AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY — AGROTECHNY. Ill 



a smaller amount of water than ^rass. The changes taking jjlace were as 

 follows : 



(1) Dry substance: On drying the grass slowly losses in dry substance weie 

 noted, the losses increasing with the temperature and the time of drying, but 

 drying in strong sunlight at times caused a slight increase in dry substance. If 

 fresh or wilting grass becomes wet, losses are sustained which are due to the 

 vital activity of the plant cells. In wilted grass, and still more with hay. 

 micro-organisms also produce losses in total solids, but these are much lower 

 than those produced by the above-mentioned factors. The lowest amount of 

 loss is due to leaching. (2) Phosiihorns compounds: Lecithin is destroyed when 

 the wilted plant is undergoing blanching or when conditions prevail which are 

 favorable to bacterial action. (3) Phosphoproteins : These were decomposed up 

 to an extent of 87 per cent of the total present in the dry substance. (4) Ni- 

 trogenous compounds : No loss in nitrogen was observed. Protein was decom- 

 posed by slow heating to the extent of 10 to 50 per cent, due to the vital activity 

 of the cells. 



Losses were noted in crude fat, but none in crude ash. Nitrogen-free ex- 

 tractive substances were lost in all the curing tests. The saccharose-like sub- 

 stances were lost in every case, the dextrin in most cases, and starch only 

 when the heating was prolonged. The total loss in water-soluble substances was 

 small. 



The methods used for determining the substances above mentioned are de- 

 scribed in much detail in the original. 



Some closer investigations on the micro-organisms found in fermenting 

 tea. W. Staub and J. J. B. Deuss (Dcpt. Landh., iSlijiK en Handel [Dutch East 

 Indies], Mcded. Proefstat. Thee, No. 18 {1912), pp. i9).— Yeast and bacteria 

 have no manifest effect upon the fermentation of tea unless a long-continued 

 abnormal fermentation is present. Pure cultures of yeast added during the 

 process of tea manufacture have no noticeable effect upon the aroma. Moldy 

 tea leaves or those containing much yeast and bacteria become brownish black 

 and have a tendency to rot. The tannic acid of tea liquors may be converted 

 gradually into gallic acid through the agency of the micro-organism and as a 

 result the tea infusion takes on characteristics which are specific. 



Two kinds of bacteria were isolated from normal and abnormally (deferred) 

 fermented tea. They are termed tea organisms I and II and both have mai'ked 

 slime-forming properties. They are probably the cause of the sliminess which 

 occurs when tea ferments for a long time. 



Respiration, decay, self -heating, and chemical composition of potatoes 

 under different conditions, W. Henneberg (Ztschr. Spiiitusindus., 1912, Er- 

 gdnzungsh. 2, pp. 15-33, figs. 4; ahs. in Chem. Abs., 7 {1913), No. 13, p. 2261). — 

 The amount of sugar present in stored potatoes seems to vary directly with 

 the carbon dioxid content, and this in turn with the temperature of the room 

 in which they are stored. Potatoes having a very high sugar content decay the 

 easiest, so that by keeping the temperature of storage low there is less spoilage. 



Studies of th.e chemical composition of cotton seed, C. L. Hare {Science, n. 

 ser., 39 {1914), No. 1001, p. 363).— ''A record of work at the Alabama Experi- 

 ment Station which was undertaken in order to ascertain whether it would be 

 possible by breeding cotton to improve the seed in the direction of a larger oil 

 content and higher protein content, though, of course, without prejudice to the 

 amount and quality of the fiber, but up to the present little definite progress has 

 been made. Apparently there is no relation between the amount of lint and 

 that of oil or protein, but the amount of oil seems to bear some relation to the 

 weight of the seeds, to the percentage of protein, and, possibly, to the amount 

 of inorganic constituents." 



