under the 

 cultural conditions, or if a bit of the mycelium of Agaricus campestris 

 be introduced into the culture, the growth resulting will in either case 

 cause or make possible the germination of nearly all the spores of the 

 culture, provided, of course, that the other conditions are not such as to 

 inhibit germination." This is followed by an historical review. The 

 above to be considered as preliminary to work which must follow before 

 the secrets are revealed. — 31. C. C. 



Agave americana. By W. Dallimore (Garden, No. 1,589, p. 283 ; 

 3/5/1902). — The writer calls attention to the old notion that the Giant 

 Agave (or American Aloe, as this plant is popularly but erroneously called) 

 flowered but once in a hundred years, which is still believed by some people, 

 who, when told that it is a myth appear quite disappointed, and their inter- 

 est in the plant is gone. To the enthusiastic gardener, however, the plant 

 can never be without interest ; for its noble appearance, large, fleshy,and bold 

 foliage, and, when it flowers, its tall stately inflorescence, terminated with 

 hundreds of small tubular flowers, stamp it as one of the most distinct 

 plants in the garden. — E. T. C. 



Agave Bakeri. By W. W. (Garden, No. 1,586, p. 210 ; 12/4/1902). 

 — Nothing is known of the origin of this plant beyond the fact that it 

 was purchased in 1889 at the sale of the collection of succulents formed 

 by the late J. T. Peacock at Sudley House, Hammersmith. It belongs 

 to the Litt&a section of the genus, the members of which have innumer- 

 able flowers in pairs, forming a dense cylindrical subspicate inflorescence. 

 The flower-spike is 8J feet high. It flowered at Kew this year for the 

 first time. Illustrated by a photograph of the plant in the Mexican 

 House at Kew.— E. T. C. 



Agricultural Conference in Queensland in 1902 (Qu. Agr. 

 Joum. xi. ; July 1902). — Reports of this conference occupy the entire 

 July part of this journal, which cannot be satisfactorily abstracted. 



M . C. C. 



Agricultural Returns for 1901 [Cd. 1,121]. Anon. (Joum. Bd. 

 Agr. vol. ix. pp. 118-120). — This paper is a review of the Parliamentary 

 publications of the statistics collected by the Board of Agriculture of the 

 acreage and produce of crops and the number of live stock in Great 

 Britain in 1901, references to portions of which have already appeared in 

 the pages of the Society's Journal. It may be interesting in this connec- 

 tion to add that the total area of land and water in Great Britain is given 

 as 56,786,000 acres, of which 13,000,000 represent mountain and heath- 

 land, used for grazing stock ; 2,726,000 were occupied by woods and 

 plantations, and 32,417,000 were under cultivation. The land under the 



