AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 223 



The synthesis and breaking down of organic nitrogen in plants, E. 

 ScHULZK {Laiidir. .Jaltrb., 3.') {11)06), Ao. '/, /*/*. 62l-(HHi). — A eriticul review 

 is };;iveii of the literature relating to the siihji'ct of nitrogenous metabolism in 

 plants with special reference to protein, asi)aragin, glutamin, riciiiin, lecithin, 

 (>tc. The author states that no attemi)t is made to include all the literature, 

 hut only such as appears necessary to give .•in adeipiate knowledge of the ])resent 

 status of the subject. 



The formation and physiological use of pentosans in plants, G. A. Cala- 

 nuKSi (.s7(/~. ^i)cr. A<ir. It-iL, .i!l (JlXlf,). Ao. /-.?. pji. (>9-'J3).— An investigation 

 of tlie occurrence of pentosans in plants was carried on, in which a considerable 

 numher of plants were studied. 



The literature relating to the occurrence of pentOf?ans in plants- is i-eviewed, 

 and after describing his experiments, the author summarizes his own investi- 

 gations, .stating that the observations of de Chalmot (E. S. R., 5, p. 1103) 

 regarding the presence of pentosans in seeds germinated in the dark are also 

 true for many plants in their adult stages of growth. The pentosans seem to 

 be produced by the transformation of other substances whicli are formed early 

 in the life of the plant, and with the gradual increase in the dry material of 

 the plant they appear to diminish. The percentage of pentosans in a given 

 plant does not depend on the external development and weight of the green 

 plant, hut under like conditions the age of the plant determines this question. 

 'J'lie percentage of cellulose seems to have a definite relation to the amount of 

 pentosans, hut it has not yet been demonstrated that this quantitative propor- 

 tion signifies any generic relationship. Among the cereals investigated, the 

 author found that those stems which are most resistant to the effects of storms 

 are usually richest in jientosans. In beet roots thei'e appears to be a definite 

 relation between the quantity of saccharine matter present and that of pento- 

 sans, the proportion of the former being less than that of the latter. In general, 

 the greatest quantity of pentosans will be found in plants that contain the least 

 amount of other nutritive substances. 



On the relation between calcium salts a,nd the assimilation of nitrate 

 'nitrogen, W. W. Yermakov (Zhnr. Opiiitn. Aijron. {liiiss. Jour. Expt. Laiidw.), 

 6 {nmr,), p. J,31; ahs. in Chem. Ztf/., 30 {1906), No. 22, Repert. No. 6, p. 83).— 

 On the basis of experiments with plants and from theoretical considerations, 

 the author concludes that calcium is necessary to the assimilation of nitrate 

 nitrogen in plants. The explanation of this is that the nitric acid produced in 

 plants acts on glucose to produce ammonia, which is utilized in the formation 

 of proteid compounds, and oxalic acid, which is precipitated by lime and thus 

 prevented from interfering with the continuation of the process. 



Tubercles on legumes with and without cultures, J. L. Sheldon ( West Vir- 

 (jinia titu. Bui. 105. pp. 319-33Jt). — The results of field, greenhouse, and labora- 

 torj' tests with different forms of cultures for the inoculation of legumes are 

 reported. These were begun in 1904 with cultures of bacteria from this De- 

 partment and a commercial preparation, comparison being made with tlie same 

 species of legumes grown without inoculation. 



In some of the experiments the author obtained results that seemed to indi- 

 cate that the germination of the seed was interfered with in some way by the 

 treatment, and an examination of the roots of both inoculated and uninocu- 

 lated plants seemed to indicate tiiat while the use of cultures is not to be con- 

 denuied they are not needed in the ma,iority of West Virginia soils. In some 

 cases the author attributes the failure to obtain a stand and a profitable crop 

 of such legumes as alfalfa, clovers, and cowpeas to imperfect soil conditions 

 and the abundance of weeds rather than a lack of i)acteria. Tables are given 

 showing the gain or loss of different crops attributed to inoculation. 



