ABSTRACTS. 



1151 



supply, the chief points aimed at being to bring a regular supply of 

 available plant food in a soluble condition within the reach of growing 

 crops. 



The success of arable versus pasture land for orchards is discussed, and 

 an instance is given of a most successful case where the latter conditions 

 prevail. There is more in this, however, than is gathered by the ordinary 

 observer. The orchard is considerably overstocked with sheep during the 

 greater part of years, which keep the grass very close. These are fed 

 largely on dry food as bran, corn, &C, the result being a liberal top- 

 dressing of valuable manure, rich in plant foods which more than doubly 

 compensate for those taken from the soil by the closely cropped grasses. 



E. F. H. 



Fig-Coffee. By P. Hariot (Le Jard. June 20, 1902, p. 177).— In 

 Austria and more recently in Algeria Figs roasted hard and powdered are 

 largely prepared to adulterate coffee, and for mixture it is preferred to 

 chicory, as being more palatable and nutritious. — C. W. D. 



Flora of Connecticut. By J. N. Bishop {U.S.A. St. Bd. Conn., 

 Eep. 1901). — The author gives "a Catalogue of all Phaenogamous and 

 Vascular Cryptogamons Plants at present known to grow without culti- 

 vation in the State of Connecticut." 1,743 species are listed, belonging 

 to 574 genera and 115 orders. About one-fourth of the species occur out 

 of cultivation in the British Isles, while fully one half the genera are 

 represented here. — F. J. C. 



Flora of Middle Europe, Recent Natural Introductions in the 



(Beih. Bot. Cent. bd. xiii. ht. 2, pp. 211-234).— Dr. Hock continues his 

 list of new arrivals and new localities of foreign plants. Citrullus 

 Colocynthis, Coffea arabica, Stevia ovata (Mexico and Argentine), and 

 Guizotia abyssinica are recorded for the first time. A great number of 

 localities is given for Asclepias syriaca, Gilia grandiflora, Phacelia 

 tanacetifolia, the Tomato, and others. (See previous papers in same 

 Journal.) — G. F. S.-E. 



Floral Displacements, from Anthesis to Ripening-, in the 

 Capitula of Helianthus. By B. Leisering (Flora, vol. xc. 1902, pp. 

 378-432, t. xiii., xv). — By photographs, some of which are reproduced, it 

 is shown that the flowers become displaced, leading to changes in the 

 angles of intersection of the parastichs and in the surfaces of contact of 

 the flowers. The displacements are due to changes in the convexity of 

 the head and the changing ratio between the growth of the parts and 

 that of the whole.— if. H. 



Fritillaria askabadensis. Anon. (Gard. Mag. No. 2559, p. 746 ; 

 15/11/1902). — A good illustration of this new species allied to the well- 

 known " Crown Imperial " (F. Imperialis) , but apparently not such a hand- 

 some plant. — W. G. 



Frost delayed unusually late. Anon. (Joum. Hort. Nov. 13, 1902, 

 p. 445). — A writer from Rood Ashton (a place not in the Postal Guide, 

 but perhaps in Wiltshire) makes some remarks on the abnormal effects 

 of the continued absence of frost in autumn 1902. — C. W. I). 



