950 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



a wheat will produce depends upon the cellulose it contains. The soft 

 wheats contain the greatest amounts of cellulose. The acid content 

 varies from 0.02 to 0.04 per cent, and is independent of race, climate, or 

 soil. I'Nitrogenous matter is most abundant in the hard wheats, espe- 

 cially in those having a rather high average weight. Wheats which 

 are rich in starch are poor in fat. The composition of wheat is largely 

 iiitluenced by the climate, soil, and methods of culture. Hot climates 

 are most favorable to the development of nitrogenons material, and 

 dry, hot seasons will produce wheat rich in gluten. Large grains have 

 a different composition from small ones, and white wheats contain less 

 nitrogen than red or hard ones. The extremes in composition of 300 

 specimens of wheat are shown in tlie following table: 



Extreme variation in composition of larr/e and svnill grains of wheat. 



Loze ^ has given a review of the state of the starch industry of France. 

 Heckel,^ of the University of Marseilles, has made a study of the vege- 

 table oils produced in the French colonies. Jumelle^ has described 

 the principal characteristics of the latex of Sakhare, a wild fig found 

 in the forests of French Guinea, which furnishes a product intermediate 

 between caoutchouc and gutta-percha. Caustier* has reported on the 

 natural products of the French colonies and has urged the desirability 

 of a permanent collective exhibition of the products of these colonies 

 in Paris. 



The foregoing snmmary indicates the nature and extent of the scien- 

 tific activity of the investigators in agricultural botany in France 

 during 1896. Their work touches many branches of the subject, al- 

 though some lines of investigations are not keeping pace with others. 

 From an agricultural standpoint the necessity is urgent for some means 

 for controlling plant and animal parasites of cultivated plants. Atten- 

 tion should also be given to the improvement of cultivated varieties 

 of all kinds. There is need for experiments with seeds with a view to 

 modifying their character, hastening their development, and rendering 

 them more resistant to their surroundings, as well as to determining 

 the purity and value of those sold to consumers. It is to be hoped that 

 the number of scientific stations wliere these subjects may be studied 

 will be considerably increased. 



'Rev. g6n. sci. pur. et appl., 1896, No. 24. p. 1244. 

 nbid., No. 17, p. 750; Ann. Inst. Colonial Marseille. 

 => Assoc. Fr. Av. Sci., Cougri-s de Cartbagt-, 1896, p. 181. 

 "Rev. g6u. sci. pur. et appl., 1896, p. 113. 



