NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



277 



anything can be done to assist growers of plants in greenhouses to 

 combat the difficulties from fungoid diseases. Chiefly through these 

 difficulties growers have usually to incur heavy expense in replacing the 

 soil of the beds with fresh garden loam. The series of experiments 

 consisted in growing the plants in each of the ways indicated : — Soil 

 unsterilised ; soil sterilised, and handled while hot ; soil sterilised, but 

 not handled till cold and dry ; soil sterilised, handled cold, and later 

 sprinkled with garden loam ; soil sterilised, handled cold, and nitrate di 

 soda used. 



Results in different years vary considerably, but were such as to 

 indicate that sterilisation, although it freed the soil of pests, also 

 destroyed useful organisms, or, as one grower aptly stated, destroyed 

 the "life " of the soil, so that plants do not make the vigorous growth 

 they otherwise would do. These experiments are interesting and very 

 promising, because if by sterilisation pests can be destroyed and the 

 soil then be refertilised, or reinoculated with the useful germs, much 

 laborious work in glasshouses will be rendered unnecessary. — F. J. B. 



Soil Sterilisation, Practice of. By G. E. Stone {U.S.A. Exp. 

 Stn. Mass., 11th Ann. Bep., 1905, pp. 10-14). — ^Sterilisaticu of the soil 

 by high-pressure steam has been the means of lessening the amount of 

 infection in lettuce houses where the plants have been affected by " drop," 

 Bhizoctonia, or eelworms. Not only is this done, but the lettuce are 

 stimulated into growth, so that they become more tender and have a looser 

 •head, unless a temperature of from 8° to 10° F. lower than is customary 

 is maintained at night. Botrytis rot is more likely to attack plants of this 

 kind than those grown more stuirdily, but this can be avoided by careful 

 handling and attention to temperature and watering. Cucumbers benefit 

 by the use of sterilised soil, as they do not show the effects of the resulting 

 stimulation to so marked an extent as the lettuce ; a considerable accelera- 

 tion is, however, given to the seedling as germination is hastened, the 

 plants accelerated, and dampiug-off prevented. Carnation-growing is also 

 apparently benefited by the use of sterilised soil. The author has never 

 found any detrimental influence upon the soil itself, but has always used 

 a soil rich in organic matter. — F. J. C. 



Soil, Studies on the Properties of an Unproductive. By 



Burton Livingston, J. C. Britton, and F. R. Reid (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., 

 Bur. Soils, Bull. 28, 1905). — An account of the investigation of the 

 physiological properties of one of the most unproductive soils. Its 

 physical nature and the nutrient substances found in its water extracts 

 were apparently quite as favourable as those from fertile soils. It was 

 shown that the soil investigated contained a water-soluble, non-volatile 

 substance, or substances, probably organic in their nature, w^hich are 

 toxic to certain plants, causing a stunted growth. The toxicity of the soil 

 is corrected by various substances, the more important of which are stable 

 manure, green manure, calcium carbonate, and carbon black. — F. J. B. 



Soil Testing- in Paraffined Wire Pots. By H. J. ^Yheeler, B. E. 

 Brown, and J. C. Hogenson {U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Rhode I., Bull. 109 : 



