NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 
203 
violet, growing at a height of 800-1,000 metres; P. racemosa Lev., growing at 
600 metres, violet -mauve flowers : P. Mairei Lev., 3,300 metres up, flowers dark 
blue or dark violet ; P. Blinii Lev., 3,400 metres up, pink-flowered ; P. Ragotiana 
Lev., 3,000 metres, violet-flowered. — M. L. H. 
Pruning Fruit Trees. By the Duke of Bedford and S. U. Pickering 
(Wobum, 15th Rep. 1916, pp. 67-76). — The conclusions detailed in the Seventh 
Report have been substantiated by further experiments. In one series the 
omission of all pruning increased the blossoming nearly fourfold (average of 
six years), whilst the substitution of hard for moderate pruning reduced it to 
about one-half. Pruning in summer on dates varying from July 15 to 
September 1 produced more blossom than pruning in winter, and the benefit 
increased regularly the later it was performed within these limits. Further 
experiments on these lines are in progress. — A . P. 
Quince, Hybrid (Pyronia x Veitchi Trab.) (Rev. Hort. de I'Alg., July-Dec. 
1914, p. 248, and March-April 1915, p. 49). — For the first time a hybrid pear- 
quince has fruited at the Botanical Station in Algeria, and the fruit proved to be 
delicious when cooked. It had the skin and flesh of the pear, with a strong 
flavour of quince. The name of Pyronia x Veitchi has been given to this hybrid, 
sowings from which have resulted in plants of three different types, showing 
traces of their hybrid origin in varying proportions. 
These varieties will be described and named when their fruits are more known. 
Grafts of the original cross are ready for distribution. (See Journal R.H.S. 1910.) 
M. L. H. 
Radio-active Ores and Residues, The Effects of. By M. H. F. Sutton 
(Messrs. Sutton's Bull. 6, 1914 ; figs.). — Radish, lettuce, and pea crops dressed 
with radio-active ore showed considerable superiority over those grown in plain 
soil, but the cost of the ore far outweighed the value of the increase. No material 
difference was apparent between trials with ore incorporated with the soil and 
those where it was placed at the bottom of the box or pot. Acceleration of 
germination was shown in rape, but not more by high than by low-grade residues. 
F.J.C. 
Radishes and Sugar Beets, A New Fungus Parasite of. By H. A. Edson (Jour. 
Agr. Res. iv. p. 279-292, July 1915 ; plates). — The fungus now described for 
the first time, and named Rheo sporangium Aphanidermatus, is closely allied to 
Pythium Debaryanum and produced disease similar to that caused by the ordinary 
damping-off fungus. The present paper describes the fungus in detail. — F. J. C. 
Railway Rates on Timber. By J. W. Mackay (Quart. Jour, of Forestry, 
No. 4, vol. 9, pp. 283-298 ; October 1915). — Alleged preferential rates on foreign 
timber. — The alleged preferential rates on foreign timber are, in many cases, 
only a preference given to sawn timber as compared with round. A preferential 
rate given for timber merely on account of its being of foreign origin would be 
illegal. The railway companies can and do charge very low rates, for instance, 
on pitwood from ports to mines, but this may be only for the purpose of diverting 
steamer traffic to ports in which they are interested, which in its turn induces 
other and possibly more profitable traffic, and a rate open to one is open to all. 
Railway rates in War-time. — With the purpose of enabling firms to keep 
their works going, English railway companies are now quoting specially low 
rates of carriage on home-grown pitwood, but these are confined to timber 
not exceeding fourteen feet in length, consigned direct to a mine, at actual 
machine weight, and the rates will not apply after the termination of the 
war. 
The Scottish railway companies have agreed to charge a maximum rate of 
105. a ton on pit timber for any distance during the war, the existing rates 
below that figure being unchanged. — A. D. W. 
Raspberry* Black Pearl.' By U. P. Hedrick (U.S. A . Exp. Stn., Geneva, Bull. 403). 
— A seedling raised in Missouri in 191 5. Its hardiness and resistance to drought 
make it suitable for districts where raspberries do not usually flourish, — E. A . Bd. 
Raspberry « Marldon.' By U. P. Hedrick (U.S. A . Exp. Stn., Geneva, Bull. 403, 
col. pi.). — A new variety, first distributed in 1908 from the Geneva station, where 
it was selected from over one thousand seedlings. Of the Marlboro' style, it is 
more vigorous, stocky, and of good flavour. — E. A . Bd* 
