674 



JOURNAL OF THE KOYAL BOHTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



21 figs.). — Numerous marsh lands have been surveyed and reported 

 upon, both as to the efficiency of the drainage works and tlie financial 

 results of cultivating the reclaimed land. The Bay of Fundy marshes 

 are among the most remarkable, one boring showing a depth of marsh- 

 mud 80 feet thick overlying a 29-foot stratum of peat (p. 88), the soil 

 being of such fine texture that very little grit can be detected by the 

 fingers. All are agreed that these marshes have been built up by the 

 violent tides for which this bay is so famous, and not from material 

 brought down by the rivers. The amount of mud carried by the tides, 

 due to erosion by the strong current, is almost incredible, and old lake 

 bottoms have been filled up to the extent of 1 foot in five or six days. 



The design and construction of drainage works and the principles 

 of I'eclamation are discussed at length, not only in general but with 

 reference to each of the marsh lands reported upon, while the crops 

 raised and the financial results are also set out. — A. P. 



Thysanoptera, North American. By D. Moulton {U.S.A. Dep. 



Agr., Bur. Ento^n., Tech. ser. xxi. ; June 1911; 6 plates). — This is 

 a synopsis, catalogue, and bibliography, with descriptions of new 

 species. — V. M. J. 



Thysanoptera, Some New California and Georgria. By Paul 

 E. Jones (U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. Entom., Tech. ser. xxiii. pt. i, ; 

 Jan. 1912; 7 plates.). — In connexion with investigations of the pear 

 thrips and orange thrips in California it has been desirable to obtain 

 as much information as possible on the characteristics, life-histories, 

 and food habits of related species of Thysanoptera. Numerous species 

 have been collected, many new to science, and in this paper the author 

 describes several which have not before been recognized.— 7. G. J. 



Tidikelt, Crops in. By H. Laperrine {Rev. Hort. d'Alg. p. 37; 

 Feb. 1912). — Experiments in acclimatizing various European vege- 

 tables and. cereals in the district of Tidikelt in Algeria by successive 

 French officials have been almost uniformly successful, but have not 

 led to such useful results as they should have done for two reasons. 

 No records have been kept at the various experimental stations, so 

 that each experimenter starts no better equipped with local informa- 

 tion than his predecessor, and very little progress has been made in 

 teaching the natives to use European vegetables, through a misunder- 

 standing of what is really to be aimed at. The natives are naturally 

 distrustful of any strange 'food, so for their benefit it is well to work at 

 producing improved varieties of vegetables they already know and at 

 perfecting methods of cultivating them, and to trust to time and the 

 tendency to imitation to develop a taste among them for the superior 

 imported species. At the first symptom of a wish on their part, officers 

 should, of course, be ready to respond lavishly with gifts of seed and 

 hints on culture. Outside the oases the cultivator's difficulties are, of 

 course, serious, and proceed from the want of water, the want of 

 manure, and an excess of salt in the soil. The writer discusses 



