NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



379 



Grapes, Fertilizers for {Jour. Dep. Agr. Vict. Jan. 191 5, p. 58). — In a series of 

 trials of commercial fertilizers with grapes at the New York Experimental 

 Station, nitrogen was applied in the form of sodium nitrate, dried blood, and 

 cotton-seed meal ; phosphorus as superphosphate ; potassium as potassium 

 sulphate ; lime was also tried. Nitrogenous fertilizers had a markedly beneficial 

 effect upon the yield and quality of the fruit, leaf, and wood growth, whereas lime 

 had no effect, and phosphorus and potassium had so little effect that the use was 

 not profitable. To restore a failing vineyard, the steps required usually in the 

 order of importance are : to secure good drainage, control insects and fungi, 

 improve the tillage and general care, and apply such fertilizers as may be found 

 lacking, nitrogen being probably the element most frequently needed. — C. H. H. 



Hybrids, Method of Comparing with Parents. By G. N. Collins {Jour. Agr. 

 Res. hi. Oct. 1914, p. 85). — The author has developed a method of comparison 

 between the yields of first-generation hybrids and their parents, designed to give 

 greater accuracy than has usually been attained. First-generation hybrids 

 frequently give yields greatly above that of the strains from which they are 

 derived, but the yields of hvbrids raised by similar crosses vary considerably 

 among themselves. — F. J. C*. 



Iron and Aluminium Salts on Clover Seedlings, Toxic Effects of. By R. W. 



Ruprecht {U.S.A. Agr. Exp. Stn., Mass., Bull. 161, April 1915, pp. 125-129; 

 2 plates). — Sulphate of iron and sulphate of aluminium are shown to have a 

 very harmful effect upon the roots of clover plants, and carbonate and hydrate 

 of lime neutralize these injurious properties of the salts of iron and aluminium in 

 dilute solutions. The toxicity of iron and aluminium sulphates is due to the 

 penetration of the salts into the roots of the seedlings, but is apparently 

 restricted to the two outer layers of cells in the growing regions of the roots. 

 The poisons do not kill the entire root systems of the plants. — A. B. 



Jack-Pine, Observations on the Pathology of the. By James R. Weir {U.S. A, 

 Dep. Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Bull. 212, May 1915, pp. 1-10; 4 figs., 1 plate). — 

 The Jack- Pine {Pinus divaricata (Ait.) Du Mont, de Cours) is essentially a plant of 

 the sandy plains near the Great Lakes, but a variety is met with in moist soils, 

 and this is more susceptible to diseases, the more important of which are 

 Peridermium cerebrum Peck., which may attack young trees as well as older 

 trees ; Trametes pint (Brot.) Fr. and Polyporus Schweinitzii Fr., which are 

 timber-destroying fungi ; and numerous saprophytic fungi which also rapidly 

 destroy the timber of this pine. — A. B. 



'Larch, A Hybrid. By A. Henry {Gard. Chron. Sept. 18, 1915, pp. 178-9, 

 with 4 figs. ; Oct. 9, p. 234). — The original tree of Larix pendula Salisb. 

 is shown to have been a hybrid (L. americana x europaea). Its descendants 

 as now known vary considerably. At one time erroneously identified with L. 

 dahurica, yet this hybrid is abundantly distinct. — E. A. B. 



Lilium candidum, Sterility of. By A. Grove {Gard. Chron. July 10, 1915, 

 p. 20). — A puzzle for centuries, and still unsolved. Due to neither self-sterility 

 nor lack of heat, for pollen brought from distance fails to set seed, and no 

 unusual number of seeds were produced in hot seasons of 191 1 and 1914. 



Often fertile in response to pollen of L. teslaceum ; and cutting off the stalk 

 at ground level before end of flowering period, or stripping scales off the bulb, 

 have frequently caused pods to ripen. Naudin thought sap insufficient to 

 nourish both bulb and seed, and if left to nature the bulb alone supplied. 



E. A. B, 



Lime, Leafspot Disease of. By E. S. Salmon and H. Wormald {Gard. 

 Chron. Sept. 25, 1915, pp. I93~4, witn 2 n gs-)- — Disease due to Gloeosporium 

 tiliaecolum, widespread on limes in Germany and Denmark, but not hitherto 

 recorded in this country. Outbreaks occur in the spring, and so far have only 

 been noted on Tilia ulmifolia. — E. A . B. 



Lime-Sulphur Sprays, Preparation and Composition. By A. A. Ramsay 

 {Jour. Agr. Sci. vi. May 1914, PP- 194-203). — An account of the constituents 

 of lime- sulphur sprays is given. — F. J. C. 



Lime, The Use of, in the Garden. By D. Houston {Garden, Feb. 28, 1914, 

 p. hi). — This article gives a useful sketch of the value of lime for garden soils. 

 Its beneficial influence is considered under three heads : (1 ) Its value in improving 



