AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 



127 



of articles, namely, A Day of Fads, by W. F. Masscy ; The Oldest Cheniical 

 Fertilizer, by K. Langenbeck; Is the Reconimeudatiou that Only Ground Lime- 

 stone Should be Used for Agrieultural Purposes a Sound and Rational One? 

 by H. J. Wheeler; and Some Pliases of the Relation of Lime to Soil Improve- 

 ment, by E. O. Fippen. These pai)ers set forth the relative merits of quick- 

 lime and ground limestone for fertilizing purposes and deal particularly with 

 the views expressed by C. G. Hopkins in his pamphlet on Ground Limestone 

 for Southern Soils (E. S. R., 31, p. 322). 



Experiments on the effect of different forms of lime, D. Meyer {Illus. 

 Lamlw. Ztg., 2Jf (1914), ^o. 61, pp. 571, 572). — In comparative tests of quick- 

 lime, pure calcium carbonate, ground limestone, and the waste lime product 

 from the manufacture of sodium and potassium chlorids on mustard and horse 

 bi>ans the fertilizing effect of the waste product was 82 as compared with 100 

 for the calcium carbonate and limestone and 95 for burnt lime. 



Gypsum, F. A. Wilder (In The Mineral Industry: Its Statistics, Technology, 

 and Trade during 1913. 'New York and London, 191//, vol. 22, pp. 372-381). — 

 Statistics of the gypsum industry in the United States and foreign countries 

 for 1913 are summarized. The principal uses which are made of gypsum are 

 also briefly discussed. It is stated that the amount used as land plaster has 

 remained nearly stationary during the last four years, but the price dropped 

 from $2.02 to $1.75 in 1913. 



AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 



Relative water requirements of plants, L. J. Briggs and H. L. Shantz 

 (U. 8. Dept. Agr.. Jour. Agr. Research, 3 (1914), No. 1, pp. 1-64, pl-^- 7, fig. 1).— 

 In continuation of the authors' investigations on the water requirements of 

 plants (E. S. R., 29, p. 825), accounts are given of further experiments carried 

 on at Akron, Colo., with a large number of crops. In these experiments it was 

 found necessary to protect the plants from birds, winds, and hailstorms by the 

 erection of an inclosure, and tests showed that this inclosure reduced the solar 

 radiation to about SO per cent of its normal value. Under the conditions of the 

 experiment the average amount of water required to form 1 lb. of dry matter 

 of various crojis was as follows : 



Water required to form one pound of dry matter in various crops. 



Kind of crop. 



Proso 



Millet 



Sorghum 



Corn 



Teosinte 



Wheat 



Barley 



Buckw'heat 



Oats 



Rye 



Rice 



Flax 



Sugar beet 



Potato 



Cabbage, turnip, and rape 



Cotton 



Watermelon 



Cantaloup and cucumber. 



Squash and pumpkin 



Cowpea 



Chick-pea 



Water 

 require- 

 ment. 



Pounds. 

 293 

 310 

 322 

 368 

 383 

 513 

 534 

 578 

 597 

 68.5 

 710 

 905 

 397 

 636 

 640 

 640 

 600 

 667 

 791 

 571 

 663 



Kind of crop. 



Beans 



Soy beans 



Sweet clover 



Field peas 



Vetches 



Clovers 



Alfalfas 



Wheat grass and brome grass. 

 Tumlileweed and pigweed . . . 



Purslane 



Buffalo grass 



Russian thistle 



Buffalo grass and grama grass 



Cocklebur 



Gum weed 



Mountain sage 



Sunflowers 



Lamb's quarters 



Marigold 



Western ragweed 



Western wheat grass 



Water 

 require- 

 ment. 



Pounds. 

 728 

 744 

 770 

 788 

 794 

 797 

 831 

 861 

 287 

 292 

 308 

 336 

 389 

 432 

 608 

 616 

 683 

 801 

 881 

 948 

 1,076 



