344 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Board have received from Professor Jakob Eriksson, of Stockholm, 

 relating to an experiment which he conducted during 1913, in order to 

 test the efficacy of formalin in killing the contagious matter in soil 

 infected with wart disease of potatos. From this experiment it is 

 concluded that " a dilute solution of formalin, i in 100, is capable of 

 killing the infective matter in soil contaminated with this disease. 

 In very badly infected soil it would be better to make trials also with 

 2 and 3 per cent, solutions. If the remedy is really as good as it seems 

 it will be possible to eradicate the disease in all gardens where it is novv 

 destructive." — A. 5. 



Primula angustidens, Pax, Not a Species. By Prof. Bay ley 

 Balfour {Gard. Chron. Aug. 22, 1914, p. 143). — The name covers 

 three types in Pax's Monograph, which the author divides into three : 



1. P. japonica var. angustidens, not in cultivation. 



2. P. Wilsonii Dunn. Plant aromatic. Corolla limb concave. 



3. P. ohlanceolata Balf. fil. Not aromatic. Corolla limb flat. 

 Leaves long, narrow, flat ; corolla tube white. This can be recognized 

 from P. Poissonii, in which the leaves are short, broad, crisped ; corolla 

 tube red. — E. A. B. 



Primula Purdomii (Bot. Mag. tab. 8535). — West Kansu. Nat. 

 Ord. Primulaceae, Tribe Primuleae. Herb, acaulescent. Leaves, 

 4J inches long, tapering at the base. Scape 5 inches. Umbel 8- 

 flowered. Corolla lavender, with limb i inch diameter. — G. H. 



Pruning Wood in Trees, Dressings for. By A. D. Selby 

 [U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Ohio, Bull. 126). — The writer recommends an anti- 

 septic such as carbolic acid to be used first, followed by an appHcation 

 of asphaltum dissolved in if to 2 parts of linseed oil by weight for 

 large wounds. The dressing to be kept in closed tins and applied 

 as required. — C. P. C. 



Prunus, The Pubescent - fruited Species of, of the South- 

 western States. By S. C. Mason {Jour. Agr. Research, i. pp. 147-178, 

 Nov. 1913 ; plates). — The relationship of the wild plums described 

 in this paper is closer to the plums of Asia than to the wild plums of 

 the rest of the States. A description of the habitat and environment 

 under which they grow in California, &c., is followed by a classification 

 and notes, with figures of all the species. Prunus texana and its 

 hybrids (' Ramsey,' ' Llano,' ' Wihow,' 'Sumlin,' * Holmann,' ' Gephart,' 

 ' Johnson,' ' Bolen,' ' Stuart,' ' Hildebrand,' ' Whittaker '), P. Ander- 

 sonii, P. eriogyna, P. microphylla, and P. Harvardii are described. 



F- /. C. 



Quercus Prinus, Twig Blight of. By D. E. Ingram (Jour. Agr. 

 Research, i. pp. 339-346, Jan. 1914 ; figs.). — Diplodia longispora 

 C. and Ell., was found to cause the dying back of shoots of this oak 

 and of some alHed species ; but no practical means of dealing with it, 

 beyond the cutting back of affected shoots, is suggested. — F. J. C. 



