208 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



new ; and hence I infer it will be difficult, after a few years, to eradicate the predilection of 

 Ohio wine growers, even for the foxy aroma of their Catawba wines. If we look forward to the 

 exportation of wines to foreign countries, we must look for their production in grapes of the 

 Herbemont type. I am a wine-grower to a very limited extent, and only as an amateur ; but 

 still my experiments are, so far as they are successful,- -as valuable in their results as if I 

 crushed the grapes of a township. I shall make no wine this season. I am satisfied that 

 we can make as good wines in this country as in any other, and at equal pfcice. I would 

 prefer the best Cincinnati wine to any foreign I have ever seen, except, perhaps, the pure 

 Xeres, Sherry, and Mangannelta, which we rarely see." 



New Use for Buckwheat Straw. 



IT has been recently stated that the straw of the buckwheat has been applied with success 

 in Russia as a substitute for quercitron, or yellow-oak bark, in dyeing. 



The Effect of Colored Light on Germination. 



To determine the commercial value of any seeds, one hundred of them are placed in a pot 

 in a stove, made for the purpose of quickening the process of germination. If all the seeds 

 germinate, the seed obtains the highest value in the market. If only eighty germinate, the 

 seed loses 20 per cent, in value. This process ordinarily occupies from twelve to fifteen 

 days ; but Mr. Lawson found that by using blue glass they are enabled to determine the value 

 of seed in two or three days : and this is a matter of such commercial importance to them, 

 that it is quite equal to a gift of 500 a year. Proceedings of the Royal Polytechnic Society. 



Plants Under Different Conditions. 



DR. GLADSTONE, F.R.S., has communicated to the London Chemist some interesting facts 

 in relation to certain experiments made by him upon plants under different colored glass, and 

 under different atmospheric conditions: 



Darkness promotes a rapid and abundant growth of thin rootlets ; it prevents the formation 

 of chlorophylle, but does not interfere much with the general healthiness of the plant, nor 

 with the production of the coloring matter of the flowers. Partial obscurity produces the 

 same effects in a modified manner, but greatly facilitates the absorption of water ; and the 

 cutting off of the chemical or blue ray under such circumstances seems to make very little 

 difference. The withdrawal of all but the caloric rays interferes with the length of the roots, 

 and produces a badly-developed plant. The pure luminous ray causes the rootlets to be few 

 and straggling, and diminishes the absorption of water. Hyacinths were well developed 

 under the pure chemical influence. 



Experiments were made on the germination, under like influences, of wheat and peas, as 

 samples of the two great orders of plants. The first series was made in common air, the 

 plants being placed on damp bricks, twelve seeds of each kind being employed in each 

 separate instance. The periods of germination, and all the circumstances that marked the 

 growth of the plants, were carefully noted ; drawings were made, and at the close of the 

 experiment the height of the plants, the length of their roots, their weight, and the number 

 of seeds that had germinated, were recorded. The effect of the same solar radiations on the 

 two plants was extremely different. In respect to the wheat, it was found that, under the 

 given circumstances, the absence of the chemical rays favors the first growth, and the pre- 

 sence of the luminous rays does not impede it. Afterwards the opposite effect takes place ; 

 the roots are retarded in their development by the yellow ray much more than by all the 

 rays of the spectrum in combination. The calorific ray is, on the whole, the most favorable 

 to their growth even more so than the complete absence of all solar radiations. The shoot- 

 ing forth of the plume is favored also by the withdrawal of the chemical rays, especially just 

 at first ; but the full and healthy development of leaves requires all the rays of the spectrum, 

 the luminous being particularly necessary. In respect to peas under the given circum- 



