l6o JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



roots go to an enormous depth in search of necessary moisture. The analyses 

 show that there are other localities where the soil would be suitable if injurious 

 salts were absent. " I feel convinced that the Narra will prove impossible 

 of cultivation in any desert regions unless two conditions are fulfilled — namely, 

 a practical permanent supply of water below the surface, and the presence of 

 a larger amount of plant foods in the soil than is usually contained in wind- 

 blown sand." — A. A. K. 



Nitrogen, Relation of Bacterial Transformations to Soil. By K. F. 



Kellerman and R. C. Wright {Jour. Agr. Research, ii. pp. 101-114, May 1914 ; 

 figs.). — The malnutrition of oranges, and allied fruits in irrigated areas is attri- 

 buted to the presence of excessive quantities of nitrates, and the suggested remedy 

 is the control of the rate of nitrification. The addition of mature straw and pure 

 cellulose causes rapid denitrification, owing to the demand for nitrates by the 

 decomposition fungi and bacteria, while the digging in of green crops, though 

 it results in a slight loss of nitrogen, maintains the normal rate of nitrification. 

 Tables are given showing the quantities of nitrates in the soil under various 

 conditions, and also that the total number of bacteria in good and poor areas 

 is erratic and seems without significance. — F. J. C. 



Nothofagus Cunninghamii (Bot. Mag. tab. 8584). — Australia, Tasmania. Tree, 

 to 200 feet, with a girth of 40 feet, in lower mountain slopes ; near summit a 

 dwarf shrub. Leaves evergreen, inch long, crenate. — G. H. 



Onions, and Yield per Acre (Queensland Agr. Jour. p. 6; Jan. 1914). — The 

 following yields were obtained from plots of one square chain (one-tenth of an 

 acre) from seed sown in boxes in February and transplanted 12 inches by 3 

 inches in April : — The varieties of onion were " Ironhead," yielding from the 

 acre 11*7 tons, " Cream Globe " 12- 8 tons, " YVroxton " 17 6 tons, " Ailsa Craig " 

 22 - i tons. — C. H. H. 



Pear, ' LeConte ' : An Inquiry into the Nature of a Somatic Segregation of 

 Characters in. By Warren P. Tufts (Oregon Agr. Coll. Exp. Stn., Bull. 123, 

 Dec. 1914 ; 5 figs.). In this pear, supposed a hybrid between varieties of Pyrus 

 sinensis and P. communis, the calyx lobes are sometimes persistent, but often 

 not so. The author attributes this to a somatic segregation of Mendelian 

 characters, and by treating each carpel as a unit produces figures which are 

 not very remote from the Mendelian expectation. As, however, no evidence is 

 offered of these characters breeding true in either parent, other explanations of 

 this phenomenon will readily occur to students of these subjects. The paper, 

 we learn, was presented in part fulfilment of the requirements for a Master's 

 degree in Agriculture. — E. A. Bd. 



Peat, Its Use in Planting Fruit Trees. By A. Truelle (Rev. Hort. Beige, 

 April 1914, p. 131). — The uses of peat for fruit trees have not hitherto been 

 sufficiently recognized. It helps to make a firm, cool soil about the roots, and 

 converts added moisture into an immediately assimilable liquid manure. Peat 

 varies greatly, of course, in character. The form most suitable for the present 

 purpose is the mossy or fibrous kind which forms the top layer of bogs. It should 

 be light in colour, porous, poor in mineral matter, and above all not sour. 



M. L. H. 



Pestalozzia funerea, A Contribution to the Morphology and Life History of. 



By J. J. Wenner (Phytopathology, iv. pp. 375-383 ; Oct. 1914 ; figs.). — Doubt 

 is sometimes expressed as to the parasitism of this fungus, which occurs on a 

 variety of coniferous trees. The author finds it is parasitic, especially when 

 the air is very moist. It is capable of attacking both leaves and stems of 

 Pinus Strobus, Picea excelsa, and Tsuga canadensis, the hosts experimented 

 with. The leaves are browned, followed by the drooping of the young shoots, 

 on which the fungus fruit develops. The shoots finally die and eventually the 

 whole plant is killed. The author discovered a second form of spore in addition 

 to the ordinary conidia. He advises that diseased seedlings should be destroyed 

 as soon as detected, and that spraying with Bordeaux mixture should be carried 

 out. — F. J. C. 



Phosphate Fields of South Carolina, A Report on. By W. H. Waggeman 



(U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. Soils, Cir. 18, October 1913 ; 1 map). — A descrip- 

 tion of the phosphate deposits of South Carolina, methods and costs of working, 

 with an outline of the probable future of the industry. — C. P. C. 



