258 



The Journal of Heredity 



planted seedlings during the three 

 following days by covering them with 

 3-inch flower pots during the daytime. 

 These pots not only provide shade but 

 also prevent rapid transpiration which 

 is so fatal to newly set plants. 

 ipRotundifolia grai^e seedlings, unlike 

 other grapes, should be trained begin- 

 ning with the first season by the process 

 of disbudding all lateral growth. When 

 the plants are 1)^ feet tall they should 

 be loosely tied to the lower wire of a 

 trellis and as they grow taller they are 

 tied to successive wires higher up. 

 During the second year side branches 

 are allowed to develo]) and the height of 



the plant is determined only by the 

 height of the upper wire of the trellis. 

 By the third year the plants, if well 

 grown, should begin to bear fruit. 



The study of the seedling vines really 

 commences in the seed-bed and with the 

 majority of them may be concluded in 

 the nursery row. Most of the vine and 

 fruit characters can be secured from the 

 plants while they are growing in the 

 nursery rows. Should the work of the 

 breeder be centered mainly on the 

 clusters and fruits, then the seedlings 

 ought to l)c given more space for 

 the perfect develoi:)ment of the whole 

 plant. 



The Selection of Naval Officers 



That naval officers for the present 

 war should be selected partly on their 

 heredity and juvenile promise was 

 the contention of Dr. Charles B. 

 Davenport, of the Carnegie Institution's 

 Department of Experimental Evolu- 

 tion, who addressed the National Acad- 

 emy of Sciences in Washington on A]jril 

 17. Considering only the "fighting 

 type" of sea captain like Nelson, 

 Cushing, Farragut and Dewey, as dis- 

 tinguished from the cx]jloring, inventive 

 and di])l()matic ty])es, he fotmd the fol- 



lowing traits usuall\- ])rcsent in boy- 

 hood: (1) love of the sea; (2) nomadism, 

 particularly marked in such a man as 

 John Paul Jones; (3) hyperkincsis, an 

 aggressive, restless temperament; (4) 

 an adventurous disposition and absence 

 of fear; (5) ability to command men. 

 He believed that it would not be difficult 

 to get the necessary data about young 

 men who apply for commissions in the 

 nax'}', and that selection of thtm from a 

 eugenic point of view would aid greatly 

 to secure an able bod\- of men. 



Delinquency in City and Country 



There is a widespread idea that crime 

 and delinquency arc ]jarticularly pvoh- 

 lems of densely ]K)])ulatcd areas. J. 

 Harold Williams has tested this idea by 

 a careful investigation in Southern 

 California { Journal of Delinquency, 

 March. 1917). He finds (1) that de- 

 linquency is more prevalent in small 

 towns, and rarest in the open rural 



country; (2) that no i)articular kinds of 

 offenses committed by delinquent boys 

 are especially associated with city, 

 town, or rural jjoj^ulation; (3) that the 

 average level of intelligence is higher in 

 delinquent boys from the cities than in 

 those from the towns and rural dis- 

 tricts. The proportion of feebleminded- 

 ness is greatest in rural districts. 



Dr. Salmon Appointed on Immigration Committee 



To fill a vacancy, Dr. Thomas W. 

 Salmon has l)een ajjpointed a number 

 of the American (ienetic Association's 

 committee on immigration, of which 

 PrescottF. Hall, of Boston, is chairman, 

 and Prof. Robert De C. Ward, of Har- 



vard University, is secretary. Dr. Sal- 

 mon was formerlv connected with the 

 U. S. Public Health Service at Ellis 

 Island, and is now medical director of 

 the National Committee for Mental 

 Hygiene. 



