NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 
577 
It should be planted in shallow furrows, in a deep, sandy loam enriched with 
stable manure, on a sunny situation. Superphosphate is applied in the drills 
at the time of planting, at the rate of i or 2 cwt. per acre. The ground must 
be kept free from weeds, and the surface of the soil must be frequently broken 
up. It is an advantage to remove the suckers and use them for fodder. The ears 
are removed when ripe, and the stalks are used as food for cattle. The best 
varieties of sweet corn are : ' Golden Bantam,' ' Peep of Day,' ' Early Darling,' 
' Cosmopolitan,' ' White Evergreen,' ' Stowell's Evergreen,' and ' Country 
Gentleman.' — S. E. W. 
Sulphur-Arsenate of Lead Dust, Further Trial of, against the Strawberry 
Weevil. By Thomas J. Headlee (Jour. Econ. Entom. x., pp. 287-290 ; April 
1917). — Good results were obtained by the use of sulphur and lead arsenate in 
equal parts, and in the proportion of 1 to 5 in reducing the damage done by a 
strawberry weevil (Anthonomus signatus Say). It is recommended that a rather 
complete coating of the buds should be given with the 1 to 5 strength, as this 
is the cheaper : preferably by means of power machinery. 
The protective action is said to be largely due to a repellent effect. Two 
dustings gave an increase in crop of about 200 per cent, over the control plot, 
G. W, G. 
Sun-Scald of Fruit Trees. By A, J. Mix (U.S.A. Exp. Stn., Cornell, Bull, 
382, Oct. 1916 ; figs.). — Apple trees show, as the result of sun-scald, injury 
to bark, cambium, and outer sapwood on the south-west side of the tree. The 
injury is probably due to direct freezing to death of the tissue. It is usually 
brought about in late winter and is not the result of incomplete ripening of tissues* 
Whitewashing the trunks in autumn or early winter is recommended as a 
preventive. — F. J, C. 
Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus pratensis), Further Experiments in the Control 
Of. By M. D. Leonard (Jour. Econ. Entom., 8, pp. 361-367; June 1915). — 
Attempts were made to reduce the number of individuals of Lygus pratensis, 
which invaded a bed of peaches for budding by surrounding it with a close- 
meshed wire netting six feet high, having a band of Tangle-foot grease four 
inches deep near the top. The number was reduced but not sufficiently to protect 
the trees or to pay for the trouble. It is, however, assumed that all the insects 
captured came from outside the cage, which enclosed 13 acres. The puncturing 
of the terminal shoot of the tree by the bug damages it so severely that none oi 
the pruning methods of control served to recover the trees. — F. J. C. 
Telopea oreades MuelL By O. Stapf (Bot. Mag. t. 8684 ; Nov. 1916).— 
Proteaceae (Embothrieae). Native of Victoria and New South Wales, and 
hardy in south-west Cornwall, where it flowered in 1915 in Rev. A. Boscawen's 
garden. Leaves linear oblong, 6 to 8 inches long. Flowers in capitulate racemes, 
crimson, about one inch in length. — F. J. C. 
Thuranthos macranthum. By C s H. Wright (Bot. Mag. t. 8680). — Liliaceae 
(Scilleae). Allied to Ornithogalum, Collected by Canon and Miss Mason in 
Tembuland; flowered at Cambridge, 1913. Flowers variable, red-brown, yellow- 
green, or brown with a red band, petals banded with green, borne on an erect 
scape, 3£ to 6 feet long, — F. J a C, 
Timber Shortage Conditions in the Eastern and Southern States with 
Reference to Decay Problems. By C. H. Humphreys (U.S.A. Dep. Agr. Butt,, 
May 17, 1917)- — As a preliminary to an investigation into the prevalence of 
decay in building timbers, with the prime object of securing some basis for the 
effective control of such losses, a field study covering about seven months' active 
work was undertaken during 191 4 to determine the conditions under which 
lumber and structural timbers are stored, for timber infected with wood- 
destroying fungi during storage may be the direct cause of outbreaks of rot in 
buildings when such timber is placed in situations favourable to decay. 
Decay in timber is almost exclusively due to the action of fungi, the greater 
part of the destruction being referable to one of the higher groups of these 
organisms, namely, the Hymenomycetes. In the life circle of these fungi there 
are two distinct phases of development : (1) the vegetable stage (mycelium), and 
(2) the fruiting stage, 
There are two general methods by which wood-destroying fungi spread from 
infected to sound timber- (1) By a direct overgrowth of mycelium from an 
infected stick to adjoining or near-by timber, and (2) by the blowing about of 
spores produced by the fruit bodies or by the mycelium. 
