656 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



be less shrinkage in timber. It may be finished, tarred, or painted without incur- 

 ring danger of dry rot, and the timber itself will frequently be found to be stronger. 

 Wood preserving by painting- with or immersing in tar oils, E. P. Schoch 

 {Trans. Texas Acad. Sci., 4 [1901), No. 1, pp. 88-92). — Gives results of tests of timbers 

 treated with carbolic acid, high-boiling oils, and tar bases. To protect timber by 

 means of superficial application the best results were o))tained with a coal-tar distil- 

 late boiling at 270° C. or above, free from low-boiling oils and carbolic acid, and 

 containing a high percentage of tar bases, notably acridine, and free from tarry or 

 insoluble substances that close the pores of the wood. 



SEEDS— WEEDS. 



On the color and weight of red-clover seed, C. Fruwirth {Landtu. Vers. Stat., 

 55 {1901), No. 6, 2:>p- 439-452) .-^Studies are reported on the color and weight of the 

 different seed found in red -clover heads. The seed in a large number of clover 

 heads were counted and divided according to color, an attempt being made to divide 

 each head as nearly as possible into an upper and lower half. The results are given 

 for 9 heads, showing that the lower half of the head contained 10 dark-violet seed, 

 30 variegated, 72 deep yellow, and 86 yellow, while the upper half contained 16 

 dark violet, 54 variegated, 72 deep yellow, and 64 yellow. The total seed produc- 

 tion of a number of plants was counted, showing considerable variation as to the 

 color of the seed. Based upon their color, the seed produced by one plant were 

 160 deep yellow and 445 yellow; a second plant produced 154 violet, 125 variegated, 

 58 deep yellow, and 11 yellow seed; a third, 177 deep yellow and 366 yellow seed; 

 while still another bore 131 variegated and 47 deep-yellow seed. From these and 

 other investigations reported the author seems to believe there is a predisposition in 

 color of seed found in the red-clover heads. This is particularly true of the yellow seed 

 or the violet. For the variegated seed and those approaching that color there seems 

 to be greater predisposition to the production of dark-violet seed than to variegated. 

 Numerous weighings were made of different classes of seed, and the averages showed 

 that the dark-violet seed were the heaviest, followed by the variegated, and the aver- 

 age of these was still heavier than the lighter-colored seeds. 



The seed coats of angiosperms and gymnosperms, and their development, 

 J. J. Attema {De zaadhuid der angiospermx en gymnospermse en hare ontivikkeling. 

 Gronmgcn: P. Noordhoff, 1901, pp. 226). 



A chemical and physiological study of the corneous endosperm of some 

 leguminous seed, M. Goret ( Tliesis, Lotis-leSatdnier [Dednrne^, 1901, pp. 85). 



The germination of seed plants, A. J. J. Vandevelde {Dodunaea, 1900, pp. 

 141-301) .—Tresits of the morphology and physiology of the germination of s])erma- 

 phytes. 



On the action of formaldehyde on germination, R. Windisch ( Landiv. Vers. 

 Stat., 55 {1901), No. 4-5, pp. 241-252; abs. in Ann. Agron., 27 {1901, No. 8, pp. 

 388, 389) . — A study was made of the action of formaldehyde in strengths of 0.02, 0.05, 

 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 per cent upon the germination of lupines, peas, horse beans, soy 

 beans, flax, summer rape, alfalfa, clover, and maize. In general the more concen- 

 trated the solution, the more the germination was retarded and the less number of 

 seeds germinated, the action of the formaldehyde generally manifesting itself by a 

 diminution of the germinative energy of the seed. The most dilute solution had 

 little or no injurious effect upon the germination of lupines, peas, beans, or maize, 

 while it retarded slightly the flax, summer rape, alfalfa, and clover, although the 

 total germinations were not diminished. More marked effects were noted as the 

 strength of solution was increased, the 0.1 per cent having an injurious effect upon 

 all but the horse beans and maize. The summer rape and flax were killed and the 

 germination of the alfalfa and clover greatly retarded. The 0.2 per cent solution 

 was injurious to all except the maize, retarding those which had previously not been 



