AGKICULTURAL BOTANY. 25 



It is stated that " peat land may be cultivated with profit if the right crops 

 are chosen and the peat is sufficiently drained, decomposed, and fertilized. 

 Many of the peat swamps in the northern part of the country are. however, 

 of a type that will scarcely repay cultivation, since the peat is very poorly 

 decomposed and would be a long time in* reaching a state in which it could be 

 safely used for most crops. 



" On the other hand, even poorly decomposed peat may be very profitably 

 used in many ways on farms to increase the fertility of the land, and to add 

 to its productiveness indirectly, by conserving and preserving other more salable 

 articles, or by saving valuable waste matter which could not be kept except by 

 its use." 



AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 



British fungi and lichens, G. M.\ssi;e (London, [191J], pp. X-{-55I, pis. 42, 

 figs. 19). — This book contains chapters on the classification of fungi, how to 

 study them, their collection and preservation, ecology, edible and poisonous 

 fungi, diseases caused by fungi, etc. In part 2, which constitutes the greater 

 portion of the work, the systematic arrangement of fungi is treated at length, 

 many of the species being illustrated by colored plates. A rather brief chapter 

 on lichens concludes the text. The primary object of the work is said to be to 

 enable the reader to determine the names of the indigenous mushrooms, toad- 

 stools, etc. 



Enzym studies of lower fungi, A. W. Dox {Plant World, lo (1012), No. 2, 

 pp. Jf0-Ji3). — During the progi-ess of a study of fungi, including the more com- 

 mon saprophytic molds, the author has. demonstrated the presence of 14 enzyms 

 and he shows their ability to hydrolyze various substances and the products 

 of the hydrolysis. From the <lata obtained in the study of fungus enzyms, he 

 believes that there is much to argue against the present conceptions of the 

 specilicily of enzyms. 



Oxidizing enzyms in certain fungi pathogenic for plants, II. S. Reed and 

 H. S. Stahl (Abs. in Science, n. set:, 35 (1912), No. 897, p. 396).— The authors 

 call attention to the difference in the oxidizing ability of plant extracts as 

 altered by parasitic fungi. The extracts of apples invaded by Sphceropsis 

 malorum are said to show no oxidizing powers, while those attacked by 

 GlomcreUa ritfomaculans show a somewhat increased oxidizing ability. When 

 grown in pure cultures on syntlietic media Glomerella was found to develop 

 oxidizing enzyms in certain media but not in others. 



The root nodules of Myrica gale, W. B. Bottomley (Ann. Bot. [London}, 

 26 (1912), No. 101, pp. 111-117, pis. 2).— The author reports a study of the 

 origin and structure of the root nodules occurring on M. gale, only 4 groups of 

 nonleguminous plants, alders, El?eagnus, Podocarpus, and cycads, having pre- 

 viously been recognized as possessing root nodules which are concerned with the 

 assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen. 



The peculiar nodule formations on the roots of M. gale have been frequently 

 described, and the author has determined that from their structure they are 

 outgrowths of lateral rootlets. They are caused by the presence of bacteria 

 which are evidently similar to Pscudomonas radicicola, and experiments in 

 flasks inoculated with cultures showed an increase of 2.05 mg, of nitrogen per 

 100 cc. of culture. Experiments with Myrica plants grown in sterilized soil 

 showed that they did not flourish unless they possessed root tubercles. Plants 

 devoid of tubercles, after inoculation with a culture, developed root nodules 

 and grew well. 



The morphology of the root tubercles of Alnus and Ela3agnus, and the 

 polymorphism of the organism causing their formation, Ethel R. Speatt 



