NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



271 



MM. Lemoine. A number of other forms are also described as of 

 great beauty, but this is one of the eUte. — G. T. D. 



Phlox *Comtesse de Jarnac,' A variegated. By Georges 

 Bellair [Rev. Hort. October 1, 1910, pp. 149-50; 1 illustration).— 

 Described as a very finely variegated form, the leaves being broadly 

 margined with pure white and in the vicinity of the inflorescence entirely 

 white, presenting a very good effect. The flowers are poor, and it is 

 advised to disbud entirely to encourage the foliage effects. Propagated 

 by buds from least variegated parts or by root division. — C. T. D. 



Phosphate Fields of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming-. By W. H. 



Wagaman {U.S.A. Bey. Agr., Bur. Soils, Bull. 69; June 1910; 12 

 tables and map). — These States contain one of the largest phosphate areas 

 at present known, the beds being thick and readily workable, and of high 

 quality. As phosphate rock is considered to be one of the natural 

 resources which is apparently being most rapidly depleted, some 6,700 

 square miles of the public domain which are considered to include the 

 most valuable of these deposits have been withdrawn from all form 

 of entry, and two geological Survey parties were engaged upon them 

 in 1909, this bulletin containing the results of the work in the matter of 

 sampling and analj^sing the phosphate rock (p. 8). 



The deposits are interstratified with limestones and quartzites, and 

 are considered to be original sedim.entary deposits laid down at a time 

 when this part of the earth's surface was submerged. Following the 

 deposition of these beds other deposits were similarly formed to a thick- 

 ness of many thousands of feet, and subsequent deformation of the 

 earth's crust folded and broke the originally fiat-lying strata. The total 

 thickness of the strata in which the phosphate occurs is generally not 

 greater than 200 feet (p. 10). 



The tables show the phosphoric acid content of numerous samples 

 of rock with information as to strike, dip, etc. Many samples have 

 been found to contain from 36 to 38 per cent, of phosphoric acid, equal 

 to 79 to 83 per cent, of tricalcic phosphate, showing them to be of 

 about the same richness as apatite and Florida phosphate (p. 46). 



The author thinks there is little prospect that the western phos- 

 phates will be extensively mined in the near future owing to the great 

 distances to present markets, but that with the growing demand in the 

 West for fertilizers, and the gradual depletion of the more accessible 

 deposits, they will come more and more into prominence. Mining 

 rights should be granted with the utmost care, and with such control 

 as to prevent wanton waste of lower grade deposits, which, though 

 not at present of value, are likely to be so in the future. — A. P. 



Pineapple Culture (VI.). By A. W. Blair and E. N. Wilson 

 (U.S.A. Agr. Exp. Stn., Florida, Bull. 101; January 1910).— These 

 experiments were undertaken to decide whether the quality of pine- 

 apples is affected by quantity and quality of the fertilizer used. 



It was found that increased fertilizer produced more large-sized 



