NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



37* 



Black Currant Bud-Mite. By A. M. Taylor {Jour. Agr. Set. vi. May 1914, 

 pp. 121-135). — Two papers appear dealing with this troublesome pest. The 

 first concerns the mode of infection of the black currant buds by the mites. 

 Migration takes place mostly between March and early June. The mites are 

 generally wind-borne, and they apparently hide at the leaf bases on the young 

 shoots until the buds are large enough for them to enter. None was found 

 beneath the bark, and very few in the soil. 



The second deals with the occurrence of the mite on the gooseberry. Buds 

 attacked do not enlarge as they do in the black currant ; the leaves, however, 

 become severely blistered and deformed, and the usual method of infection of 

 new buds appears to be by crawling from the affected bud to the shoot developing 

 from it. The foliage leaves in the bud do not appear to be attacked, and the 

 typical blisters appear on the scale leaves. As a result of the attack the stem is 

 reduced in length, leaves become yellowish green, and the whole bush unhealthy- 

 looking. Certain other small differences in the life-history of the mite, which 

 is apparently structurally similar to Eriophyes ribis, suggest a distinction between 

 the forms on the two plants, but the plants themselves present several differences 

 in bud-structure, and it is possible that the life-histories of the two species are 

 determined by the differences in the hosts. No cross-inoculations appear to 

 have been attempted, and the form on the gooseberry is said to be almost 

 universally present. — F. J. C. 



Blossoming of Fruit Trees, The Time of. By B. T. P. Barker [Ann. Rep. 

 Agr. Res. Stn., Long Ashton, 1914, pp. 107-116). — Tables are given showing 

 the sequence of flowering of various fruit trees at Long Ashton. Of apples 

 the first to open were ' White Transparent,' ' Beauty of Bath,' and ' Bismarck,' 

 the latest ' Court Pendu Plat ' and ' Royal Jubilee.' ' Medaille d'Or ' was the 

 latest of the cider apples to flower. Of pears ' Louise Bonne of Jersey,' 

 'Beurre d'Amanlis,' and 'Beurre Clairgeau ' are among the first, ' Hessle,' 

 ' Catillac,' ' Pitmaston Duchess,' among the latest. ' Mallard ' is the earliest 

 plum,' Kirke's ' the latest. The records since 1908 are given. — F. J. C. 



Bordeaux Mixtures, Further Observations on the Fungicidal Action of. 



By B. T. P. Barker and C. T. Gimingham (Jour. Agr. Set. v. May 1914, 

 pp. 220-232). — The authors reply to Pickering's criticisms of their previous 

 papers, and maintain (supporting their contentions by further experimental 

 evidence) that living cells with readily permeable walls are able to produce and 

 absorb soluble copper from insoluble compounds such as basic sulphates lying 

 outside them. The fate of the organism producing it depends upon the relation 

 between the amount of soluble copper produced and absorbed and the rate of 

 growth of the organism. This will explain why at times a fungus which has already 

 gained a foothold is but little checked by spraying with copper salts. Cells with 

 impermeable cell-walls are incapable of action upon insoluble copper sulphates, 

 but changes in their condition may cause them to become permeable. Such 

 change probably occurs with age in such leaves as apple, and this may account 

 for the difference in the results of spraying young and old foliage. — F. J . C. 



Carnations, Layering. By R. P. Brotherston {Garden, July 18, 191 4, p. 364). 

 — Early versus late layering. Like other plants, the Carnation has a special 

 period when roots are emitted for a brief time and produced with great 

 abundance. It never happens that this period is forestalled, too late layering 

 being the mistake. A slow-rooting and sparsely-rooted layer at the period when 

 growth terminates for the year is in the worst condition to winter safely, and 

 lacks needed strength in the spring. All the old writers on the Carnation 

 favoured early propagation ; some in June, none later than July. Early rooting 

 must be followed by early transplantation. 



In layering, a lengthy layer can be made secure from fracture by twisting it, 

 and one too short to twist, when pressed back and slightly elevated while the 

 process of placing it in the soil is being performed, will not snap off the parent 

 plant. The tongues of layers sometimes curl up, and so, being raised above 

 the surface, never root. This is prevented by fixing the usual peg so that it 

 embraces the tongue of the layer as well as the part necessary to hold it down. 

 The tongue should not be inserted deep in the soil. If a quarter of an inch 

 above the slit be covered as well as the tongue, that is ample. — H. R. D t 



Celery, A Bacterial Rot of. By H. Wormald (Jour. Agr. Set. vi. May 

 1914, pp. 204-219; figs.). — An organism isolated from celery showing soft 

 rot in the heart was inoculated into healthy celery and reproduced the disease. 

 It apparently finds entrance mainly, if not entirely, through wounds, but these 



