Vol. XII. No. 288. 



THE AGIIICULTUEAL NEWS. 



153 



Floral Abnormalities in Maize. 



.Some intorestiDL' results on this subject are 

 recorded in Bolletin Xo. 27.S of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Departiiient of Agriculture, 

 where it is stated that flowers iiossessing ovaries and 

 stamens always had the normal number, three, if the 

 stamens were fertile. Flowers ha\ingboth ovaries and 

 sterile stamens often had less than throe .stamens. 

 Fertile and sterile stamens were iiever found in the 

 same flower. The occurrence of a larger percent.xge of 

 2-tlowered spikelets near the tip of the female intiores- 

 cence may be taken to indicate that the tip of the ear 

 is less highly specialized than the remainder of the car. 

 The development of •2-Howered female spikelets is 

 looked uj)on as a reversion to a more priuiitive type. 

 the tendency of evolution being toward.s more 

 complicated types with more highly specialized parts. 



For further information <'n abnormalities and 

 hereditary characters in maize flowers, reference may 

 be made to the editorial in the last i.ssue of this journal, 

 and to page 121 in Xo. 280 of the enrrent volume. 



The International Rubber Exhibition, 1914. 



The supplement to the Rubber Workl for 

 March 27, 1913, presents further information on the 

 forthcoming exhibition in London, concerning which 

 a note has already appeared in the Agricultural 

 X'rws, Vol. XII, p. 124. 



A list is given in this supplement of the 

 honorary advisory committee composed of some three 

 hundred residents in different parts of the world directly 

 in touch with the cultivation and manufacture of 

 rubber; and emphasis is laid upon the inclusion of 

 fibres and tropical products generally in the exhibition 

 — a development that will widen the scope of the 

 exhibition and render it generally interesting and 

 instructive. The benefits that are likelj- to accrue 

 from the interchange of information and ideas between 

 agriculturists, manufacturers and consumers cannot be 

 over-estimated since synchronically with the exhibi- 

 tion will be held the Fourth International Rubber 

 and Allied Trades Conference as well as a Conference 

 of members of the International Association of Tropical 

 Agriculture. 



Distribution of Temperature in Plants. 



\'ery considerable variation occurs between the 

 temperatures of different species of plants growing 

 under similar conditions. The temperature, for example, 

 inside a fleshy leaf of the prickly pear {Opt unia sp.) 

 at midday, may often be as high as 100 F., whereas 

 the interior of a cabbage at the same time may be as 

 low as 7.5" F. Frequently inside the so-called stem of 

 the banana the temperature may be 7-5° F. in the 

 early morning, this being occasionally higher than the 

 temperature of the atmosphere. 



The existence of differences in the same plant 

 is not so easily demonstrated, but the matter has 

 recently received some attention, and an abstract in 

 the Ex2Jcri'incnt Station Record for February 1913, 

 contains the results that have so far been obtained. 

 The observations were made with a specially devised 

 electrical apparatus. It was found that in general 

 the temperature increases rapidly in the stem as the 

 distance from the ground is increased until a point 

 of equilibrium is arrived at, above which the tempera- 

 ture .again becomes greater as one proceeds towards 

 the plant's extremities. In the leaves, the tempera- 

 ture decreases, beginning with the petiole, and attains 

 a minimum at its juncture with the blade of the leaf, 

 again increasing rapidly in the veinlets in the case 

 of palmately-viined leaves, or more slowly in pinnate 

 venation. In buds the temperatun- is geneially higher 

 than in other parts of the plant. I'nder the influence 

 of intense sunlight the differences noted above are more 

 or less reversed, .anil the highest temjieratures occur in 

 those portions of the plant which are most thickened. 

 Light, in fact, has a cooling effect since it stimulates 

 slomatic transpiration. The cause of the differences 

 iti temperature just noted is believed to be mainly 

 connected with the circulation of the sap and with 

 chemical changes within the plant tissues. 



The Production of Otto of Roses. 



The present high price of otto of roses consequent 

 on the recent disturbances in the Balkan States makes 

 the idea worth consideration that a small industry 

 might be started in the West Indies. The sale of 

 perfumes in the West Indian islands is much greater 

 than is generally imagined and the main constituen-t 

 in the various concoctions sold is the essential 

 oil of the rose. Vanilla essence, jasmine, cassie, orange 

 and cedar are also common ingredients. According 

 to the Chemist and Druggist (Vols. XXVIi and 

 XXIX) the Thracian rose is the variety chiefly culti- 

 vated in Bulgaria. The essential oil occurs mainly in 

 the ovaries and stamens rather than in the petals 

 of the flowers. 



Eight thousand trees are planted to the acre and 

 it takes about 220 fresh flowers to make a pound of 

 blossoms. It is customary to grow vegetables in between 

 the rows of trees. According to Gildermeister and 

 Hoffmann, Rosa damasccna is the chief variety and is 

 probably the same as the Thracian rose. It takes about 

 5,000 lb. of roses to yield 1 lb. of essential oil. It 

 might be interesting if a few small-scale experimental 

 distillations were made with roses grown in the West; 

 Indies The so called Cann rose appears to be one 

 suitable variety for the purpose. In France, R. ccnti- 

 folia is grown for the production of dried petals and 

 r«se water. 



It is obvious that the fundamental question is 

 whether flowers sufficiently rich in perfume could 

 be grown. As regards distillation and the distribu- 

 tion of the produce, a central still seems to commend 

 itself, though in many parts of Bulgaria each peasant 

 distils his own oil by iiK.'ans of a small copper still of 

 extremely simple construction. 



