NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 
511 
Rhododendron Charianthum (Bot. Mag. t. 8665). — Western China. Nat. Ord. 
Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub. Leaves 2 inches long. Flowers 9-10 in 
a flat corymb, 3 J inches across. Corolla 2 inches across, rose-coloured, densely 
blotched with red spots within upper part. — G. H. 
Rhododendron decorum {Bot. Mag. t. 8659). — Western China. Nat. Ord. 
Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub, 16 feet. Leaves 3-5 or 8 inches long. 
Inflorescence 10-flowered, 8 inches across. Corolla usually white or flushed 
with rose, 3 J inches across. Lobes 7, nearly orbicular. Stamens 16, anthers 
pale brown. — G. H. 
Rhododendron erubescens (Bot. Mag. t. 8643). — Western China. Nat. Ord. 
Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub. Leaves 3-4 inches long. Flowers about 
8 in a truss. Corolla white within, rose-carmine without, i\ inches across, 
7-lobed. — G. H. 
Rhododendron Hanceanum (Bot. Mag. t. 8669). — Sechwan (China). Nat. Ord. 
Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub, dwarf, 3 feet high. Leaves 3 inches long. 
Inflorescence 6-9-flowered. Corolla white, 1 inch across. — G. H. 
Rhododendron hypoglaucum (Bot. Mag. t. 8649). — Western China. Nat. 
Ord. Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub or small tree. Leaves 3—4^ inches long, 
green above, glaucous -white beneath by a farinose tomentum. Truss, 4-7- 
flowered. Corolla 2 inches across, white, flushed with rose, upper petal dotted 
with crimson within face. — G. H. 
Rhododendron monosematum (Bot. Mag. t. 8675). — Western China. Nat. Ord. 
Ericaceae, tribe Rhodoreae. Shrub. Leaves 3-4! inches long. Inflorescence 
12-flowered. Corolla wide funnel-shaped, white, suffused with rose-pink, 1 J inch 
across. — G. H. 
Ribes divaricatum x Gooseberry (Rep. Bot. Off., Brit. Col. i. 3, p. 85 ; 
1916). — The raising and fruiting of a hybrid between Ribes divaricatum and 
the Gooseberry ' Red Jacket ' (an American variety immune from American 
* Gooseberry mildew and derived from Warrington x Houghton's Seedling) is 
recorded. The fruits are somewhat small, and generally like those of the pollen 
parent, but the raiser, Mr. G. Fraser, F.R.H.S., of Ucluelet, B.C., is endeavouring 
to improve the fruit by further crossing. — F. J. C. 
Root-rot Fungus (Thielavia), How to Disinfect Tobacco Plant Beds from. 
By A. D. Selby, T. Houser, and J. G. Humbert (U.S. Exp. Stn., Ohio, Circ. 156, 
Oct. 1 915). — Thielavia basicola, which causes root-rot of a large number of different 
plants (see Jour. R.H.S. xxxvii. p. 541), overwinters in the soil, so that successive 
crops are liable to be attacked. Two methods of soil treatment are recommended : 
(1) steaming, and (2) formalin drench. The steaming is the more effective, 
especially on heavy land. The formalin treatment is successful on gravelly 
land. In both cases the soil is prepared as in making a seed-bed, though the 
surface need not be rendered so fine. The inverted-pan method of steaming is 
recommended, and the formalin should be dissolved at the rate of 1 gallon to 
100 of water. Very dry soil conditions do not yield the best results, but the 
drenching is best done in autumn, as in spring the soil is apt to be too wet. Figures 
of the construction of the inverted pan for steaming are given. — F. J. C. 
Root-rot of Walnut (Jour. Dep. Agr. Vict. Dec. 1915, p. 747). — Where this 
toadstool disease (Armillaria mellea) attacks a tree, the tree should be grubbed 
up and burnt upon the spot, and, before replanting, the soil for some distance 
around the affected spot should be thoroughly turned over and watered with 
1 lb. of sulphate of iron dissolved in 4 or 5 gallons of water, or 1 lb. of sulphate 
of copper (blue-stone) dissolved in 8 gallons of water. This fungus is hemisapro- 
phytic, i.e. it lives upon dead and decaying wood as a saprophyte and becomes 
purely parasitic by preying upon living tissue. — C. H. H. 
Root Systems of Fruit Trees. By A. B. Ballantyne (U.S.A. Exp. Stn., 
Utah, Bull. 143, 15 pp. ; 5 figs.). — The root systems of several established trees 
are examined and plotted. The stocks on which the trees were grafted are not 
named. The depth, of the root approaches in some cases the height of the tree. 
Watering in early stages will produce a symmetrical system. — E. A. Bd. 
