846 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTTCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



been imported into the States and distributed, hut their nomenclature 

 was in great confusion, even the common form being wrongly described 

 as a species of Mucuna. Mrs. Bort (Bull. 141 of the Bureau) pointed 

 out that it was really a species of Stizolohium P. Browne, and the 

 present Bulletin gives a key to the species of this genus, several of 

 which bid fair to be of considerable economic importance. The char- 

 acters by which the species are distinguished depend mostly upon the 

 mature pods and seeds, which are frequently lacking in Herbaria, the 

 habit and foliage of the different species being very much alike. Some 

 of the species, such as S. prnriens, the cowitch, possess stinging hairs, 

 and all have a substance in the sap which becomes black on exposure 

 to air. Eight species are recognized, of which S. cinereum has irri- 

 tating hairs; *S'. hassjoo, from Japan, where it is much grown, and 

 which has proved very quick in reaching maturity, seed sown on 

 April 19 in Missouri producing mature plants by September 20, while 

 tne individual plants cover a space of 3 to 4 feet square (Siebold referred 

 to this under the name Bolichos hassjoo, but gave no description); 

 .S, aterrimum, Yerj widely cultivated in the tropics ; and S. pachylobium 

 which produces clusters of pods 3 feet in length, and may be cooked 

 and eaten, but requires a long season to mature.— i^^. J. C. 



Verbena venosa. By F. Calva (Oester. Gart. Zeit. vol. v. 

 pt. ii. pp. 56-59; 1 fig.). — Verbena venosa can readily be raised from 

 seed with the aid of a little bottom heat. It likes a dry, sunny position, 

 and should not be planted on freshly manured ground. It flowers till 

 late in the autumn. — S. E. W. 



Vineg'ar from Apples. By F. de Castella (Jour, of Vict. March 

 1910, pp. 151-157).' — Though not quite equal to wine vinegar, is 

 superior to much of the malt vinegar ; large quantities are produced 

 from apples in France. In the manufacture of apple, or, more 

 correctly, cider vinegar, allowing 158 gallons of juice to the ton of apples, 

 the yield of cider would be about 150 gallons, reduced during aceti- 

 fication to about 140 gallons vinegar, selling at Is. per gallon = £7; cost 

 of crushing and fermentation, say, £2 a ton. 



Apple juice of 1'069 specific gravity should produce vinegar con- 

 . taining 8 per cent, acetic acid; after allowing for several contingencies, 

 the amount realized by the conversion of apples into vinegar should 

 be equal to selling them at £4 or £5 per ton. 



For vinegar-making, the cider-making is continued till all the sugar 

 is converted into alcohol, as it is only alcohol that can be transformed 

 into vinegar. — C. H. H. 



Vines, Sudden Dying* of, in Geisenheim Vineyard. By 



E. Molz (Zeitsclir. f. Pflanzenkrank. xix. 1909, Heft 2, p. 68).— 

 Describes the deafch of two vines in a period of two to three days, the 

 leaves becoming dried up from below upwards and exhibiting on their 

 surfaces first a slimy material containing sugar and tannin, and after- 

 wards aggregations of calcium oxalate crystals. Thyloses were very 



