NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



309 



Among the caterpillars which infest sugar beets in the Arkansas 

 Valley in Colorado and Kansas is the so-called garden Mamestra or 

 clover cutworm {Mamestra trifolii Rott.). It is usually considered a 

 minor pest, but occasionally causes considerable trouble. 



In the Arkansas Valley the larvae were found on two plants only — 

 sugar beet and Chenopodium album, the former apparently being the 

 favourite. Ordinarily it is kept in check by cultural methods and 

 natural enemies, but when, as sometimes happens, it develops in 

 injurious numbers the larvae can be efficiently dealt with by spraying 

 with Paris green. — V. G. J. 



Beet Webworm, The Spotted. By F. H. Chittenden, ScD. 

 {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. Entom., Bull. 121, part i. May 1913 ; 4 pi.)- 

 — The spotted beet webworm {Hymenia perspectalis Hiibn.) has on 

 two occasions attracted the writer's attention from its occurrence on 

 beets in the District of Columbia. It is remarkable that, although it 

 was first observed in 1905, its presence was not again noticeable 

 until 1912, when it became a veritable pest. 



It may be classified both as an enemy to sugar beet and as an insect 

 injurious to both garden and greenhouse ornamental plants. 



There is no proof yet that as far north as the District of Columbia 

 this species will in the near future renew attack or become as bad a pest 

 as in 1912, but the possibility exists and a close look-out will be kept 

 for its reappearance. — V. G. J. 



Belladonna Plants, Individual Variation in the Alkaloidal Con- 

 tents of. By A. F. Sievers {Jour. Agr. Research, i. pp. 129-146, Nov. 

 1913). — ^The author finds the most profitable time to pick the leaves 

 of Atropa Belladonna is from the time of flowering until the early 

 berries begin to ripen. A greater percentage of alkaloid is present later, 

 but the leaves are then smaller. No relation was found between the 

 physical character of the plant and the percentage of alkaloid present. 

 The percentage of alkaloid appears to be fairly constant from year 

 to year in the same plant, but the variation of the percentage of 

 alkaloids in the leaves of different plants is exceedingly large. — F. J. C. 



Berberis Prattii {Bot, Mag. tab. 8549). — Western China. Nat. 

 Ord. Berberidaceae, Tribe Berberideae. Shrub, 6-10 feet high. 

 Leaves i J inch long. Panicles 2 inches long. Flowers yellow, J inch 

 across. Berry, ellipsoid, salmon-red. — G. H. 



Bidens. By Earl E. Sherff {Bot. Gaz. Dec. 1913. pp. 490-495).— 

 The author describes five new species of Bidens, and refers to this 

 genus several Coreopsis spp. — G. F. S. E. 



Blackberry, Himalaya. By H. P. Gould {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., 

 Bull. 116, pp. 23-26). — ^The Himalaya blackberry (Luther Burbank's 

 strain) is said to be a success in the Puget Sound region of Washington. 

 In sections of the Rocky Mountains it is a rank grower, poor cropper, 

 with fruit of inferior flavour. — S. E. W. 



VOL. XL. Y 



