NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



621 



which is dealt with under the sub-headings : Origin, Composition, 

 Approximate Values based upon Manurial Constituents, Action, and 

 Application. — A. S. 



Fruit Blossom, A Bacterial Disease of. By B. T. P. Barker 

 and O. Grove {Ann. Appl. Biol. i. pp. 85-97 ; May 1914). — The authors 

 report a disease of bacterial origin resulting in the death and blackening 

 of stigmas of apple and pear even before the flower opens. The 

 organism to which the disease is attributed has been isolated and 

 its cultural characters determined. It proves to be a species of 

 Pseudomonas possibly hitherto undescribed, but of wide distribution. 

 There are two main forms of the disease. In one the tips of the sepals 

 first turn grey and then blacken, the blackening subsequently 

 passing to the flower stalk and later involving the whole flower bud 

 or even to the whole truss. The spurs are also attacked and may die 

 out. In the other case the trouble first appears in the form of minute 

 greyish-black spots, which increase in size and later coalesce ; the 

 entire receptacle becomes blackened, and the disease spreads to the 

 ovary. There are other symptoms produced by the attack in certain 

 cases, but these are the more prominent. Cold, wet weather appears 

 to favour the spread of the disease, while warm, dry weather restricts 

 it. It is thought that insects are the chief carriers of the causal 

 organism, just as in the similar disease known in America as fire bhght, 

 but the authors consider this to be a distinct organism. Different 

 varieties appear to present different degrees of susceptibility to the 

 disease. It has been observed in ' Beurre d'Amanhs,' ' Catillac,' 

 ' Vicar of Winkfield,' ' Louise Bonne de Jersey,' ' Conference,' 

 ' Bellissime d'Hiver,' ' Dr. Jules Guyot,' ' WiUiams' Bon Chretien,' 

 and * Pitmaston Duchess ' among pears, particularly in the first two ; 

 and in ' Beauty of Bath,' * Bramley's Seedhng,' * Allington Pippin,' 

 * Devonshire Quarrenden,' and ' Duchess of Oldenburg ' among apples. 

 The same organism was isolated from Myrobella Plum flowers which 

 showed no injury, so that it may occur without producing pathogenic 

 symptoms. Infection experiments were performed. — F. J. C. 



Fruit Trees, Momenclature of Different Parts of the Tree. 

 (Pom. Frang. No. 9, 1914 ; figs.). — A very good resume of the technical 

 terms used by French fruit-growers. Pubhshed as an attempt to secure 

 uniformity in description. — E. A . Bd. 



Fruits, &c., in certain Gases, Respiration of. By G. R. 



Hill [U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Cornell, Bull. 330 ; April 1913).— It was found 

 that both green and ripe fruits respired rapidly, and that even in the 

 absence of air respiration in ripe cherries, blackberries, and grapes is 

 very rapid. Fruits which spoil quickly respire more rapidly than do 

 others. Ripe apples lose their colour, texture, and flavour when kept 

 for a sufficient length of time in oxygen-free gases, and the need for 

 free aeration in fruit stores is thus indicated. The softening of peaches 

 seems to be decreased greatly by carbon dioxide, and to a considerable 



