NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



345 



Raspberry *June.' By U. P. Hedrick {U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Geneva. 

 New York, Bull. 364; plate). — A seedling from ' Marlborough ' with 

 increased vigour. The earliest of seventy varieties tested. — E. A. Bd. 



Raspberry * Plum Farmer.' By U. P. Hedrick {U.S.A. Exp. 

 Stn., Geneva, New York, Bull. 364). — ^The best black raspberry tested 

 at the Experimental Station at Geneva. The fruit is large, of high 

 quality, and travels well. — E. A. Bd. 



Red Spider on Cotton, The. By E. A. McGregor {U.S.A. 

 Dep. Agr., Bur. Entom., Circ. 172, May 1913 ; 12 figs.). — Red spider 

 {Tetranychus bimaculatus Harvey) is becoming one of the serious 

 enemies of the cotton plant in the United States. It is prevalent 

 throughout the cotton belt ; seasons of excessive drought are 

 favourable to its development, and at such times the pest increases 

 so rapidly that the damage done by it is often severe before its presence 

 is noticed. 



When the cotton dies in the late fall an exodus of red spiders 

 occurs in the effort to find suitable food plants for the winter. Promi- 

 nent among the plants favoured by the mite is the cultivated 

 English violet. 



Recommended measures of control are (i) clean culture ; (2) control 

 of violets by destroying or spraying plants growing near cotton fields ; 

 (3) choosing spider-resisting varieties of cotton. 



The following formulae for spraying are given in the bulletin : — 



(1) Stock solution of flour paste. Mix cheap wheat flour with cold 

 water at the rate of i lb. of flour to i gallon of water. Boil to a paste. 



(2) Flour paste spray. Use 8 gallons of the above stock solution 

 paste to each 100 gallons of water. Keep constantly agitated while 

 spraying. 



(3) Lime-sulphur and flour paste mixture. Use 4 gallons of flour 

 paste stock solution to each 100 gallons of lime-sulphur spray. — V. G. J. 



Red Spider on Hops in the Sacramento Valley of California, 

 The. By W. B. Parker, M.S. {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Entom. Bur., Bull. 117, 

 May 1913 ; 6 pis., 9 figs.). — Great financial loss may be caused by 

 red spider on hops. The mites are not affected by any form of dry 

 sulphur, but are easily killed by several contact insecticides, the 

 cheapest and most convenient being flour paste or a combination 

 of flour paste and lime-sulphur. The infested area must be thoroughly 

 and rapidly covered, and must be sprayed a second time seven or ten 

 days later. — F. G. J. 



Respiration of Plants under Various Electrical Conditions. 



By R. C. Knight and J. H. Priestley {Ann. Bot. xxviii. p. 135, Jan. 

 1914). — The authors show that respiration in pea seeds is unaffected 

 by electrical discharge, any increase in COg production being accounted 

 for by increase in temperature due to the discharge. — F. J. C, 



