1138 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Begonia 'Bavaria.' By B. Trenker (Die Gart. pp. 115 and 116, 



6 12 1902). "With illustration. A charming bedding Begonia of the 

 tuberous class, comparatively new, and but little known in Great Britain. 

 The plant is dwarf, bushy and compact, with light green slightly glaucous 

 foliage, exceedingly free flowering, bearing uninterruptedly from June till 

 late autumn a mass of rosy-carmine flowers. — G. B. 



Birch-trees proof against Lightning. P. Hariot (Le Jard. Sept. 

 20, 1902, p. 273). — It is said in America that in a thunderstorm the 

 Indians make for the nearest Birch-tree, and consider themselves secure 

 beneath it. The writer recommends that the subject should be fully 

 investigated, and the particular kind of Birch-tree specified. — C. W. D. 



Bramble, The White-stemmed. By W. Dallimore (Garden, No. 

 1619, p. 379; 29 11 1902).— For horticultural purposes the hardy 

 Brambles may be divided into three groups : first, those grown for their 

 fruits ; secondly, those valuable for their flowers ; and, thirdly, those 

 having coloured stems. In the latter group are some ten or twelve 

 species, the White-stemmed Bramble (Bubus biflorus) being possibly the 

 best known. — E. T. C. 



Brassiea, Seed-coats of certain species of the Genus. By 



A. J. Pieters and Vera K. Charles (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Div. Bot., Bull. 

 No. 29 ; 1901 ; 1 pi. and 6 figs, in text). — The object of this paper is 

 thus stated : — " Heretofore it has been considered impossible to dis- 

 tinguish certain high-priced seeds of the group from some of the almost 

 valueless ones. . . . The present investigation has resulted in the dis- 

 covery of a method by which some may be distinguished." This is done 

 by making microscopic sections of the seed-coat, when the different layers 

 of cells are seen to vary considerably in each species ; their differences 

 are shown in the figures given in the text. — G. H. 



Brasso-Cattleya Chamberlainiae [Orch. Bev. p. 326, Nov. 1902).— 

 The coloured characteristics and general particulars of this hybrid, derived 

 from intercrossing Lcelia (Brassavola) Digbyana and Cattleya quadricolor, 

 are given. — H. J. C. 



Bulbs, Open Air and Under Glass. (Gard. Mag. No. 2550; 

 13/9 1902). — What is called the Bulb Number of this Journal contains 

 much information upon Bulbs, hardy and tender, from Snowdrops to 

 Hippeastrums, and numerous illustrations accompany the various articles 

 on particular classes of Bulbs. — \V. G. 



Carnation Disease in America. By A. M. Herr (Le Jard.).— The 

 Carnation, which is a great favourite in the United States, is there 

 exposed to a cryptogamic and microbic disease of the stem which seems 

 to be analogous to, if not identical with, that which prevails on the 

 Mediterranean coast. At least its cause is identical. Professor Wood, 

 of Baltimore, has proved to the Carnation -growers that the disease is 

 i specially prevalent on soil which has been manured with dung or with 

 decomposed turf, a common method in America. There, as here, chemical 



