1184 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and plants will tolerate, are inserted. A very suggestive paper for those 

 having to deal with land impregnated with alkali. — F. J. C. 



Almonds, Spanish. By David G. Fairchild (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. liar. 

 PL hid. Bull. 2G, 1902 ; 7 plates). — A description of the various sorts of 

 Almond imported from Spain into England and America, with a state- 

 ment of all the arguments in favour of an attempt to grow them in 

 California. Soil and climate are both apparently very much the same 

 among the foot-hills of California and in the parts about Malaga and 

 Alicante, and in the other regions along the Spanish coast where the 

 Sweet Almond of commerce is almost exclusively grown. 



The only reason why American confectioners have hitherto preferred 

 the imported Almond is that so far the best sorts have not been planted 

 in California except experimentally. 



The trade names of these best varieties are apparently not known 

 to the growers in Spain, but were given by the English buyers, who 

 formerly monopolised almost the whole supply available for export. The 

 most esteemed sort is the so-called Jordan Almond, the long slim white 

 one with which we are familiar at dessert, and which is grown in the 

 neighbourhood of Malaga. Next to this in value comes the Valencia 

 Almond, a short heart-shaped nut with a flat broad kernel and less 

 delicate flesh, which grows about Alicante. " Mollar " is the local name 

 for a soft-shelled variety, or more probably any soft-shelled variety, grown 

 also about Alicante, largely for home consumption. 



It still remains to be conclusively proved that the parts of California 

 otherwise suitable to Almond-growing are free enough from late frosts 

 for the cultivation of these choice sorts ; but as the State is able already 

 to produce 2\ million lbs. a year of Almonds, only slightly inferior to the 

 best imported ones, the experiment seems at all events worth trying. 



The bulletin concludes with plates showing Jordan and Valencia 

 Almonds in every possible position, a view of a fruiting branch affected 

 with the gummosis to which the trees are liable, and a well- reproduced 

 series of most pictorial photographs illustrating the home of the Almond 

 in Spain, its manner of growth, and some of the processes of its cultiva- 

 tion.— M. L. H. 



Alpine Regions, Geographical Distribution of Plants in. By 



Paul Taccard {Flora, vol. xc. 1902, pp. 349-377).— This is a largely 

 statistical article. The most important conclusion is that the repartition 

 of species in the different districts is largely conditioned by the existing 

 ecolcgical conditions. The more uniform the conditions in a district, 

 the greater the falling off' in numbers, and this is again greater for species 

 than for genera, so that in the most uniformly conditioned districts each 

 genus may be represented by a single species. This recalls the character 

 of island floras. — M. H. 



Amelanchier oxyodon n.sp. By E. Koehne (Gartenflora, 15/11/1902, 

 p. G09, fig. 12G). — A brief botanical description of a new species from 

 North-West America. — J. P. 



Ants in relation to Plants. By Hibernia (Oard. Mag. No. 2532, 

 p. 285, 10/5/1902). — An interesting note in which the writer endeavours 



