NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



375 



At a cost of a halfpenny a horse a day, the breeding of all flies on the manure 

 may be prevented. — C. H. H. 



Flora of British Columbia. By J. Davidson (Rep. Bot. Off., British Columbia, 

 191 5). — Gives a detailed account of two botanizing expeditions in the mountains 

 of British Columbia, with special notes on Geum and Lupinus, as well as on other 

 plants of horticultural interest. — F. J. C. 



Flower Colour, Chemistry of Mendelian Factors for. By M. Wheldale 

 (Jour. Gen. iv. Oct. 1914, pp. 109-129; plate). — The colours of Antirrhinum 

 majus varieties are mainly considered. Ivory white and yellow do not contain 

 anthocyanin. Ivory is dominant to yellow. Yellow contains two fiavones, 

 apigenin (pale) and luteolin (deep), therefore ivory contains an inhibitory factor 

 for the last. White contains no flavone. Evidence is adduced which leads the 

 authoress to conclude that anthocyanin is a derivative, either by oxidation or 

 condensation (or both), from a flavone. Both a red and a magenta colouring 

 matter have been isolated from Antirrhinum, and both have a higher percentage 

 of oxygen than the flavone, the magenta higher than the red ; the molecular weights 

 are also higher. Other authors hold somewhat different views as to the nature of 

 anthocyanin, some believing it to be a reduction product of the fiavones. A brief 

 note by Prof. Everest in the same journal calls in question the purity of the colour 

 substances upon which some of the foregoing conclusions have been based. 



F. J. C. 



Formalin for Seed Potatos. By F. W. Ulbrich (Queensland Agr. Jour. 

 Sept. 1914, p. 196). — The use of formalin as a steep for tubers is confidently 

 recommended ; it is immaterial whether tubers be dipped cut or whole. The steep 

 recommended is 1 lb. bottle of formalin to thirty-two gallons of water. 



Tubers must be allowed to dry after being steeped, before planting. Tubers 

 or sets should be steeped for two hours, but should a grower forget to remove 

 any from the dip at the end of two hours he need not be alarmed, as the writer 

 has had " no misses " from sets (cut) that had an all-night bath. This experience 

 has been verified by more than one grower. — C. H. H. 



Fowl Manure (Jour. Dep. Agr. Vict. Nov. 1914, p. 696). — Is found specially, 

 good for grass, air-dried fowl manure applied at the rate of a ton an acre. 



Fresh fowl manure has approximately the following composition (Storer)j 

 water 56 per cent. ; organic matter 25-5 per cent. ; nitrogen i-6 per cent. ; 

 phosphoric acid 1-7 per cent. ; potash -8 per cent. ; lime 2*2 per cent. ; magnesia 

 •8 per cent. 



A hen produces approximately 12 lb., a duck 18 lb., and a goose or turkey 

 25 lb. 



Air-dried fowl manure containing 20 per cent, moisture would contain in a 



ton approximately : — 



Organic matter (46-4 per cent.) 1,0401b. 



Nitrogen (2-91 per cent.) . . . . . 65 „ 



Phosphoric acid (3*10 per cent.) . . . . 33 ,, 



Lime (4 per cent.) . . . . . . 90 ,, 



Magnesia (1*46 per cent.) . . . . 33 „ 



The value of a ton of fresh fowl manure is about £1. One ton of fresh manure 

 is produced annually by about 190 birds. — C. H. H. 



Fritillaries, Garden. By R. W. Wallace (Garden, Sept. 12, 19, and 26, 

 1912, pp. 451, 465, and 478). — The writer derives the name from the Latin 

 fritillus, a dice-box. Less than half the known species are in cultivation, and 

 of the thirty or so in nursery lists few are known and appreciated as they deserve. 

 F. Meleagris (snake's head) has several varieties. Parkinson knew a dozen, but 

 half that number is sufficient. He mentions alba, a pure white form, ' Emperor,' 

 which is distinct, ' Orion ' and ' Cassandra.' Pie regards F. contorta with the segments 

 of the perianth partly united, forming a slender trumpet, as a sport. F. Imperialis, 

 the ' Crown Imperial,' has several varieties ; the best are the large yellow jF. maxima 

 lutea and giant red. F. inodora is a scentless form from Bokhara. 



F. chitralensis (A.M. 1910), a yellow fritillary from Chitral, is more slender 

 than the ' Crown Imperial ' and has scattered leaves. F. pallidi flora he places 

 next ; it has large creamy yellow bells in a loose inflorescence, flowering throughout 

 April. 



F. persica, an old favourite, he puts fourth ; the flower -stems rise to 2 or 3 feet, 

 carrying fifty plum-purple metallic-looking bells in April and May; the foliage 

 also is handsome. F. pontica, representing a small group of which it is the 

 best, is almost entirely pale green. The large long beils, generally solitary, are 



