194 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Fumes, Damage by. (U.S.A. State Com. Hort. Cat. vol. iv. Nos. 5 and 6, 
May and June 191 5; 19 figs.) — Contains an account of injury caused to trees 
and plants by smelter fumes (sulphur-dioxide gas liberated in the process of 
smelting ores). 
This injury is far-reaching in its effect, as in most cases smelters are located 
in mountainous regions where the timber and grazing interests are very great. 
It is to be hoped that science will come to the aid of both smelters and agricultur- 
ists and give them something that will eliminate all deleterious gases. — V. G. J. 
Fumigant, Para-dichlorobenzene as an Insect. By A. B. Duckett (U.S. A . Dep. 
Agr., Bur. Ent., Bull. 167, Feb. 1915). — Para-dichlorobenzene is highly recom- 
mended as a fumigant against all sorts of stored product insects, clothes moths, 
ants, &c, and it can be used instead of potassium cyanide in collecting-bottles. 
It seems to be non-poisonous to higher animals, but deadly to soil insects. 
The author recommends 1 lb. to the 100 cubic feet for fumigation. This is 
effective against insects in thirty-six hours at a temperature of 75 0 F., but twenty- 
four hours is sufficient at temperatures above 85 0 F. — C. P. C. 
Fumigating Seed, A Method of. By E. R. Sasscer and Lon A. Hawkins 
(U.S.A. Dep. Agr., Bull. 186, Feb. 27, 1915 ; fig., tab., pp. 1-516).— The 
ordinary methods of destroying insects in stored seeds having been found 
unsatisfactory, it occurred to the writers to create a partial vacuum in the 
container in which the seeds had been placed, and fill the chamber with some 
gaseous insecticide, such as carbon bisulphide or hydrocyanic acid. It was 
thought that a much larger amount of gas might thus be forced into the crevices 
of the seeds and into the insect galleries than would be possible if the entrance 
of the gas were dependent upon diffusion under normal atmospheric pressure. 
This method was successfully used with a number of different kinds of seeds 
and insects, and a convenient chamber for fumigation under reduced pressure 
was devised. 
The results given in the table indicate that the fumigation of seeds by the 
introduction of hydrocyanic acid into an air-tight chamber, from which the 
air has been practically exhausted, is effective, provided the exposure is not 
less than half an hour. An exposure of one-fourth hour is effective with the 
apparatus employed in these experiments if four or more grains of cyanide are 
used. 
Fumigation by this method was found to kill insects without injury to the 
seed, and with a considerably shorter exposure than is necessary in the usual 
method of seed fumigation. — A. A. K. 
Fungicide, A New, for use against American Gooseberry Mildew. By J. 
Vargas Eyre and E. S. Salmon (Jour. Bd. Agr. xxii. No. 11, Feb. 191 6). — 
A diffuse article suggesting the use on an experimental scale of a solution of 
ammonium sulphide containing 'i8 per cent, of sulphur for protecting the fruit 
of gooseberries from mildew. It is claimed that lime-sulphur is effective for this 
purpose, but has the disadvantage of leaving a deposit which has to be removed 
before marketing the fruit, while liver of sulphur, so frequently recommended, is 
useless. 
As regards the new fungicide, most of the experiments were conducted with 
the hop mildew, but the work was extended to include American gooseberry- 
mildew. An extremely fine spray is necessary, a hand atomizer being used, and it 
was noted that the mycelium was reduced to a barren and dying condition, later 
drying up and becoming disintegrated. No stain was left on the fruit. The 
fungicidal action is slow, and it has happened that as long as the eighteenth day 
after spraying the mycelium may still be white although unable to recover. 
A full description is given of the preparation of the solution, but it is stated that 
it is obvious that the stock solution is not one that can be prepared by the grower 
himself. — G. C. G. 
Garlic, Wild, Methods of Extermination of. By H. R. Cox (U.S.A. Dep. 
Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Farm. Bull. 610, Sept. 9, 1914; figs.). 
Garlic, Wild, and its Eradication. By F. J. Pipal (U.S.A. Exp. Stn., 
Purdue, Bull. 176, vol. xviii., Aug. 1914; pi.). — The wild garlic or wild onion 
(Allium vineale) was introduced into the United States from Western Europe 
probably in the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, and has spread until 
it has become a serious pest in many States. The cows eat the plant, with the 
result that their milk becomes tainted with its flavour ; the farmer harvests 
the onion bulblets with his wheat, which is thereby reduced in selling value, while 
bread made from garlicky flour has a pronounced flavour and odour. 
