640 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



itself by spores and vegetative multiplication as well as by means 

 of gametes. 



In double fertilization, fusion is not of a sexual character, for no 

 new individual is formed. 



These extracts may give some idea of the general argument in 

 this paper. — G. F. S. E. 



Rhinoceros Beetle in Samoa. By R. W. Doane {Jour. Econ. 

 Entom. vi. p. 437 ; Dec. 1913 ; plates). — Coconut trees are often 

 badly damaged by the rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros L.), and the 

 author records observation made upon its attacks in Samoa, where 

 it has recently been introduced, the winds apparently assisting its 

 distribution. The few experiments tried with the object of checking 

 the spread of the pest are at present inconclusive. — F. J. C. 



Rothamsted Experimental Station, The Work of the. By 



E. J. Russell {Jour. Bd. Agr. vol. xxi. No. 5, pp. 385-394 ; 2 

 plates). — A brief account of the various experiments which are at 

 present being carried out at the station. — A. S. 



Scale Insects of New South Wales. By W. W. Froggatt 

 {Agr. Gaz. N.S.W. vol. xxv. pp. 127-136, 311-319, 599-610, 677-684 ; 

 5 plates). — A descriptive list of the scale insects attacking important 

 plants in New South Wales is given, with descriptions. — S. E. W. 



Sitka Spruce in Ireland, The. By A. C. Forbes {Trans. Royal 

 Scot. Arbor. Soc. Edin., vol. xxviii. part 2, 1914). — The value of 

 Sitka spruce for planting on exposed sites and wet soils which occupy 

 so large a portion of Ireland can scarcely be over-estimated. Short 

 of submerged ground, no degree of moisture appears to be too 

 great for this species, and it bears the salt-laden winds of the 

 Atlantic as well as, if not better than, any tree capable of growing 

 in the low summer temperatures which characterize this part of 

 the United Kingdom. While common spruce will bear w'et ground, 

 it cannot thrive in very exposed places. Corsican and Austrian pines 

 stand wind well, but dislike wet soils for any length of time, and 

 before the introduction of the Sitka spruce it was difHcult to find a 

 conifer which could give a satisfactory return on many sites with which 

 the planter has to deal along the western seaboard of Ireland or 

 Scotland. 



The only serious enemy of the Sitka spruce hitherto observed in 

 Ireland is a species of aphis, apparently identical with that of the 

 common spruce, and usually known as A. phis ahietina Walker. 



A. D. W. 



Smoke Injury to Plants, Measuring the Extent of. By A. L. 



Bakke {U.S.A. Hort. Soc, Iowa, Trans., 1913, pp. 112-114). — There 

 is a direct relationship existing between transpiration and growlh, 

 and when smoke interferes with the former the extent of the retarda- 

 tion can be measured by the use of a modified cobalt chloride method. 



