ABSTRACTS. 



751 



position, and continue to do so until November. After drying in the sun 

 the fruit should be placed in an oven for a quarter of an hour, otherwise 

 it will not keep well. The tree is often gigantic in size, forming a very 

 broad crown of long, sometimes contorted and irregular, branches, this 

 latter character being often due to rough usage by the peasants while 

 gathering the fruit. The trunk is erect, with an ash-coloured bark. 

 The wood, valueless when young, is, when old and well dried, very hard. 

 The long-stalked leaves are very broad, more or less regularly trilobed, 

 slightly sinuate and denticulate, cordate at the base, with whitish vena- 

 tion, of a bright green on the upper, of a glaucous tinge and rough on 

 the lower surface. Goats are very fond of them. The first flowers 

 appear in May, when the annual branches have attained half their size. 

 The chief centres of the Fig's cultivation are Naples, Gaeta, Capua, 

 Caserta, and Salerno. The plant is not dainty as regards choice of soil, 

 but prefers a good cultivated medium, though it flourishes equally well 

 in light poor soil. — W. C. W. 



Fig Culture Out of Doors and Under Glass. By 0. Thomas 

 (Garden, No. 1,596, p. 414; 21/6/1902).— A valuable article on this 

 important subject. Training, thinning the fruit, ventilation, time of 

 flowering, and fertilisation are thoroughly gone into. " Every year the 

 Fig is becoming more sought after, and as the art of growing it to greater 

 perfection becomes better known, so will there be an increased demand for 

 the fruit."— E. T. C. 



Finger-and-Toe in Turnips (Plasnwdiophora brassicce). Anon. 

 (Journ. Bd. Ayr. vol. ix. pp. 145-149, with fig.). — An extremely infectious 

 fungoid disease, often very destructive both in the garden and field. It 

 is said, however, to be practically unknown on soils naturally containing 

 a high percentage of lime. As a preventive, the use of burnt lime has 

 been found to give the best results. — R. N. 



Flax Wilt and Flax-sick Soil. By H. L. Bolley {U.S.A. Exp. 

 Stn.f N. Dakota Bull. No. 50 ; with woodcuts). — There is a diseased 

 condition of Flax soils long known as " Flax-sick soil." The plants die 

 at all ages as if attacked by "wilt." The direct cause is a fungus 

 parasite which grows on the inside of the Flax plant, starting from the 

 seed or the roots, chiefly by way of the seed. This fungus belongs to the 

 genus Fusarium, and a new species to be called Fusarmm lini. When 

 the soil is once infected no way is known to rid it of the parasite. The 

 seed Flax should be thoroughly cleaned before treating. Scaly Flax seed 

 and seed which has been wet are always very poor for seed. Such seeds 

 harbour the spores of fungi which kill the young plants as soon as the 

 seeds germinate. Cease growing Flax year after year on the same land, 

 Burn as much of the old Flax straw and stubble which remain upon the 

 ground as possible. The Flax-wilt disease does more injury to the seed- 

 lings when the seed is placed deep in loose soil than when planted 

 shallow. One-half to three-fourths inch is the best depth.— M. C. G. 



Floral Exhibits, Artistic. ByGeorges Bellait (Rev. Hort. pp. 282-5 ; 

 three illustrations ; June 16, 1902). — A very interesting article on the art 



