10*M) 



KXI'KKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Relative yield in <h-ij weight from treated <i,i<{ untreated seed. 



Kiml of seed. 



Maize . 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 

 Do 



Wheat 

 1).. 



yield of 

 treated 

 seed. 



rjo 



140 

 160 

 126 



124 

 162 

 147 

 116 



Kind of seed. 



Wheat 



Do 



Barley 



Do 



Oats 



D« 



White lupine 

 Buckwheat.. 



Yield Of 



treated 

 seed. 



115 

 122 

 120 



l in 

 i in 

 120 

 11 '.i 

 116 



Similar experiments have been conducted with maize in the field, in which equal 

 quantities of seed were planted at fixed distances, cultivated in the same manner, 



and after 100 days the product harvested. In every case the treated seed gave a 

 larger yield of total dry matter as well as of grain, and the ears of corn were more 

 matured. The increase in the 5 plats varied Erom 107 to l."'>7 for the entire harvest 

 and from 1 12 to 1 18 for the yield of grain as compared with lot) for the cheek plat. 



The influence of naphthalin on the germination of cereals, \Y. Busse I Abs. 

 in Ztschr. Pflanzenkrank., 14 1904), ZVb. ;, pp. 919, 920). —On account of the rather 

 common use of uaphthalin in the Tropics to protect seeds <>f all kinds against insect 

 injuries, the author investigated the effect of such treatment on the germination of 

 a number of common grains. Specimens of grain were subjected to from 1 to 3 per 

 cent naphthalin for indefinite periods of time, although experience has shown that 

 1 percent is sufficient fur all protective purposes. 



The 1 jx r cent naphthalin was practically without effect on the germination of 

 pearl millet and sorghum seed after exposure for a year. All the germinations of 

 maize reported were very low, and no conclusion is drawn from the experiment with 

 that cereal. Rye was not injured by months' exposure to naphthalin, and barley 

 gave higher germinations for treated than for untreated seed. A lot of German 

 maize was subjected to naphthalin without any conspicuous influence being observed. 



Is germination possible in the absence of air? T. Takahashi I Bui. Col. Agr. 

 Tokyo Imp. Univ., 6 {1905), No. f, pp. f39-442)- — The author in previous experi- 

 ments has shown that the germination of peas could not take place in the absence of 

 air, although the intramolecular respiration was carried on continuously for a num- 

 ber of weeks. In the present paper he reports experiments with rice, in which it is 

 shown that the seed can germinate in water without the presence of any sugar and 

 in the entire absence of air, the molecular respiration furnishing the energy neces- 

 sary for the germination. 



The germination of mistletoes, W. A. Cannon | />'"/. Tom y Bot. Club, SI (1.904), 

 No. 8, pp. 185-44$, figs* 6*).— The author reports a study of the germination of Phora- 

 dendron viUosum and P. californicum, the common species of mistletoe in Arizona 

 and southern California. According to his observations, there is nothing to indicate 

 the truth of the claim frequently made that mistletoe seeds will not germinate with- 

 out having first passed through the alimentary tract of birds. The exact condition 



required for germination seems to he the maturity of the seeds. A large amount of 



heat is not necessary for their germination, nor is germination dependent upon rains. 



The author describes the method by which the seed attaches itself to a host plant 

 and the penetration into the cortex by the seedling. The cotyledons apparently 

 never emerge from the seed until a firm foothold has been secured by the roots, and 

 this frequently takes several months from the time germination begins. The methods 



of securing entrance into the host plants of the different species are somewhat differ- 

 ent, hut in general they agree in that the solvents secreted by the haustoria of the 

 parasite are not able to dissolve suberized cell walls, and for this reason the points 



