308 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



plains becomes acid at an earlier stage, and is very inferior in quality to 

 that made at Bessin and the regions of the chalk substrata like Lisieux 

 and Pont-l'Eveque." An abundance of flint nodules was everywhere 

 characteristic of the best lands. 



Cider Apples. — A large amount of work has been done by French 

 investigators during the past thirty years in classifying, describing, and 

 analysing the fruits of the hundreds of seedling apples found in the cider 

 orchards. Much less has been done in England and in Germany in this 

 direction, but work on these points is in progress. The French value the 

 apples according to the amount of (1) sugar, (2) tannin, (3) mucilage, and 

 (4) acid which they contain, while a fine flavour and fragrance are also 

 looked for. The Germans pay greater attention (and probably rightly) to 

 the acid contents, demanding as much as -6 to -8 per cent. The American 

 apples, as a rule, contain too little tannin. Many analyses of apples of 

 various countries and different varieties are given, and the author 

 considers that " if seedlings had been grown from them (the existing 

 English fruits) and well selected as in France, England would to-day 

 have as good a race of cider apples as France has." 



An account is then given of the harvesting, transportation, and storage 

 of cider apples in the different countries visited, and a comparison made 

 of the methods seen there with those adopted in America, and this is 

 followed by a very complete description of the various methods, old and 

 new, of crushing the fruit, the treatment of the must and its fermenta- 

 tion, the clarifying or filtering of the cider, and its final storage. 



F. J. C. 



Cirrhopetalum breviscapum. By R. A. Rolfe (Bot. Mag. tab. 

 8033). — Nat. ord. Orchidacece, tribe Epidendrece ; Malaya. An epiphytic 

 herb with a creeping rhizome. Flowers, 2 in. by 1 \ in., purple, except the 

 lip, which is yellow, spotted with purple. — G. H. 



Citrous Creations, New, in America. By H. J. Webber and 

 T. Swingle (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Year Book, 1904, p. 221 ; plates).— Descrip- 

 tion of studies and experiments extending over several years of hybridisa- 

 tion for the purpose of raising more varied and improved sorts of citrus 

 fruits. It is pointed out that fruit trees of this sort being clous — that is, 

 varieties which are propagated by bud-grafts and cuttings— a hybrid of 

 value, when once secured, can be thus propagated indefinitely without 

 waiting for fixation, as is necessary with plants propagated by seed. 

 Having regard to the severe frosts encountered in some parts of the United 

 States, the experimenters endeavoured to obtain hardier varieties by 

 hybridisation. A minute description, with coloured plates, is given of the 

 new group of citrus fruits called citranges, more especially the ' Rusk 

 citrange ' and the ' Willits citrange.' The former has been obtained by 

 crossing the common orange (used as the female parent) and the trifoliate 

 orange (used as the male parent). The trees of this variety are far more 

 hardy than the common orange, and produce a fruit intermediate in 

 qualities between the two parents. The latter variety has resulted from 

 a hybrid of trifoliate orange with pollen of the common orange, being 

 thus what is known as a reciprocal hybrid of the ' Rusk.' The ' Willits 



