284 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



428-448; December 1909; figs.). — After pointing out the great con- 

 fusion existing in the nomenclature of many of the scale insects, es- 

 pecially as many entomologists have regarded as distinct species similar 

 forms feeding on different hosts, the author discusses the synonymy 

 and host plants of some of the more common ones. — F. J. C. 



Scolytid Beetles, Contributions towards a Monograph of 



the. By A. D. Hopkins, Ph.D. {U.S.A. Dept. Agr., Bur. Entom., 

 Tech. Series 17, Part I. June 30, 1909, many illustrations and distri- 

 bution maps). The first part of this bulletin is entitled " The Genus 

 Dendroctonus " and embodies the results of extensive systematic 

 investigations of the genus, carried on by Doctor Hopkins during the 

 past seventeen years, and is of especial interest and importance from 

 the fact that it deals with a small group of beetles which are most 

 destructive enemies of the principal coniferous trees of North America. 



V. G. J. 



Seed Barley by Specific Gravity Method, Separation of. By 



H. B. Derr {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. PL Ind., Circ. 62; May 1910).— 

 The barley crop in the United States for 1909 was poorer than the 

 ten years' average from 1900 to 1909. This may have resulted from 

 the use of inferior seed. The six-rowed barley being most grown, it 

 follows from the distribution of the grain in the ear that the lateral 

 grains are not as full and heavy, and therefore not so good for seed 

 as the plump and well-developed median grains. 



It is well to separate them by the specific gravity method, either 

 with or without the use of the f anning-mill in addition. A successful 

 process is the immersion of the seed-barley in a tub of water, thorough 

 stirring and subsequent skimming off the lighter and smaller seeds 

 which float. One pound of formalin to forty gallons of water will 

 combine treatment for smut with the above single and efficacious 

 method of separation. — C. H. L. 



Seeds, The Production of Vegetable. By W. W. Tracy 

 {U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Bull. 184; August 1910).— The 

 ever-growing requirements of agriculture make it necessary for the 

 seedsman to contract with farmers for a large part of their seeds, the 

 latter having to come up a certain standard of purity, vitality, and 

 quantity. The seedsman provides the seed and claims the crop, paying 

 the farmer so much for land and labour for every pound of seed grown 

 according to agreement. 



The necessary elements in garden seeds are : appearance, vitality, 

 purity of stock, and the relative supply and demand. In the case of 

 peas and beans the seedsman often employs his own men to go over the 

 crops and rogue " out inferior and undesirable plants. This is not 

 so necessary with sweet corn, but here care is required to prevent 

 cross-pollination and in the curing and harvesting of the seed. 



Seedsmen should not depend only on apparent excellence of 



