NOTES. 619 



ance of the first sprouts and the total germination, together with the soil tempera- 

 tures at depths of from one-fourth inch to two feet, of the air temperature, and of 

 solar radiation. Great variations were found in the germination results. Lettuce 

 germinated well early in the season when the temperature was comparatively low, 

 but poorly later, while the reverse was true of corn and many other seeds. Seeds of 

 low vitality germinated much more slowlythan those of high vitality, and were much 

 more affected by unfavorable conditions. The time between planting and the 

 appearance of the first sprouts was generally inversely proportional to the percentage 

 of germination. 



Burton E. Livingston traced The Relation of Transpiration to Other Functions, 

 using wheat plants grown in soil and in nutrient solutions. Transpiration was 

 found to be proportional to the leaf area, and while its relation to leaf weight was 

 not quite so simple, the variation was said to be too small to interfere with the use 

 of transpiration as a criterion for estimating relative leaf weight. The conclusion 

 from the tests was that soils or solutions may be compared in respect to their power 

 to support growth by means of the total transpiration. Studies were reported on the 

 relation of transpiration to the absorption of salts in water cultures. Under like 

 conditions transpiration was found to be proportional to the amount of salts absorbed, 

 but when one culture was grown in a moist atmosphere and another in a relatively 

 dry one this relation did not hold, the transpiration being checked to a marked 

 degree in a moist air, while the absorption of salts was cheeked only to a very slight 

 degree, if at all. 



The SaltWater Limits of Wild Rice, as studied by C. S. Scofield in three delta 

 regions, were found 0> be equivalent to a 0.0.31 normal solution of sodium chlorid. 

 Where the water surrounding the plants was more saline, the growth, of wild rice 

 was nearly or quite inhibited. 



F. H. Blodgett described The Fasciation of Field Peas. • '•'■ the case cited peas 

 were grown from seed secured from a feed dealer who knew nothing of their pedi- 

 gree or quality. Not more than 5 per cent of the crop formed. The conditions of 

 the soil and temperature combined to produce a very vigorous growth of vine, which, 

 instead of setting pods, became fasciated, forming tubular or flattened stems bearing 

 large numbers of flowers at the upper end which set practically no seed. The stems 

 had the appearance of two tubes, the inner one tapering downward to a point and 

 united to the upper cylindrical portion by the common rim, along which the flower 

 clusters were developed. The two tubes were practically free from any connection 

 with each other except at the end, and each bore upon its exposed surface leaves and 

 branches, the inner one in a lesser degree. Many of these branches were hollow 

 and often somewhat flattened or fasciated. This condition was found on two fields 

 of approximately fifteen acres, upon which the crop was a total failure. 



The programme of the Botanical Society of America included the following papers, 

 among others, no abstracts of which have been secured: Address of the past presi- 

 dent, C. R. Barnes, on The Theory of Respiration; Physiological Drought in Relation 

 to Gardening, by I. B. Balfour; Cultures of Qredinese in 1904, by J. C. Arthur; 

 Cultures of Uredinese in 1904, by W. A. Kellerman; The Effects of Certain Nutrients 

 on the Toxic Action of Some Agents Deleterious to Fungi, by B. M. Duggar; Trans- 

 piration and Stomatal Action in a Desert Plant [Fouquieria splendens), by F. E. Lloyd: 

 Mutations and Hybrids of the Evening Primroses, by D. T. MacDougal; Some Studies 

 Regarding the Biology of Buds in Winter, by K. McK. Wiegand; Ecological Notes 

 on the Vegetation of Southeastern Florida, by H. C. Cowles; Studies in Etiolation, 

 by A. D. Selby; The Oxidizing Enzyms in the Opium Poppy, by R. H. True; and 

 Photomicrography Applied to the Comparative Study of the Spores of Mushrooms, 

 by G. F. Atkinson. 



Steps were taken in the direction of a union of the Botanical Society of America, 

 the Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology, and the Botanical Club of the 

 17604— No. 6—05 8 



