750 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



At the New York station it has lately been recorded that in certain 

 market -garden regions, particularly on Long Island, commercial fertilisers 

 are habitually applied in larger quanties than the crop requires, or can 

 consume, and at a cost which with an uncertain crop and with a fluctuat- 

 ing market is liable to leave too small a margin of profit to the grower. 



M. L. H. 



Fadogia stenophylla, Welw., var. rhodesiana. By Spencer Le M. 

 Moore (Journ. Bot. 475, p. 253 ; 7/1902). — Description of a new variety, 

 with larger, cream-coloured flowers, and short, broad, bright green leaves, 

 collected by Dr. Rand at Salisbury, Rhodesia, from a specimen in the 

 National Herbarium. — G. S. B. 



Ferula Assa-f(Btida (syn. Scorodosma fatidum). By T. W. Meyer 

 (Die Gart. p. 494 ; 19/7/1902 ; with illustration).— A pretty and rather 

 uncommon foliage plant of the nat. ord. Umbelliferce. Also grown for 

 its well-known medical properties. — G. B. 



Ficus elastica : Grafting Roots on Cuttings. By J. Foussat 

 (Bev. Hort. pp. 456-7 ; Oct. 1, 1902.) — One woodcut representing a well- 

 wooded cutting eighteen days after insertion, due to the grafting of a 

 small piece of root about 2 in. long, not more, upon the base of the 

 cutting immediately below the last leaf. Much time is thereby gained 

 without 5 per cent, of loss. Cuttings can be removed in a fortnight from 

 the propagating-house. The same operation is suggested for other plants 

 difficult or slow to establish by cuttings. — C. T. D. 



Ficus Li via (Trojan Fig). By C. Sprenger (Bull. B. Soc. Tosc. 

 Ort. vii. p. 210; July 1902). — Its native country is probably Asia Minor, 

 in the region of Mount Kaz-Dagh (Mount Ida), or in the peninsula near 

 the Adramyttic Gulf. In the plain of Mendere (Skamandros) this Fig is 

 cultivated in enormous quantities, and it is not impossible that it has 

 always been found there. After the conquest of Troy the Greeks pro- 

 bably carried off this Fig, amongst other precious fruits, to their own 

 country, whence it would, under the name " Trojan Fig," have been 

 eventually brought to Italy. Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, &c. are the 

 centres of its greatest prosperity, where it grows tall and robust, and in 

 height rivals the Plane-tree. Hesiod does not mention it, but Archilochus, 

 700 b.c, speaks of it as a product of his island, Paros. The when and 

 how of its introduction into Italy remains obscure, but there is a legend 

 of Ficus ruminalis in whose shade Romulus and Remus were suckled by 

 the wolf. It is also known that under Tiberius, a great lover of fresh 

 fruits, many Fig-trees, cultivated and improved, had been imported from 

 Greece. This Fig rarely bears male flowers. The fruit is large, pyri- 

 form, smooth, at first bright green, becoming reddish on the side next the 

 sun ; the rind, on ripening of the fruit, easily splits. The pulp is of a 

 rosr-wine colour, saccharine, and melliferous, weighing 50 to 70 grams. 

 With the Neapolitans, rich and poor alike, it forms an important article 

 of food. It is one of the most reliable trees for producing annually a 

 large crop of fruit. Desiccation of the fruit must take place before the 

 autumn rains. The first fruits ripen at the end of July in the warmest 



