524 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



shipping boxes, and less frequently for shingles and water-pipes. The better 

 grades are used for farm implements, planing-mill products, furniture, car con- 

 struction, panels, screens, doors and sashes, and, when treated with preservatives, 

 for poles, posts, and ties. — A. D. W. 



Onion Culture. By J. W. Lloyd {U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Illinois, Bull. 175, pp. 337- 

 362). — Plant early. Onions grown from sets ripen earlier than those from seed, 

 are less affected by unfavourable weather, and yield a more remunerative 

 crop. — S. E. W. 



Orchard Bark Beetles and Pin-hole Borers. By H. A. Gossard {U.S.A. 

 Exp. Stn., Ohio, Bull. 264, October 1913). — Few, if any, insects can more quickly 

 kill a tree than those small beetles known as bark beetles, or quite generally as 

 shot-hole borers. The adult beetles make the small openings, resembling shot- 

 holes, through the outer bark, either to obtain food or to construct brood chambers 

 in which their young can develop. The larvae of the most destructive species 

 make numerous radiating, sinuous galleries through the growing or sap wood, thus 

 attacking the tree in a vital part. Thus it may happen that a tree will suddenly 

 wilt and die in midsummer before the owner has noticed that it is in any way dis- 

 eased ; however, such an attack generally indicates a low state of vitality, and 

 weakened trees are certain to be the ones first chosen for destruction. Healthy 

 trees are sometimes attacked, but are rarely or never killed within a brief space 

 of time. The most common species is the Fruit Bark Beetle {Eccoptogaster rugu- 

 lostts) , often called the Shot -hole Borer. It attacks nearly all species and varieties 

 of orchard fruits. After this species the Peach Bark Borer {Phloeotribus liminaris) 

 ranks next in importance in Ohio, and, at its worst, this beetle can do as much 

 damage as the first. A few other nearly related species have somewhat similar 

 habits, being known as Pin-hole Borers, but these are of minor importance, and 

 are, therefore, given but brief notice in this publication. These Pin-hole 

 Borers make their burrows in the heartwood, but the external openings through 

 the bark resemble the exit holes of the Shot-hole Beetles, except that they are 

 smaller. 



Probably the most important measure to prevent multiplication of all these 

 beetles is to burn promptly all prunings, dead wood, and dying trees. 



Attacked orchards can be successfully reclaimed from attack by cultivation, by 

 liberal fertilization with barnyard manure and commercial fertilizer, and by 

 whitewashing or spraying with carbolized soapy mixtures. Treatment should 

 commence in the spring. — A. D. W. 



Ornithoboea Lacei [Bot. Mag. tab. 8627). — Burma. Family Gesneriaceae. 

 Tribe Cyrtandreae. Herb. Stem 4 in. long. Leaves, petiole 5 in. long, blade 3 in. 

 long, i\ in. broad, ovate. Cymes axillary. Corolla § in. from front to back, rose. 



G. H. 



Oxalis, Sell-Fertilization of. By E. Gadeceau {Le Jard. vol. xxviii. 

 pp. 197, 198; 1 fig.). — Many species of Oxalis will not produce seed unless a 

 mixture of heterostylic forms are planted together. Oxalis comiculata, 0. siricta, 

 and O. Acetosella are homomorphous and seed abundantly. In the Jardin des 

 Plantes at Nantes 0. valdiviana, from Chile, produces plenty of seed, the long- 

 styled and the short -styled forms growing together. O. carnosa is tender. It is 

 a native of Chile and is self-fertilizing, producing seed in abundance. O. rosea, 

 from Chile, seeds freely at Nantes, although only the long-styled form has been 

 seen. Further research on this point is desirable. 



O. Marsiana bears lilac-pink flowers but no seed, although the short- and 

 mid-styled forms are grown. O. tetraphylla has purple-violet flowers, but does 

 not seed. Only the long-styled form is grown. — S. E. W. 



Oxidases in Plants, Evidence of the General Distribution of. By G. B. Reed 



{Bot. Gaz. vol. lix. p. 407). — Experimenting with Algae, " they gave uniform 

 results ; hence it is inferred that oxidases are of general occurrence among 

 the Algae. These, and the writer's observations on acid tissues, indicate that 

 the oxidases are universally distributed in living plants ; and that cases^of 

 their apparent absence may be explained in ways similar to those discussed in 

 the present paper." — G. H. 



Panicum globoideum Domin. By J. H. Maiden and E. Cheel {Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. 

 vol. xx vi. pp. 131, 132; 1 plate). — The Australian grass Panicum globoideum has 

 been confused with P. flavidum. It has a different panicle, with two dense rows 

 of sessile spikelets, usually very oblique and smaller, with thinner and less nerved 

 glumes. It is a valuable grass for grazing animals. — 5. E. W. 



