786 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ination and certification of a large number of bags of clover seed. The maximum, 

 minimum, and average germination of the important seeds are shown and brief com- 

 ments given on some of the foreign seeds, present. 



Report of the seed-control station at Hohenheim, J. Michalowski (Separate 

 from Wurttemberg. Wcknbl. Landw., 1904, No. 8-4, pp. 5). — The author reports on the 

 purity and germinative ability of 1,224 samples of seed of clover, grasses, cereals, 

 and other plants, the usual data regarding purity and germination being given in 

 tabular form. Comments are given on the relative value of a number of seeds from 

 different countries, and the occurrence of dodder in clover seed. 



Dodder to some extent was found in 38 percent of all the red clover examined, 30 

 per cent of the white clover, 17 per cent of the alsike clover, and 11 per cent of the 

 alfalfa seed. A table is given showing the guaranty of the different samples tested 

 for dealers. 



Twenty-third report of the Warsaw Seed-Control Station for the year 

 1902-3, Z. A. Zelinski {Zhur. Opuiin. Agron. [Muss. Jour. Expt. Landw.~\, 5 [1904), 

 No, 4, pp. 501-505). 



Legal and customary -weights per bushel of seeds, E. Brown ( U. S. Dept. 

 Agr., Bureau of Plant Industry Bui. 51, pi. 5, ]>]>. 10). — The varying weights of field 

 and garden seeds when measured leads to considerable confusion, and while the sell- 

 ing of seeds by the measured bushel is largely giving place to measurement by 

 weight, it is thought desirable to report on the legal and customary weights per 

 bushel of different kinds of grass, grain, and other seeds. 



The weights per bushel of grain do not vary as much as do those of grass seeds; 

 nevertheless the weight per bushel in any case is an important factor to be considered 

 in grading. The weights given are those established by laws in different States, and 

 these have been verified in each case by the secretary of state. 



DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



The vegetative life of the rust fungi of cereals, C. B. Plowriout {Gard. 

 Citron., 3. ser., 36 (1904), No. 037, p. 403, fig. 1). — A review is given of some of the 

 recent publications of Eriksson relative to the vegetative life of the rust fungi. It is 

 claimed that an examination of leaves affected by Puccinia glumarum showed the 

 mycoplasm present in many sections. When present it was found to more or less 

 fill the space of the cells and to contain granules, which were colored pale violet by 

 Flemming's reagent. Sections examined from leaves of plants which were known 

 to be noninfested or from varieties of cereals which are seldom attacked by the rust 

 did not show any traces of this mycoplasm. This is regarded as intermediate 

 between the ordinary protoplasm and the typical fungus protoplasm. 



No mycelium is developed from such cases until the following summer, when 

 uredospores are formed. Sections taken from infected leaves 4 to 6 mm. beyond the 

 most external spore-bearing area, showed the mycelium to consist at first of masses 

 of granular protoplasm between the cells of the plant, and from these masses out- 

 growths take place which force their way among the cells. At first the granules are 

 very small, but they soon increase in size. These elongated masses become invested 

 by a very delicate membrane which thickens and eventually acquires a double con- 

 tour. Partition walls appear and some of the granules become surrounded by a clear 

 area. 



In a more recent paper" Eriksson confirms the above results with additional 

 species, particularly with the crown rust of rye (P. dispersa) and the yellow rust of 

 barley (P. glumarum hordei). In these he finds the extension of the plasmic masses not 

 only between the cells of the host plant, but often from cell to cell through the normal 

 openings in the cell walls. The author states that the existence of a parasitic fungus 



aCompt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 139 (1904), No. 1, pp. 85-87. 



