abstracts: phytopathology 119 



are tlien too small and sparse for profitable harvesting. The physical 

 characteristics of the plant have thus far shown no relationship to the 

 alkaloidal content of the leaves. Luxuriant groAx^th is no criterion of 

 the medicinal value of the plant. 



The individual plants show a remarkable variation in the alkaloidal 

 content. It is found that man}^ plants rich in alkaloids throughout the 

 season are equally rich in following seasons. The same is true of plants 

 that are unusually poor in alkaloids. This incHcates that the relative 

 production of alkaloids in these plants is largely due to the inherent 

 characteristic of the individual and not entirely to the varying external 

 influences. A. F. S. 



PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. — Environmental influences on the physical 

 and chemical characteristics of wheat. J. A. LeClerc and P. A. 

 YoDER. Journal of Agricultural Research 1: 275-291. 1914. 

 Previous work (Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 128) showed that the 

 composition of wheat and its physical characteristics, such as the weight 

 per thousand, weight per bushel, and flintiness are not to any great ex- 

 tent herecUtary; that both the chemical composition and the physical 

 characteristics above enumerated are dependent upon the environ- 

 ment (climate and soil) in which the wheat grew. In the present paper 

 the authors describe investigations carried on in Maryland, Kansas, 

 and California in which small plots of soil from each of three localities 

 were interchanged. This experiment was continued during 1909-10- 

 11-12. Each year the crop from each plot was harvested and analyzed 

 for the usual chemical constituents and physical properties. From 

 these results it is seen that the wheat grown in any one locality is very 

 uniform in composition and in appearance, but quite different from the 

 same wheat grown on the same soils in the other two localities, sho^\'ing 

 that the climatic conditions prevailing during the period of growth 

 exerts the major influence in affecting both the chemical 'composition 

 and the physical characteristics of wheat. The wheat gro-^ii on the 

 check plot in each locality was identical, physically and chemically, 

 to that grown on the imported soils. J. A. LeC. 



PHYTOPATHOLOGY. — A hacterium causing the disease of sugar-beet 

 and nasturtium leaves. Nellie A. Brown and Clara O. Jamie- 

 son. Journal of Agricultural Research 1: 189-210. 1913. 

 The paper deals with an organism causing a spot-disease on leaves 

 of nasturtium and sugar-beet. The spotting Avas noticed on these 



