266 JOUENAL OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



cultivated in plains and valleys of the region. (2) Most cultivated in 

 mountainous parts. (3) Varieties little cultivated, but deserving to be 

 better known. (4) Varieties of most commercial importance in the 

 district. (5) Varieties most generally exported abroad. (6) Varieties 

 that resist best diseases, hard winters, and spring frosts in the district. 

 (7) Varieties which in the district are remarkable for their vigour and 

 hardness. (8) Varieties recognized in the district as being the most 

 fertile. (9) Observations.— C. H. H. 



Populus nigra var. betutifolia. By S. A. Skan (Bot. Mag. tab. 

 8298). — Nat. ord. Salicaceae. Origin uncertain. Tree 30-85 ft. high. 

 Leaves deltoid-rhomboid, 2|-4 in. long. Male catkins 1-2 in. long. 

 Anthers red. — G. H. 



Potato Scab and Mercuric Chloride. By J. G. Gregory 

 (Jour. Dep. Agr. Vict., October 1909, p. 671). — Owing to seed potatos 

 being expensive, scabby seed potatos were soaked for 1| hours in a 

 1-in-lOOO solution of corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride) ; the 

 resulting crop was perfectly cleau. Land infected with scab germs will 

 still be infectious after keeping potatos out of the ground for three years. 

 By ploughing in heavy crops of green stuff and making the land slightly 

 acid, the scab germs are apparently killed. The writer having followed 

 this American advice, ploughed in two heavy crops of greenstuff and 

 allowed time for the last to thoroughly rot, and grew really clean potatos. 



C. H. H. 



Potato-spraying- Experiments in 1908. By F. Stewart, Y. 

 French, and F. Sirrine (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. New York, Bull. 311).— 

 The results of the seventh year's work in a ten-year series of potato- 

 spraying experiments begun in 1902 are given. The experiments 

 described are of three kinds : (1) Official ones at the Geneva Experi- 

 ment Station; (2) farmers' business experiments; (3) volunteer experi- 

 ments. The results are given in tabulated form and concern merely the 

 spraying with Bordeaux mixture as a protection against blight and 

 rot, but in all the experiments all the rows, including the unsprayed 

 " check " rows, were dressed also with Paris green to control insects. 

 The figures given are compiled to show what was the relative yield of 

 the sprayed and unsprayed rows and what was the economic result 

 — setting the cost of the processes against the increased profit. The 

 results show that spraying is certainly an advantage to the crop, 

 especially in dry seasons, and out of fourteen business experiments 

 nine showed a financial profit and five a loss from the practice. 



M. L. H. 



Potatos, Rye, and Clover, Further Results in a Rotation of. 



By H. J. Wheeler and G. E. Adams {U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Rhode I., Bull 

 135 ; May 1909). — This bulletin gives a continuation of the description 

 of the three-year rotation, an acount of which, during two courses, is 

 to be found in Bulletin No. 74.-7. G. J. 



