950 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



BOTANY. 



A college text-book of botany, <i. F. Atkinson (New York: Henry HoU & Co., 

 1905, pp. X VI ■ 7S7,fig8. 592). — This new text-bonk is a revision and elaboration of 

 the author's Elementary Botany (E. S. R., 10, p. (ill). The method of treatment is 

 topical, the hook being divided into 5 parts, physiology, morphology ami life history 

 of representative plants, plant members in relation to environment, vegetation in 

 relation to environment, and representative families of angiosperms. 



Parts of the book have needed but little rewriting, while other chapters are 

 thoroughly revised and are brought up to date. This is true particularly of those 

 parts which treat of the nutrition of plants, the morphology of fertilization in the 

 gymnosperms and angiosperms, the chapters on algae and fungi, as well as the general 

 scheme of classification, but the part treating of ecology has been rewritten and con- 

 siderably extended in harmony with recent investigations. 



The work is well illustrated, many of the figures being new and especially pre- 

 pared \\ iih reference to the text. 



Farm grasses of the United States, W. J. Spillman (New York: Orange Judd 

 Co., J!*".',, pp. XV 248, figs. 54). — In preparing this volume the author has under- 

 taken to present, in connected form, the main facts of interest to the farmer concern- 

 ing the grasses grown in this country. Wherever the information was available, the 

 actual practices in grass growing are fully described, the treatment as far as possible 

 being from the standpoint of the fanner. The country, it is said, may be divided 

 into 4 regions, based on the character of grasses grown, and the especial problems 

 of each are described. Chapters are devoted to the subjects of meadows and pastures 

 and grass seed, and particular attention is given to timothy, bluegrasses, millets, 

 redtop and orchard grass, Brome grass, grasses of minor importance, lawns and lawn 

 making, and grasses for special conditions. 



On the whole, the book appears to be a practical treatise on the grass crop, seed- 

 ing and management of meadows and pastures, description of the best varieties, 

 grass seed and its impurities, and grasses for special conditions. 



Report of the botanist, J. J. Thornbek (Arizona Sla. Jlj/i. 1904, pp. 489-493). — 

 A report is given on the conditions on the range, studies on forage problems, seed 

 germination, etc. In connection with the range investigations, 20 species of forage 

 plants were sown, and of these Andropogon leucopogon, Bouteloua rothrockii, and 

 Panieum texanum have merited favorable consideration. The relative value of some 

 of the other species is commented upon. 



In connection with the forage plant problems the native species have in nearly 

 every instance proved superior to introduced ones when tested with a limited 

 amount of irrigation. Notes are given on the use of singed cactus as forage, and 

 attention is called to some investigations on seed germination. It is shown that a 

 number of species, such as acacias, mesquites, palo verde, and others which are very 

 resistant to moisture, can be germinated immediately if treated for 2 to 6 minutes 

 with water heated to 85-88° C. Similar results were obtained by scratching or cut- 

 ting the seed coat or in any way rendering it more permeable to water. In connec- 

 tion with the germination experiments it was found that the seed of acacia, mesquite, 

 honey locust, locust, and Kentucky coffee tree were made to germinate readily when 

 immersed for a short time in concentrated sulphuric acid in which chromic acid had 

 been dissolved, and then neutralized in a dilute solution of potassium hydrate. The 

 seed should be washed in running water for several hours previous to planting. 



Miscellaneous notes are added in which it is shown that about 2,000 eucalyptus 

 trees were distributed during the past year to determine the practicability of plant- 

 ing eucalyptus in southern Arizona, and the failure of English walnuts to grow in the 

 vicinity of Tucson is commented upon. 



The tomato blight, a bacterial disease due to Bacillus solanacearum, is reported as 



