NOTES AND ABSTRACTS 
247 
Great Lakes and North Atlantic regions, and has several names, the most appro- 
priate of which is ' balsam fir,' coined from the tree's technical name. 
Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nuttall is one of the smallest of the western firs 
and perhaps also one of the least known there, owing to the fact that it grows 
chiefly at high altitudes. The common name, ' alpine fir/ adopted here, would 
seem to be the most appropriate one for this species, because it refers to the 
tree's high mountain habitat. Woodsmen and settlers usually call it ' balsam ' 
or ' mountain balsam.'— A. D. W> 
Stocks used by the Chinese. By Frank N. Meyer {Queensland Agr. Jour. 
p. 254 ; Oct. 1 9 16). — In the neighbourhood of Tientsin Chinese gardeners graft 
flowering plums upon Amygdalus Davidiana, which they call by a name 
meaning literally " Mountain peach-tree " ; Chrysanthemums are grafted on 
wormwood (Artemisia), lea olives (Olea fragrans) on privet, and junipers upon 
the Arbor vitae (Thuja orientalis). The Chinese, in North China, at least 
have tried to find congenial stocks which have root systems that are better 
suited to dry and alkaline soils than were the root systems of the plants them- 
selves.— C. H. H. 
Sugar-Beet Breeding, Some Recent Investigations in. By F. J. Pdtchard 
(Bot. Gaz. Dec. 1916, p. 425 ; 51 figs.). — The author gives the following 
summary of his investigations : — 
1. Differences in the size and sugar content of individual beet roots show no 
evidence of inheritance. They are fluctuations, therefore, and apparently play 
no part in beet improvement. 
2. No correlation was discoverable between percentage or quantity of sugar 
in sugar-beet roots of ordinary sizes and their yield of seed and the average 
percentage of sugar in their progeny. 
3. The fluctuations of beet families planted in progeny rows in alternation 
with check rows exceeded their real differences, but real differences were dis- 
tinguishable by the use of a large number of replications. 
4. Areas of beets in an apparently uniform field of small dimensions showed 
a difference of 2 per cent, sugar. 
5. Percentage of sugar and yield of sugar of sugar-beet rows vary 
independently. 
6. The average weight of root from a row increases with yield of sugar and 
decreases with percentage of sugar. 
7. The discontinuance of selection for one generation caused no deterioration 
in percentage of sugar. In fact, there was some apparent gain. 
8. No improvement in yield or percentage of sugar was obtained by con- 
tinuous selection. Both the good and the poor families transmitted average 
qualities. — R. J. L. 
Sulphur, The Relation of, to Soil Fertility. By O. M. Shedd (U.S.A. Exp. 
Stn. Kentucky, Bull. 188, December 1914). — Sulphur is an important factor in the 
maintenance of soil fertility. It is rapidly oxidized to sulphates in soil, the more 
fertile the soil the greater the oxidation. Sulphur produces acidity, and should 
only be used in conjunction with calcium carbonate. 
Experimental results show that the sulphates of magnesium, iron, sodium, 
potassium, ammonium, gave the best results as compared with carbonates, only 
four in thirty-eight trials gave less yields than checks. — C. P. C. 
Sunflower * Excelsior.' By F. Bonvallet (Le Jard. vol. xxxi. pp. 100, 101 ; 
2 figs.). — 'Excelsior' is a hybrid of Helianthus cucumerifolius var. purpureus 
and H. annuus var. gaillardioides. It is robust, attaining a height of six feet, 
and very floriferous. The central disc of the flower rarely exceeds in dimensions 
that of H. cucumerifolius. It is surrounded by a reddish-purple or blood-red 
zone with a yellow aureole. The plant is easily raised from seed in a hotbed, 
if the outer husk is chipped. — 5. E. W. 
Sunflower, ' Excelsior.' By F. Cayeux (Rev. Hort. vol, lxxxix. p. 268 ; 
1 col. plate).— S. E. W. 
Surface Forces in Soils, Measurement of. By C. A. Shull (Bot. Gaz. vol. lxii., 
July 1916 ; 5 figs.). — It was found that the water-holding power of soils at the 
wilting coefficient was less than the osmotic pressure of the root hairs of 
many kinds of plants, as shown by Hannig and others. Thus the wilting of 
plants at the wilting coefficient of the soil cannot be due to lack of moisture in 
the soil, nor to lack of a gradient of forces tending to move water towards the 
