208 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



new; and hence I infer it will lie difficult, after a few yean, to eradicate the predilection of 

 Ohio wine growers, even for the foxy aroma of their Catawba wines. If we look forward to the 

 exportation of wines to foreigD countries, we must look for their production in grapes of the 

 II - I am a wine-grower to a very limited extent, and only as an amateur; but 



still my experiments are, so far as they are successful, as valuable in their results as if I 

 Brushed the grapes of a township. I shall make no wine this season. I am satisfied that 

 we can make as good wines in this country as in any other, and at equal price. I would 

 prefer the best Cincinnati wine to any foreign I have ever seen, except, perhaps, the pure 

 Xeres, Sherry, and Mangannelta, which we rarely see." 



New Use for Buckwheat Straw. 



It has been recently stated that the straw of the buckwheat has been applied with success 

 in Russia as a substitute for quercitron, or yellow-oak bark, in dyeing. 



The Effect of Colored Light on Germination. 



To determine the commercial value of any seeds, one hundred of them are placed in a pot 

 in a stove, made for the purpose of quickening the process of germination. If all the seeds 

 germinate, the seed obtains the highest value in the market. If only eighty germinate, the 

 seed Loses 20 per cent, in value. This process ordinarily occupies from twelve to fifteen 

 days; but Mr. Lawson found that by using blue glass they are enabled to determine the value 

 of seeil in two or three days: and this is a matter of such commercial importance to them, 

 that it is quite ccjual to a gift of £600 a year. — Proceedings of the Royal Polytechnic Society. 



Plants Under Different Conditions. 



Dr. Gi.adstonk, F.R.S., has communicated to the London Chemist some interesting facts 

 in relation to certain experiments made by him upon plants under different colored glass, and 

 nnder different atmospheric conditions: — 



Darkness promotes a rapid and abundant growth of thin rootlets; it prevents the formation 

 of chlorophyllo, but does not interfere much with the general healthiness of the plant, nor 

 with the production of the coloring matter of the flowers. Partial obscurity produces the 

 same effects in a modified manner, but greatly facilitates the absorption of water: and the 

 cutting off of the chemical or blue ray under such circumstances seems to make very little 

 difference. The withdrawal of all but the Cfllorio rays interferes with the length of the r 

 and pro. ln.es a badly-developed plant. The pore luminous ray oaUMS the rootlets to be few 

 and straggling, and diminishes the absorption of water. Hyacinths were well developed 

 under the pure chemical influence. 



riments were made on the germination, under like influences, of wheat and peas, as 

 samples of the two great orders of planta. The first series was made in common nir, the 

 plants being placed on damp brioks, twelve seels of each kind being employed in each 

 separate instance. The periods of germination, and all the circumstances that marked the 

 growth of the plants, were carefully noted; drawings were made, and at the close of the 

 experiment the height of the plants, the length of their root-;, their weight, and the number 

 of seeds that had germinated, were recorded. The effeot of the same solar radiations on the 

 two plant- ■. smely different. In reepeot to the wheat, it was found that, onder the 



given circumstances, the absence of the chemical rays favors the Bret growth, and the pre* 

 seme .,!' the Luminous rayi does not Impede it. Afterwards the opposite efl - place; 



the root ■ tardea* in their development by the yellow ray much more than by all the 



of the B] tram in combination. The calorific ray is, on the whole, the most favorable 



to their growth — e\en more -,, than the complete ah-ci f all solar radiation-. The shoot- 

 ing forth of the plume i u fevered also by the withdrawal of tin- chemical rays, especially just 

 at fast; but the full and healthy development of leave- requires all the ray- of the spectrum, 

 the Luminous being particularly necessary. In reepeot to peas under the given circurn- 



