DEPARTMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL EVOLUTION. 115 



winter, apparently on account of lack of sufficient illumination. It is hoped 

 that in the new greenhouse, which is considerably lighter than the old ones, 

 it will be possible to get two generations a year by growing them under 

 glass in early spring and autumn, when more sunlight is available than in 

 midwinter, 



"While the work on the adzuki beans has been primarily a practical problem 

 with relatively little theoretical interest, some study is being made of the 

 inheritance of seed-color characters that may be of genetic interest in con- 

 nection with an attempt to obtain a strain that will not only be highly proUfic 

 but also satisfy the market requirements in respect to seed appearance. 



"A mutation with unifoliate leaves has appeared in one of our inbred lines. 

 All the other varieties of adzuki investigated have exclusively trifoHate leaves, 

 and the character is so conspicuous that it could hardly have occurred in 

 pedigree cultures without having been noticed. 



"If the adzuki bean is to be of any great value as a human food it must not 

 only be satisfactory from the cultural standpoint but must be palatable, 

 readily prepared for the table, and of high nutritional value. Dr. Langworthy, 

 of the Home Economics Office, United States Department of Agriculture, has 

 kindly had investigated for us the cooking qualities of the adzuki beans and 

 has prepared a series of recipes for them both in the form of bean meal and 

 the whole bean. He reports that ' all preparations from adzuki beans have 

 a nutty flavor and are very palatable.' He further writes that he thinks it 

 will 'be well to continue the study of adzuki beans with reference to their 

 more general use.' Miss Florence Willard, head of the domestic science 

 department in the Washington Irving High School in New York City, has 

 also tested the adzukis extensively and reports favorably upon them. They 

 seem to cook up in about half the time necessary for the navy beans, though 

 if cooked too long they tend to lose their individuality. 



"Dr. C. 0. Johns, of the United States Bureau of Chemistry, is carrying 

 on feeding experiments with rats and will undertake an investigation of the 

 proteins of the adzuki beans. Dr. E. V. McCoUum has promised to investi- 

 gate the fat and water soluble unknowns in the seeds. An economic plant- 

 breeding problem may not be solved quickly. Consequently, it may be some 

 years before it is possible to decide upon the value of the adzuki bean as a 

 food crop for this country. 



"On account of the work with the adzuki beans, no new problems have 

 been undertaken. It has been possible, however, to keep under way some of 

 the investigations already undertaken. 



"Work on rudbeckias has been discontinued for the present, although seed 

 obtained from last year's crosses are ready for planting. 



"Planting this year of F2 seed show that the dwarf portulaca reported last 

 year is a simple Mendehan recessive ; that the revertionary dominant branches 

 which the dwarf plants occasionally produce are heterozygous and when 

 selfed throw 3 normals to 1 dwarf; that cuttings from these reverting branches, 

 when kept growing for a couple of years, show no increased tendency to throw 

 normals. A large number of crosses of portulacas made last year in a study 

 of the varied color characters of the flowers have not been planted. 



"A peculiarity in the fragrance of two verbena plants has been discovered. 

 The flowers of plant A are fragrant to me and to two-thirds of the members 

 of the station tested, while the flowers of plant B are not fragrant to us. 

 The reverse condition is true of my former assistant, Mr. Avery. To him 

 and to about one-third of the members of the station the flowers of B are 

 fragrant, while those of A are not. Obviously the phenomenon is caused by 

 a difference in the sensory organs of the two groups of people tested. 



