248 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTTCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



(p. 158). Negative results were obtained by adding substances to 

 copper fungicides to increase their power of wetting leaves, but they 

 afforded an excellent illustration of the danger of adding any substances 

 to such mixtures without a proper scientific examination of the changes 

 which they may bring about (p. 159). — A. P. 



Ginkgo, Stamens of {Bot. Gaz. vol. xlix. pp. 51-55, January 

 1910; with 1 plate). — Miss Anna M. Starr finds that the older 

 stamens are at the base, and that the development of the micro- 

 sporangium is probably like that of the Cycads. The way in which the 

 mucilage ducts " in the hump " are formed may indicate that the 

 stamens of Ginkgo developed from a peltate type, like those of Taxus. 



G. F. S.-E. 



Grape-leaf Skeletonizer, The. By P. E. Jones {U.S.A. Dep. 



Agr., Bur. of Entom., Bull. 68, part 8; Jan. 1909; figs.).— The insect 

 dealt with is a small moth (Harrisana americana, Gu^r.), which lays 

 its eggs in clusters on grape leaves, and the larvae destroy the soft 

 tissue of the leaf by advancing in regular order over the surface, 

 feeding as they go. An arsenical spray is recommended, but the best 

 means of prevention is clean cultivation. — F. J. G. 



Grasses, Comparative Anatomy of the {Beih. Bot. Ceniralhl. 

 XXV. 2 Abt. Heft iii., pp. 421-489; December 1909; with 17 figs.). 

 — Professor Ernst H. L. Krause attempts in this paper to use the 

 anatomical structure in grasses as an aid to the naming of species, 

 and claims that over two thousand species may be readily brought into 

 their tribes and distinguished by his classification. 



Reference must be made to the original for the system adopted and 

 the microscopic details described. — G. F. S.-E. 



Grasses, Sand-binding-. By T. W. Kirk and A. H. Cockayne 

 {Dep. of Agr. N.Z., Leaf. 79, Feb. 1909; figs.).— One of the duties 

 which devolve upon the inhabitants of New Zealand is the pro- 

 tection of the islands from the dangers of drifting sand. Their three 

 thousand miles of coast are, as a whole, slowly rising, but this rising 

 causes immense masses of sand to be washed up, which the wind, if 

 powerful and persistent enough, carries far inland over large tracts of 

 otherwise rich arable land. To check this invasion of sand it is 

 necessary to use various native and exotic sand-binding grasses. 



Of these the most valuable is the Marram grass {Psamma arenaria), 

 a European grass which roots at every point, extends rapidly, and, 

 being almost totally unnutritious, is not eaten down by herbivorous 

 animals. It also possesses the great advantage of quietly giving place 

 to grasses of more intrinsically valuable character as the settled and 

 fertilized sand becomes gradually suited to their growth. 



The other sand-binders in use are the foreign Elymus arenarius, 

 which has not the advantage of giving way to other vegetation as the 

 Marram grass does, and the native Spinifex hirsutus and Scirpus 

 fronclosus (Cyperaceae). — M. L. H. 



