614 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Saturated Cane Sugar Solutions ami its Application in the Extraction of Sucrose, by 

 L. W. Wilkinson; The Relation of Carbon Dioxid Excretion to Body Weight, by 

 G. 0. Higley; The Separation of Proteoses and Peptones from the Simpler Amido 

 Bodies, by W. I). Bigelow and F. C. Cook; Studies on the Banana, by L. B. Mendel 

 and E. M. Bailey; Use of Porcelain Dishes in Silicate Analyses, by F. L. Kortright; 

 The Determination of Silica, by N. Knight; Solubility of Gypsum in Solutions of 

 Ammonium Sulphate, by J. INI. Bell and W. C. Taber; and Solubility of Gypsum in 

 Solutions of Magnesium Sulphate, by F. K. Cameron and J. M. Bell. 



Through the personal efforts of C. W. Browne, jr., and R. E. Blouin, of the Sugar 

 Experiment Station at Audubon Park, and C. E. Coates, of Baton Rouge, very pleas- 

 ant and profitable excursions were made by the visiting chemists to acid and fertilizer 

 works, the Sugar Experiment Station, Kenilworth Plantation, Henderson Sugar Re- 

 finery, and the National Rice Mills. 



Botanical papers. — < >f the botanical papers presented few were of special interest in 

 their direct bearings upon agriculture. The Preparation of Nontoxic Distilled Water 

 was described by B. E. Livingston, and The Leaf Anatomy of Some Desert Plants, 

 by F. E. Lloyd. A paper by D. T. MacDougal reported investigations on the origin 

 of species. Various chemical solutions were injected into ovaries just before the 

 flowers opened. Seeds maturing in ovaries so treated produced, in many instances, 

 plants which showed a marked variation from the parental type. 



The Botanical Society of America, the American Mycological Society, and the 

 Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology were consolidated under the name of 

 Botanical Society of America. 



Section F, Zoology. — C. H. Merriam, vice-president of the association and chairman 

 of the section, delivered an address on the subject, Is Mutation a Factor in the Evo- 

 lution of the Higher Vertebrates? In a study of more than a thousand species and 

 subspecies of North American mammals and birds no evidence was found in support 

 of the theory of the origin of species by mutation. A Mendelian Character in Cattle 

 was the title of a paper by W. J. Spillman. The other papers before this section 

 were not of particular agricultural interest. 



Social and Economic Science. — There were three well-attended sessions of Section I 

 on social and economic science, one of which was devoted to papers on agricultural 

 problems, one to educational and sociological matters, and one to railway questions. 



At the session devoted to agriculture. Judge Eugene Williams, of Texas, presented 

 a paper on The Possibilities of Cotton Warehousing from the Producers' Standpoint. 

 He advocated the erection of warehouses by the cotton producers so that the raw 

 product might remain in the district of production until actually wanted for use. 

 This arrangement would protect the cotton from the elements and do away with 

 present unbusinesslike methods of handling. The cotton grower would be enabled 

 to sell directly to the manufacturer instead of through a middleman. 



The benefit to the farmer from the adoption of this plan, which is heartily indorsed 

 by the Southern Cotton < Growers' Association and Farmers' Union, was estimated at 

 $100,000,000 annually. Damage by exposure alone is estimated at from 50 cents to 

 $1 per bale, or $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 annually for the total crop. An instance 

 was cited in which cotton thus housed and sold in buik brought from 1 to £ cent per 

 pound, or 60 cents to $1 per bale, more than if sold by the single bale from the 

 farmer's wagon. To give confidence to the farmers the warehouses should be within 

 easy distance and have a capacity of about 1,000 bales, rather than erect larger 

 houses in cities. The local warehouse would add increased deposits in the local 

 banks and encourage cotton mills in the cotton belt. 



In the discussion of this paper Le Grand Powers stated that less care is exercised 

 in the production and handling of cotton from the producer to the consumer than 

 any other farm crop, and that proper handling would add at least one-third to the 

 farm price and farm value of the crop. 



