BOTANICAL ABSTRACTS 



A monthly serial furnishing abstracts and citations of publications in the international field of 



botany in its broadest sense. 



UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 



THE BOARD OF CONTROL OF BOTANICAL ABSTRACTS, INC. 



Burton E. Livingston, Editor-in-Chief 

 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 



Vol. VI NOVEMBER, 1920 No. 2 



ENTRIES 474-878 



LIBRARY 



AGRONOMY NEW yorit 



C. V. Piper, Editor 

 Mary R. Burr, Assistant Editor 



BOTaiv: 



GARlu 



474. Anonymous. Betaenkning fra det Kgl. Danske Landhusholdningssilskab. [Thoughts 

 from the Royal Danish Agricultural Society.] Tidsskr. Landokonomi (Kjobenhavn) 1920 2 : 

 49-SO. 1920. — This discussion deals in part with irrigation problems in Denmark, where irri- 

 gation has rarely been attempted. A few farmers have recently constructed tanks into 

 which water is pumped for use in irrigating small areas. Thus far these attempts are merely 

 experimental. — Albert A. Hansen. 



475. Beath, O. A. Poisonous plants. Proc. Soc. Promotion Agric. Sci. 39: 39-47. 1919. 

 — Poisonous plants are responsible for the loss of considerable numbers of live stock. In 

 Wyoming the loss of sheep from this cause is estimated at 14 per cent. The principal poison- 

 ous plants may be placed in two groups: those that occur rather generally distributed and 

 in large numbers in several states, as the locos (Oxyiropis and Astragalus) , larkspurs (Del- 

 phinium), death-camus (Zigadcnus), water hemlock (Cicuta), vetches (Astragalus), lupines 

 (Lupinus), and aconites (Ac.onitum) . In the other group are those that occur only in 

 restricted areas and often only as single plants, as laurels, ferns, milkweeds (Asclepias 

 verticillata) , Woody aster (Xylorrhiza parryi), western sneeze weed (Dugaldia hoopesii), wild 

 cherry and oaks. The author suggests as methods of control: (1) education of stockmen to 

 recognize poisonous plants, (2) a complete poisonous plant survey for each western state, 

 (3) discontinuance of practice of trailing sheep long distances to bedding pens, (4) ample 

 supplies of salt for the stock, (5) the commercial exploitation of poisonous plants for medic- 

 inal purposes, thus reducing their number. — H. N. Vinall. 



476. Cockayne, L. The importance of plant ecology with regard to agriculture. New 

 Zealand Jour. Sci. Tech. 1: 70-74. 1918. 



477. Duddleston, B. H. The modified rag doll and germinator box. Purdue Univ. Agric. 

 Exp. Sta. Bull. 236. 12 p. 7 fig. 1920. — The modified rag doll for testing seed corn recom- 

 mended in this bulletin is very simple in construction. It consists of a sheet of cloth of 

 suitable size placed upon a sheet of heavy paper slightly longer. The heavy paper serves as 

 an insulator to prevent molds from permeating the cloth and thereby rotting many of the 

 seedlings. The seeds from each ear are separated and when they carry rot-producing organ- 

 isms they can be easily noted and the seed ears represented by them can be discarded. The 



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