556 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Flowers of February. Anon. (Irish Gard. xiii., March 1918, pp. 38-39). — An 
interesting article describing a number of flowers blooming in February. — E. T. E. 
Flowers of March. By J. W. B. (Irish Gard. xiii., April 1918, pp. 53-54). — 
Dealing with the more important flowers blooming during that month. — E. T. E. 
Flowers of April. By J. W. B. (Irish Gard. xiii., May 1918, pp. 70-72). — 
Dealing with shrubs and plants in bloom during April. — E. T. E. 
Flowers of May. Anon. (Irish Gard. xiii., June 1918, pp. 86-88). — Possibly 
the article is not intended to cover all the more common May-blooming flowers, 
for we cannot find in it any mention of Doronicums, Lupinus polyphyllus and 
several other plants which usually bloom from the middle to the end of May. 
E. 2\ E. 
Fruit Blossom Bacillus. By O. Grove (Ann. Rep. Agr. Res. Stn., Long Ash- 
ton, 1 91 7). — The organism which has been isolated from fruit blossoms was found 
in the soil, and especially about the roots of various plants. It is suggested that 
it possibly aids growth in some way, for germination in sterilized soil was much 
more rapid where the soil had been inoculated with the bacillus than in its 
absence, — F. /, C. 
Fruit Buds, The Freezing of. By F, L. West and N, E, Edlefsen (U.S.A. 
Exp. Stn., Utah, Feb. 1917)- — When plant tissue freezes, water passes out of 
the cells and ice forms in the intercellular spaces. It has been found that if 
the thawing is done slowly enough when working with tender plants, such as 
lettuce and matured fruits, the water will gradually pass back into the cells, 
and if the original freezing did not rupture the cell wall, the plant has suffered 
little harm from the ice formation. If, however, the thawing is done rapidly, 
the water does not get back into the cells and they die through drying out. We 
must have then either a rupturing of the cell wall when the ice is formed or else 
ice formation and in many cases rapid thawing in order to kill the tissue. 
Summary. — i. Many Utah orchards are poorly located from the standpoint of 
topography and its relation to frost. 
2. Some of these orchards are paying good returns, although frostoccasionally 
destroys the crop. 
3. In many States, loss from frost has been avoided by artificially heating the 
orchards. — A, D. W t 
Fruit Crop and Fruit Prospects (Ireland), 1917. By W. S. Irving (Irish 
Gard. xii., Aug. 1917, pp. 120-122). — The first two pages consist of a table of 
reports from a very large number of Irish districts by different gardeners, &c. 
These reports cover all the more important classes of hardy fruit. The last page 
is taken up with an account of the Irish 191 7 Fruit Crop. — E. T. E. 
Fruit Industry. Anon. (Irish Gard. xiii., April 1918, p. 54). — Brief notes on 
the important matter of the Irish Fruit Industry. — E. T. E. 
Fungus Fairy Rings in Colorado and their Effect upon Vegetation. ByH.L. 
Shantz and R. L. Piemeisel (Jour. Agr. Res. xi. Oct. 191 7, pp. 191-245 ; 20 
plates). — A large number of fungi have been shown to produce " fairy rings," 
those characteristic circles of vegetation which so commonly occur in meadows 
and fields. The authors deal only with those fleshy fungi which produce these 
rings in Western Colorado, and find that Agaricus tabularis is largely concerned 
in their formation. This fungus produces an enormous number of spores, and 
their germination and growth as mycelium cause the fairy rings to develop. 
The ring starts from the point of germination of the fungus spore and spreads 
outward at approximately an equal rate in all directions. Where an obstacle — 
ant-hill or another ring — is encountered, growth stops at this point. The effect 
of the fungus hyphae on the soil is to reduce a part of the organic matter to 
ammonia, which may be converted by bacteria into nitrites and then nitrates. 
This increase in available nitrogen in the soil stimulates the growth of the grasses 
and other plants, which therefore make a greater demand on the soil moisture. 
When this is once exhausted (in A. tabularis) the mass of fungus hyphae prevent 
the penetration of rain water. The drought produced kills off the various 
grasses, and so the area becomes bare. After some time the mycelium of the 
fungus dies and leaves the soil further enriched and pervious to water. The 
first stage in the succession on this bare area is (1) an early-weed stage followed 
by (2) a late-weed stage. Then comes (3) a short-lived grass stage, followed by 
(4) a perennial stage, which is succeeded by (5) the original short-grass covering. 
A full bibliography is given at the conclusion of the paper, — A t B m 
