NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



633 



Ciarden some years since) in the markings on the falls not being so faint 

 and spotted, but a much darker blue, the whole fall being nearly 

 suffused with colour. It is nearer the var. coerulea from Japan, but this 

 "is pale lavender and of a duplex; form rather like a small 1. Kaempferi. 



H. R. D. 



Iris bucharica. By W. I. {Gard., April 15, 1911, p. 176 and 

 fig. 177). — This has been in cultivation about ten years. It belongs to 

 the Juno section and is closely allied with I. orchioides. It is of 

 erect habit 18 inches high, the flowers white in the upper portion, the 

 falls and crest rich golden yellow with deeper coloured veins in the 

 blade. It is hardy in a well-drained soil in a sunny position, but 

 requires plenty of moisture when in growth ; it makes a good pot plant. 



H. R. D. 



Iris ■ Willmottiana. By C. F. Ball {Gard., March 18, 1911; 

 fig.). — Introduced a few years ago by Van Tubergen from the 

 mountains of Eastern Turkestan ; is a dwarf Juno and flowers in April. 

 It is similar to I. caucasica in habit, with glistening green back and 

 white horny margins io the leaf. The flowers are sessile in the axils of 

 the leaves, from three to seven being borne on each stem, opening 

 downwards in succession. They are soft lavender blue with blotches of 

 white on the fall.— i?. R. D. 



Lespedeza, or Japan Clover. By A. D. M'Nair and W. B. 



Mercier (C7..S'./1. Dep. Agr., Farmers' Bull. 441; May 1911; figs.). 

 - — A description of the Japanese Clover (Lespedeza striata), with a record 

 of its value as a Hay crop and in permanent pasture and some suggested 

 ^systems of crop rotation in which it finds a place. Lespedeza is a 

 summer annual which does not thrive everywhere, and is only recom- 

 mended as a Hay crop on the fertile lands of the Lower Mississippi 

 Valley and on certain silt soils. On these last it frequently attains a 

 height of from 12 to 20 inches, and yields from two to four tons to the 

 acre. In other regions it seldom grows more than 4 to 6 inches high, 

 but it is valuable in pastures, and in some districts it has increased the 

 carrying capacity of grazing lands by at least 25 per cent. 



It grows on poor or thin soils where other plants do not thrive ; it 

 withstands drought and re-seeds itself freely even under severe grazing, 

 so that it is rarely necessary to re-sow it on pasture land. — M. L. H. 



Lime-Sulphur Spray, Manufacture and Storagre Of. By A. J. 



Vd^tten [U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Michigan, Circ. 10; Jan. 1911).— It is 

 stated that in Colorado the continued use of arsenical spray has resulted 

 in many cases in serious injury to the trees, and that the fruit from 

 trees thus sprayed actually shows traces of arsenic, while the fact 

 that soils are being loaded up with poisonous materials in the form of 

 spray solutions suggests the thought that the time will come when 

 the danger and the damage from the excess of arsenic incorporated with 

 the soil may be even greater than the damage due to the insects. These 



