SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, AUGUST 1-5. 



lxxxi 



Harvest Bugs. — The Rev. W. Wilks asked how harvest bugs might 

 be combated. It was recommended to bathe the affected parts with 

 salt water. Ammonia kills the bugs, while lard or grease alleviates 

 the pain for a time. 



Sports of Pteris aqnilina. — Mr. Druery, V.M.H., showed photographs 

 of fronds of Pteris aquilina gathered at Pitlochry. The fronds were very 

 congested, crested at the ends, and somewhat crispate. The plant from 

 which they were taken was growing in very stony ground. 



British Plants. — Mr. Holmes, F.L.S., showed a proliferous specimen of 

 the common toad rush, Juncus bufonius, and some plants of Matricaria 

 discoidea, an introduced plant. 



Yellow -flowered Potato. — Mr. Sutton showed a portion of a potato 

 plant bearing yellow or orange-coloured flowers, with the following notes : 

 " As you are aware, the flowers of potato-plants are either white or some 

 shade of lilac or purple, and until last year I do not think that an orange- 

 coloured potato-flower had been seen or recorded. The history of the 

 plant from which the accompanying specimen was taken is as follows : 

 When inspecting a twenty-acre field of the ' Up-to-Date ' potato last year 

 in Lincolnshire we noticed an orange-coloured flower, which in the 

 distance appeared to be a yellow nettle, but on closer examination it 

 proved to be a potato-flower. So far as we could possibly cell, the 

 plant was quite typical of the 1 Up-to-Date ' variety, except in the colour 

 of the flower. The whole field was carefully examined, and no other 

 yellow or orange-coloured flower could be found. When the crop was 

 lifted the tubers seemed to resemble the ' Up-to-Date ' potato in all 

 respects. Last spring we planted nine of the tubers taken from 

 these plants, and in every case the plants have produced orange- coloured 

 flowers, and the foliage in all respects resembles that of the ' Up-to-Date ' 

 potato. The normal colour of the ' Up-to-Date ' flower is of a rather 

 dark lilac shade." The petals were thickened along the edge, and were 

 in some cases becoming staminoid, bearing pollen on the margins. 



Ornithogalum Eckloni, dtc.— Mr. Worsley remarked that the foliage 

 of the plant shown by him at the last meeting differed from that of the 

 plant as cultivated at Kew in having a pale green stripe running down 

 the middle of the upper surface of the leaf. Mr. Worsley also showed 

 some sprays of Tropceohim pentapliyllum in full flower, gathered from 

 a plant nine feet high, grown at Isleworth. He remarked that as the 

 flowers fade they turn green. He also showed specimens of a semi- 

 double Canna, and drew attention to the fact that bees were seen paying 

 considerable attention to the leaves of Wistaria, which had on the under 

 surface a considerable amount of sticky fluid. There were numbers of 

 aphides on these leaves. 



Scientific Committee, August 15, 1905. 



Dr. M. T. Masters, F.R.S., in the Chair, and six members present. 



Harvest Bugs. — Concerning these troublesome pests, Mr. J. S. Turner 

 writes : " There is nothing like common soap with which to combat 

 harvest bugs. Just dip the soap in water, so as to make it only damp 



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