FIELD CROPS. 231 



ft 

 also greatly modified. If these (lowers are permitted to develop further they 

 will send oTit buds which will ultimately grow into a branch. 



The influence of the seed upon the size of the fruit in Staphylea, I, J. A. 

 Hakkis (Jiot. Gaz., 53 {1912), No. 3, pp. 20^-218, figs, -i).— The author has found 

 that the length of the fruit and the number of ovules formed, as well as the 

 seeds developing, are interdependent, and often veiy closely so. The correlation 

 fur length and number of seeds per locule is higher than that for length and 

 number of ovules per locule. These two facts taken in conjunction indicate a 

 I)hysiological relationship between the length of the fruit and the number of 

 seeds developing. 



FIELD CROPS. 



The relation of electricity to vegetation and agricultural products, A. 

 Bbuttini (Azionc delV elettricitd, suUa vegetazione c sui prodotti delle industrie 

 agrarie. Milan, 1912, pp. XVI+Ji59; rev. in Agr. Mod., 18 {1912), No. 5, p. 73).— 

 This work is divided into 4 parts, the first of which deals with atmospheric 

 electricity, and the second with ancient and modern ol)servations of the rOle of 

 electricity in plant physiology. The third part deals with the effect of elec- 

 tricity on the germination of seeds and the development of plants, proceeding 

 in chronological order from 174G to 1911, and states the results of some hitherto 

 unpublished experiments. The fourth part presents the results of studies of 

 the effects of X-rays on the causes of fermentation in must, wine, vinegar, 

 alcohol, butter, milk. eggs, and other agi'icultural products. 



Electroculture at Halle, J. KUhn {Ber. Physiol. Lab. u. Vers. Anst. Landw. 

 Inst. Halle, 1911, No. 20, pp. 219-227). — The author quotes some results 

 obtained by Lodge and cites experiments conducted by Breslau at Kryschano- 

 witz in 1903, in which electrical influence apparently increased the yield of 

 strawberries 128 per cent, of sugar beets from 120 to about 140 per cent, and 

 of barley and beans about 32 per cent. 



In some of the author's exiieriments one-third of each plat of a fertilizer test 

 with clover was influenced by electricity, one-third left uninfluenced, and the 

 middle third used as a buffer. The middle third excelled either of the others, 

 and the electrified third gave somewhat the lowest average hay yields. 



In the remainder of his experiments the fertilizer plats were divided into 

 only 2 parts. Unelectrified and nonirrigated rye averaged 0.6 per cent more 

 straw and 11.2 per cent more grain than the electrified portions of the plats. 

 There were apparently slight increases of potato yields on the electrified por- 

 tions of plats except under irrigation, where the unelectrified crop produced 

 a markedly heavier yield with a somewhat lower starch percentage. In case 

 of mangels the electrified crop gave 9.96 per cent more roots and 8.66 per cent 

 more leaves than the unelectrified crop, while electrified sugar beets gave con- 

 siderably higher yields of roots which also stood somewhat higher in sugar 

 percentage on both irrigated and nonirrigated plats. Under irrigation, barley, 

 rye. winter wheat, and summer wheat gave about the same gi-ain and straw 

 yields whether electrified or not. 



The influence of root development on the tillering power of cereals, A. E. 

 Pare {Agr. Jour. India, 7 {1912), No. 1, pp. 73-7'S).— The author states briefly 

 some results obtained by planting cereals in accordance with the Demtschinsky 

 and Zehetmayr methods. The Demtschinsky method, as described, consists of 

 transplanting young plants in such a way as to leave them from lA to 2 in. 

 deeper in the ground. This leaves the lowest nodes beneath the surface and 

 causes the development of adventitious roots. Yields of 8,000 lbs. of rye and 

 an initial saving of 75 per cent of the seed usually required are claimed for 



