206 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The leaves of the sunflower, when sun-dried, pounded, and mixed with meal 
or bran, make good fodder for milch cows. The oil expressed is almost equal to 
olive oil, and was worth before the war ^12 a ton. The seed yields 15 to 20 
per cent, of oil. The price of sunflower seed is about £15 a ton ; a 40-bushel 
crop at 30 lb. a bushel would be worth about £7 10s. — C. H. H. 
Thrips as Pollinators of Beet Flowers. By Harry B. Shaw {U.S.A. Dep. 
Agr., Bur. PI. Ind., Bull. 104, July 1914; 3 plates, 5 figs.). — From experiments 
conducted it is seen that numerous species of Thysanoptera, some of which 
more or less injuriously infest all our plants, are also active agents in pollination. 
Among beet flowers they are usually very numerous indeed, effecting both close 
and cross pollination upon them. But, taking into account the various forms of 
injury they do, it is doubtful whether the balance remains in their favour in 
regard even to beets. 
The author suggests that certain supposed mutations may really have been 
the result of unsuspected cross-pollination by means of one or other species of 
thrips. — V. G. J. 
Timber-growing for Profit. By G. Mowat {Trans. Roy. Scot. Arbor. Soc. xxix' 
pt. 2, pp. 210-211 ; 1915). — If all landowners went in for timber-growing 
with the same method and enthusiasm as they give to the raising of agri- 
cultural crops, there is no reason why it should not become equally if not 
more profitable. The great trouble is, they do not or will not regard trees as 
a crop, but rather look upon them as useful or ornamental objects. The rule 
is to go into the wood and cut down the tree most suitable for the purpose in 
hand, regardless of the effect that the removal of the said tree may have on its 
neighbours. — A. D. W. 
Tomato Insects, Root-knot and "White Mold." By J. R. Watson {U.S.A. 
Exp. Stn. Florida, Bull. 125, Dec. 1914; 13 figs.). — There are in Florida many 
insects that attack the tomato, the most serious being boll-worm or tomato fruit 
worm {Heliothis obsoleta) ; it is also found in ears of sweet corn, and attacks green 
peas, beans, cotton, and other plants. In the case of the tomato, the eggs are 
laid on the leaves in early spring ; the young larvae feed on the leaves for a few 
days and then bore into the stems. Directly the fruit is set they bore into the 
inside and feed on the pulp. They wander from one fruit to another, and a 
single caterpillar can spoil several tomatos in a day. Spraying with lead arsenate 
at the rate of 2 or 3 lb. to 50 gallons of water during the time the larvae are feeding 
will destroy them. The spraying must be discontinued a week before picking. 
V. G. J. 
Tomato, Phoma destructiva causing Fruit Rot. By C. O. Jamieson {Jour. Agr. 
Res. iv. p. 1, Apr. 1915; 6 pi.). — Inoculation experiments show that Phoma 
destructiva is an active wound parasite upon green and ripe tomatos, forming 
brown to black spots in the middle of sunken areas, on which the fungus fruits 
are produced especially near the centre of the spot. Leaf -spotting (the spots being 
black) also occurs, and the potato is liable to attack in the same way. A full 
description of the fungus is given, and literature cited. — F. J. C. 
Transpiration Rate on Clear Days. By L. J. Briggs and H. L. Shantz 
{Jour. Agr. Res. v. pp. 583-650, Jan. 1916). — The authors carried out a long 
series of experiments with various plants in order to ascertain the effect of cyclic 
environmental factors upon the rate of water loss on clear days. The measures 
and rate curves of transpiration and evaporation are given and the full results 
(which are too lengthy to quote) are discussed. Some differences were found 
in the behaviour of different plants towards external conditions, e.g. the tran- 
spiration curve for cereals rises steadily but not uniformly on clear days from 
sunrise to a maximum usually reached between 2 and 4 p.m., after which it 
rapidly falls ; the transpiration graphs for broad-leaved plants used show more 
symmetrical curves, reaching a maximum between twelve and two and falling 
approximately with the radiation. The general conclusion that plants under 
conditions favouring high evaporation do not respond wholly as free evaporating 
systems, even if bountifully supplied with water, and no visible wilting occurs, 
is in agreement with the findings of other experimenters. — F. J. C. 
Ulmus minor. {Quart. Jour, of Forestry, No. 4, vol. 9, pp. 332 ; October 
191 5-) — This elm is what I consider to be Ulmus minor, Miller. It is identical 
with the elm first described by Goodyer in Johnson's edition of Gerard's Herbal 
in 1633, as Ulmus minor folio angusto scabro. Goodyer found it growing in 
hedgerows between Lymington and Christchurch. The specimen sent is from 
