NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



317 



Figs, The Cultivation of. By 0. T. (Gard. Chron. No. 980, p. 257, 

 fig. 96; Oct. 7, 1905). — This subject is fully discussed in the present 

 article, which is divided into the following sections : Principles of culture, 

 Top-dressing, Soil and water, Summer culture, Seeding time, Varieties. 



G. S. S. 



Flood-damaged Land, Treatment of (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Kansas, 

 Bull. 121, 1/1901; 16 figs.). — Enormous damage was done by floods 

 during May and June 1903 in Kansas. Crops were destroyed, much 

 soil was washed away and great holes gouged out, and sand was deposited 

 over fertile lands to the depth of from a few inches to several feet, while 

 other parts were covered with mud. The bulletin contains recommenda- 

 tions for the utilisation of these lands and their gradual reclamation. It 

 is recommended that the " mudded " and drowned lands should be laid 

 down to grass, while the sanded area should be sown with grasses like 

 Ammophila arenaria (L.) Link, Poa compressa L. &c. ; these will tend 

 to form humus and gradually bring the land into better form. Certain 

 trees may also be planted on the sanded area, such as Gatalpa speciosa, 

 Bobinia pseudacacia, Ioxylon pomiferum, Morus alba, Populus deltoichs 

 and P. monilifera, the last two particularly where the sand is deep. 



F. J. C. 



Forsythia europaea. By W. B. Hemsley {Bot. Mag. tab. 8039).— 

 Nat. ord. Oleacece, tribe Syringea. Albania. An erect glabrous shrub, 

 a few feet high. Flowers yellow, appearing before the leaves, 1\ in. across. 



G. H. 



Fraser's Catalogue, 1796 (Joum. Bot, 515, pp. 329-331 ; 

 11/1905). — A verbatim-et-literatim reprint of the catalogue of plants 

 and seeds offered by John Fraser, of Sloane Square, Chelsea, on his 

 return from his fifth voyage to America. — G. S. B. 



Fruit Crops, Report Of. Anon. (Gard. Chron. No. 970, pp. 81-87, 

 July 29, 1905). — This is the report which is given every year in this 

 paper " On the Condition of the Outdoor Fruit Crops," in various parts 

 of the United Kingdom. No less than 270 observers, whose names and 

 addresses are given, have reported on the crops in their neighbourhood. 

 The report is a very unfavourable one. In only one locality in England 

 (Hounslow) and in two in Scotland (Laurencekirk and Ayr) was the apple 

 crop above the average ; of the others about 15 per cent, were an average 

 crop, and 85 per cent, under the average. The pear crop was slightly better 

 than the apple, but it was very bad. The crop of small fruit was not so 

 bad, and in some places it was over the average, but on the whole it was 

 poor. In the remarks which precede the tabulated returns the writer 

 says : " As to the causes which have induced this poor show of fruit, we 

 do not think that we have any need to inquire further. Spring frosts 

 and east winds occurring at or about the flowering period are responsible 

 for most of the mischief. As these occur pretty regularly, it would seem 

 as if our hybridrisers and cross-breeders had been lacking in enterprise, 

 or they would have long ago given us later-flowering or more hardy 

 varieties." The full reports from the various counties are given in subse- 

 quent numbers. — G. S. S. 



