120 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



40 to 150° C. Somewhat similar experiments were made in heating 

 the soil extract, and it was found that the tubercles develop best at the 

 lower temperatures and seem to decrease as the temperature increases. 

 In pot experiments, in which adzuki beans, cowpeas, Canada field peas, 

 alfalfa, and red clover were planted and inoculated with Massachusetts 

 soil, no tubercles appeared on the roots of the adzuki beans or the cow- 

 peas; the alfalfa showed a few, while on the clover and Canada field 

 peas they were very numerous. This seems to show that the form of 

 the organism causing the tubercles on the different plants varies. 



Microscopic studies were made of sections of the soy-bean tubercle, 

 and investigations made on the extent of the distribution of the micro- 

 organism of the soy bean tubercle in the United States. It was found 

 to be indigenous in the States of Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, 

 North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Tennessee, and has been established 

 by inoculation in Connecticut and Kansas, while no tubercles have been 

 found on this plant when grown in California, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, 

 or South Dakota. The other States reporting have either not grown 

 soy beans or have made no examination of their roots. 



Concerning Alinit {Nature, 57 (1898), No. 1479, p. 418). — A note is 

 given of this new substance prepared by Frederick Bayer & Co. It is 

 claimed that it will have a beneficial effect on the growth of cereals, as 

 in the case of Nitragin for leguminous crops. Alinit is a creamy yellow 

 powder containing 2.5 per cent of nitrogenous constituents. It is the 

 result of four years' laboratory experiments with different forms of bac- 

 teria, and the discoverer, M. Caron, claims that the specific organism 

 used is a pure culture of Bacillus ellenbachensis alpha. The bacillus, in 

 the form of spores, is contained in the powder and belongs to the well 

 known aerobic bacteria designated as the hay bacilli, resembling very 

 closely Ji. mycoides and B. megatherium. It is claimed that when used 

 as a fertilizer for cereal crops by the rapid growth of the micro-organism 

 in the soil the combined nitrogen is made more available for the plant 

 and that some of the atmospheric nitrogen is also secured. Further 

 experiments will be necessary to determine the value of this substance. 



The ash of epiphytes, R. C. Kedzie (Proc. Soc. Prom. Agr. Set, 

 1897, pp. 71-7(1). — In a previous paper entitled "The chemical tripod in 

 floriculture" the author stated that all plants in order to live and grow 

 must receive nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. Soon after the publi- 

 cation of this paper his attention was called by correspondents to the 

 question of the presence of these substances, especially potash and 

 phosphorus, in epiphytic plants. Analyses of a number of plants were 

 made, in which it was found that these epiphytes were not deficient in 

 potash or phosphoric acid. The author believes that the plants secure 

 their mineral constituents from the water, the winds, and the bark of 

 trees. The statement is made that in ordinary culture many of the 

 orchids, like the cattleyas, degenerate and die within a few years. The 

 author thinks that this is due to the lack of mineral fertilizers and sug- 



