NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



'2,79 



It will be seen from the foreooing lists that only one spray is of use both 

 as a fungicide and an insecticide, viz. lime -sulphur- salt. A few others are 

 occasionally of use, but it cannot be expected that one remedy will be of 

 value against more than one of the three classes of enemies, although it 

 is possible that many different pests may be killed by the same applica- 

 tion. It at times pays to combine insecticides with fungicides, e.g. Paris 

 green may be combined with Bordeaux mixture ; but care must be exer- 

 cised in doing this lest one substance should counteract the other. Recipes 

 for the making of these sprays have been given in recent abstracts in this 

 Journal. It is further remarked that the beneficial results from spraying 

 are cumulative ; they show in succeeding years, for not only are some 

 insects and diseases reduced in numbers, but the trees, having good, clean 

 foliage, grow more vigorously and form better fruit buds. 



Careful directions then follow as to the spraying of particular crops, 

 which are too lengthy to describe here : apples, asparagus, cranberries, 

 cucumbers and melons, grape, peach, pear, plum, potato, strawberry, 

 sweet potato, and tomato are all dealt with. A calendar of spraying 

 operations then follows, with recipes for the making of the sprays 

 (occupying together some twenty-six pages). 



Various spraying machines are mentioned, but no full descriptions are 

 given of these. The Vermorel sprayer is said to be the best. — F. J. C. 



Spray Mixtures and Spray Machinery. By S. A. Beach, V. A. 

 Clark, and 0. M. Taylor {U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Neiu York, Bull. 248; 

 Dec. 1903, pp. 315-374 ; 58 figs.). — Recipes for the making of the 

 following fungicides and insecticides are given. Fungicides : Bordeaux 

 mixture, soda Bordeaux, scda lime Bordeaux, Bordeaux dust, copper sul- 

 phate, Eau Celeste and soap, ammoniacal copper carbonate and soap, 

 potassium sulphide, iron sulphate and sulphuric acid, formalin and 

 corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride). Insecticides: Scheele's green, 

 Paris green, London parple, hellebore, arsenite of lime, arsenite of soda, 

 arsenite of lead, arsenate of lead, whale-oil soap, resin-lime soap, lime- 

 sulphur-salt wash, lime-sulphur-soda wash, kerosene emulsion, crude 

 petroleum and kerosene, hydrocyanic acid gas, tobacco, pyrethrum, and 

 carbon bisulphide. 



A description of the various types of spraying machinery follows, 

 together with notes upon their efficiency. 



This forms a valuable pamphlet for reference.— F. J. C. 



Sterilised Soil and Germination. By G. F. Stone (U.S.A. Exp. 

 Stn. Mass., ISth Ann. Bep., 1906, pp. 126-134).— It was found that 

 the majority of seeds tested were stimulated into growth sooner, and 

 germination was mere certain in sterilised than in unsterilised soil. 

 Other experiments show that those soils containing little humus, after 

 sterilisation, produce very small crops, although their influence on 

 germination is about the same, and it would appear, therefore, that a 

 considerable amount of humus is necessary in soils in order that crops 

 may materially benefit by sterilisation. — F. J. C. 



Strawberry Crown Girdler (Otiorhynchus ovatus Linn.). By 

 Edith M. Patch {U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Maine Ann. Bep. 1905, pp. 205-212 



