NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



801 



Laws Relating" to the Marketing- and Export of Fruit, 

 Plants, &C. By J. G. Turner {Jour. Agr. Vict. April 1910, pp. 193- 

 200). — -Vegetation Diseases Act, Fruit Cases Act, Commerce Act, 

 Health Act. — The first deals with the inspection of imported fruit and 

 plants to check the spread of disease; provision is made for a penalty 

 of £10 against offenders in this direction ; power is given to the in- 

 spectors to enter any stall, market, shop, or place and examine any 

 trees, plants, or vegetables exposed for sale. The effects of this legis- 

 lation have been shown in. the immense improvement in the general 

 quality of the locally sold fruits ; this Act has been adopted by most of 

 the States of the Commonwealth. 



Fruit Cases Act secures uniformity in the size of fruit cases. Six 

 months was allowed for getting rid of undersized cases, and for two 

 years any sized package was allowed to be used, provided the same had 

 the net weight legibly and durably m.arked thereon in letters of not less 

 than one inch in length ; this provision has now expired, and all cases 

 used for local sale of fruit must be of the standard sizes shown in the 

 schedules to the Act. 



Commerce Act compels trade description of exports, and deals with 

 inspecting imported seeds and plants. 



Health Act allows the inspection of wharves, markets, shops, 

 and if the fruit is over-ripe or unsound and unfit for consumption, the 

 consignment is condemned and rejected. 



Useful hints. — Pack nothing but sound produce, free from disease, 

 damage or decay. Use new cases or bags. Stencil name and address 

 clearly and legibly on cases. Use standard cases. Unfortunately the 

 various States at the present time have not been able to arrange a 

 standard for the whole Commonwealth. — G. H. H. 



Latex, Some Remarks on the Physiologrieal Function of 



the. By Ch. Bernard {Ann. Jard. Bot. Buit. 3rd supp. 1st part, 1910, 

 pp. 235-276; with 4 figs.). — A long and interesting account of the 

 literature of the subject is given, and this is followed by a description of 

 the author's own observations. He believes that the latex plays an 

 important part in the nutrition of the plant, and that such plastic 

 materials as sugars, starch, fats, proteids, &c., are taken up from the 

 latex by the tissues of the plant and used for their nutrition. Other 

 substances which occur in the latex are most probably in th^ nature 

 of excretions. Some of these excretions, however, may not be entirely 

 useless to the plant, but they may play a secondary part in its life. 

 The author inclines to the view that the laticiferous tissues may be 

 organs for the storage of certain food substances which are subse- 

 quently drawn upon for the nutrition of the plant. In some cases, 

 however, he admits that the laticiferous vessels may be important as 

 organs for the conduction of food materials from one part of the plant 

 to another. There is such a great diversity in the composition of the 

 latex and in its distribution in different plants that no single function 

 can be attributed to it in all cases. It probably has a number of 



VOL. XXXVI. 3 G 



