AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 125 



a report ou results of fertilizer inspection during tlie season of 1908, including 

 also notes on methods of sampling, tbe essential constituents of fertilizers and 

 the sources from which they are derived, trade values of fertilizing ingredients 

 and A-aluatiou of fertilizers, and selection and purchase of fertilizers. 



"A summary of results of inspection of complete fertilizers reveals the fact 

 that out of the 282 distinct brands analyzed, 110 or about 39 per cent of the 

 whole number fell below the manufacturer's guaranty In one or more ele- 

 ments. . . . The deficiencies in many of these brands were made up by an 

 exce.ss of some of the other elements so that only 17 out of the 284 brands 

 analyzed showed a commercial shortage. . . . This certainly shows a much 

 better condition than existed during the previous year." 



Other fertilizing materials examined were generally of good quality. 



Inspection and analyses of commercial fertilizers on sale in the State, 

 AA\ F. Hand et al. (Mississippi Sta. Circs. 27, pp. 3-27; 28, pp. -J-^J; 29, pp. 

 4-29). — The results of analyses of 254 samples inspected during the season of 

 1908-9 are rept)rted. 



Inspection of commercial fertilizers, P. F. Trowbridge (Missouri Sta. Bui. 

 82, pp. 3-30). — This bulletin reports tbe I'esults of analyses of 322 samples of 

 fertilizers collected by State inspectors during September and October, 1908, 

 with a brief discussion of the results and a statement of receipts and disburse- 

 ments for the year 1908. 



Analyses of fertilizers — fall season, 1908, B. W. Kilgore et al. (Rul. N. C. 

 Dept. Agr., 30 (1909), A'o. 1, pp. .52). — The analyses here reported are of samples 

 collected by the fertilizer inspectors of the State department of agriculture dur- 

 ing the fall of 1908. A Kst is given of brands of fertilizers registered for sale 

 m 1909. 



AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 



The colors and pigments of flowers with special reference to genetics, 

 M. Wheldale (Proc. Roy. Soc. [London], Srr. B, 81 (1909), No. B o'/J, pp. 

 Jf-i-dO). — A series of investigations on the color of flowers has been undertaken 

 with a view to the interpretation of the phenomena in the inheritance of flower 

 color. The author makes an attempt to classify roughly the pigments found in 

 flowering plants and at the same time to determine whether there is any con- 

 nection between the genetic behavior of the pigments and their chemical re- 

 actions. He classifies the pigments into those in solution in the cell sap and 

 those associated with si)ecialized protoplasmic bodies, the chromoplasts. The 

 fir.st group includes the soluble red, purple, and blue pigments known as antho- 

 cyaniu and the soluble yellow pigments called xanthein. The second group, 

 which is insoluble in water, includes carotin, xanthin, etc. 



About two dozen natural orders of plants were examined, and summarizing 

 his results, the author states that anthocyanin includes several pigments differ- 

 ing as regards their inheritance, the colors to which they give rise in varia- 

 tion, and their behavior toward chemical reagents. The colors of the varieties 

 arising fi-om the anthocyanic type may be regarded as components of the original 

 anthocyanin, and the type may be supposed to lose its components in succession, 

 thus giving rise to color variations. 



Broadly speaking, the author states that there are 2 series of color varia- 

 tions, one containing a xantheic derivative and the other without any such 

 derivative. Albinism in the first series is due to a lack of anthocyanin and 

 xanthein ;> in the second series to a deficiency in anthocyanin only. Xanthein 

 includes several different yellow pigments. 



So far as the investigations have proceeded, there appears to be a correlation 

 in genetics between the behavior of pigments and their relation toward chemical 

 reagents. 



