294 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Basket Willows, Production and Consumption of, in the 

 United States for 1906 and 1907. By C. D. Ekell {U.S.A. Dept. 



Agr., Forest Service, Circ. 155 ; January 1909). — To those who are 

 interested in the culture of willows for basket-making this pamphlet will 

 be instructive. As with us the varieties of willows grown are numerous, 

 many being of local growth and named accordingly. The annual con- 

 sumption of home-grown peeled basket willows in the United States at 

 present approximates 855 tons, the cost of unpeeled wands being from 

 £12 to £20 the ton — the peeled of course commanding a much higher 

 price. The old English industries of willow-growing and basket-making 

 are almost things of the past, cheap foreign productions and preferential 

 carriage rates having well-nigh ousted this woodland occupation of our 

 forefathers. It will be interesting to note how the industry succeeds in 

 America. — A. D. W. 



Begonia, Abnormal Flowers of. By Prof. F. Hildebrand (Beik. 

 Bot. Gentralbl. vol. xxv. Abth. 1, Heft 1, pp. 81-114, August 1909 ; 

 2 figs, and 3 plates). — Describes very fully some peculiar sports and 

 abnormalities in certain flowers of Begonia. — G. F. S.-E. 



Bordeaux Mixture, Effect on Potato-leaf Assimilation. By 



0. Kirchner (Zeit. f. Pflanzhr. vol. xviii. No. 2, 1908, p. 65). — Apart 

 from its action in warding off Phytophthora, Bordeaux mixture has been 

 credited with the power of increasing the assimilatory power of the potato 

 foliage and thus increasing the yield. Some have explained this by 

 assuming that the copper salt exercises a tonic or stimulating effect on 

 starch formation. Others have explained it as being the result of the 

 shading of the leaf caused by the film of sprayed material on it which 

 they consider acts beneficially, although still other observers consider that 

 this shading action is the reverse of beneficial. 



Kirchner's object is to ascertain whether it really is a fact that spray- 

 ing potatos with Bordeaux mixture does — in the absence of potato blight 

 —really cause an increased yield. He first reviews critically the field 

 results of previous investigators, placing them in three groups. (1) Six 

 cases where sprayed potatos (in the absence of Phytophthora) gave a smaller 

 yield than the unsprayed. (2) Four cases where the sprayed plants pro- 

 duced wholly or partly a greater yield than the unsprayed, the increase 

 being explained as due not to increased energy of leaf assimilation but 

 purely to the increased duration of life of the sprayed foliage. (8) Five 

 cases in which the sprayed plants gave a greater yield than the unsprayed 

 without any explanation being given as to the reason why. He then 

 gives a detailed account of his own experiments. In 1904 there was 

 practically no difference in yield between sprayed and unsprayed. In 

 1905 there was a difference in favour of the sprayed which is partly 

 explained by the increased length of life of the foliage. In 1906 no 

 results could be obtained as Phytophthora was very abundant. In 1907 

 there was a very decided decrease in yield in the sprayed plants, which 

 could not be entirely put down to shading and which suggests the idea 

 of a direct poisonous action on the plant of the Bordeaux mixture. 



G.E.P. 



