NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



the sepals of flowers just about to open. The larva eats directly 

 into the nev/ly formed cherry and devours the small kernel. In two 

 to four days the larva undergoes its first moult, leaves the first cherry 

 and attacks a second one, destroying the kernel as before. It usually 

 destroys three cherries in from 22 to 26 days, after which it con- 

 structs a parchment-like cocoon 3 to 7 inches below the surface of the 

 ground. There is only one brood each year. Experiments in control 

 are being conducted to discover an efficient spray. — F. G. J. 



Cherry ' Schmidt.' By U. P. Hedrick {U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Geneva, 

 New York, Bull. 364). — A German variety raised about 1850, and 

 remarkable for its healthy growth and free-cropping qualities. 



E, A. Bd. 



Chestnut Blight. By C. L. Shear and N. E. Stevens {U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr., Bull. 131, 1913, pp. 3-18). — The fungus of chestnut blight 

 {Endothia parasitica) is closely related to E. radicalis, E. radicalis 

 mississippiensis , and E. gyrosa. E. parasitica gives a characteristic 

 granular orange -coloured surface growth on potato agar. It usually 

 appears within a week. — S. E. W. 



Chestnut Blight Fungus in Soil, Longevity of Pycnospores of. 



By F. D. Heald and M. W. Gardner {Jour. Agr. Research, i.pp. 67-75). — 

 In dry weather the pycnospores retain their power of germination for 

 from two to 13 days, but indoor experiments showed that many lived 

 under dry conditions for four or five months. They probably, 

 therefore, hve in the dry soil for a very long time, and are capable 

 of infecting the trees therefrom. — F. J. C. 



Cistus, Hybrid. By Ed. Bornet and M. Gard (Beth. Bot. Cent. 

 xxxi. Abt. 2, Heft 3, pp. 373-428). — An enormous number of hybridiza- 

 tion experiments were carried out by Bornet in 1863 to 1866. So far 

 as one can gather from this paper (it is nowhere clearly stated), M. Gard 

 has examined microscopically the herbarium specimens preserved 

 by M. Bornet, and adds to the latter's manuscript notes any details 

 observed by himself. The hybrids are for the most part complex ; 

 all appear to be sub-species of Cistus polymorphus. The sign X means 

 " pollinated by." Of three-quarter hybrids, e.g., there are (C. villosus X 

 alhidus) X C. albidus, (C. alb. X vill.) X C. alb., C. alb. X (C. vill. X C. 

 alb.), C. vill. X (C. alb. X C. vill.), (C. alb. X C. vill.) X C. vill. 



Three-quarter hybrids were also crossed with themselves and with 

 other three-quarter hybrids, and combinations of three and also of 

 four different sub-species are described. 



The results showed extraordinary variations and many inter- 

 mediate forms. No general or precise conclusion could be drawn from 

 reciprocal crossings of three-quarter hybrids, partly because of the 

 very different number of individual plants, and partly because they 

 varied in different crossings of the same kind. 



Amongst the descendants of the cross {a x b) X a there appeared 



