4(14 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



August, 1922 



m mammals all three vitamins must be pres- 

 ent in the diet to effect a normal growth. 



Other animal groups beside the mammalia 

 have been found to be dependent on one or 

 more of these essential substances. Frogs 

 and Tadpoles respond to the action of the 

 antineuritic and fat soluble accessories and 

 insects, such as drosophila, cannot reach ma- 

 turity and reproduce when raised on sterile 

 culture media unless the antineuritic sub- 

 stance is supplied in the form of yeast. The 

 animal kingdom is in the final analysis de- 

 pendent for its survival upon the synthetic 

 capacity of the plant life of the world, with- 

 put which it would ultimately become ex- 

 tinct. 



Attention has been directed throughout 

 this lecture to the fact that the plant cell is 

 the producer of these all important ele- 

 ments. Studies have been carried out on 

 yeast cells (a prolific source of the water 

 soluble factor) when grown upon artificial 

 culture media. It has been known for years 

 that yeast can grow slowly and prepare its 

 organic nitrogen from an inorganic ammo- 

 nium salt and subsequently it has been 

 proved that yeast cells obtained from these 

 growths can prevent the onset of the beri 

 beri symptoms in pigeons. But the rate of 

 growth on these artificial culture media can 

 be greatly accelerated where traces of solu- 

 tions containing the water soluble factor are 

 added to them. The growth will go on until 

 the vitamin is used up and then slow down 

 to a stationary value. The higher forms of 

 plant life also grow to a certain extent on 

 their own synthetic capacitj^ but the growth 

 and development can also, as in the case 

 of yeast, be accelerated by extravenous ad- 

 ditions of vitamin in addition to that stored 

 up in the seed. Bottomley in a series of 

 experiments found that the action of the or- 

 ganisms which convert the mumic acids of 

 peat into water soluble material could pro- 

 duce substances which had a marked accel- 

 erating influence upon the growth of lentils 

 which were grown in Detmar's solution. The 

 accelerator could be separated by the tech- 

 nique employed in concentrating the antineur- 

 itic vitamin. Thus the plant forms must 

 also require some outside supply to carry on 

 beyond the early periods of their growth. 

 Fertilizer and peat which were both fresh 

 contained only slight traces of these acces- 

 sories which could be increased by the ac- 

 tion of saprophytic bacteria. The growth of 



nitrifying bacteria can also be affected by 

 vitamins so prepared and the soil bacteria 

 can be divided into two classes, the nitrifying 

 type dependent for their development on the 

 accessory factors and the putrefactive, deni- 

 trifj'ing and ammonia — forming organisms 

 which do not respond to the action of this 

 group and apparently have no need of them. 

 Thus we have the putrefactive group which 

 decompose organic matter and prepare the 

 vitamin or its precursor and pass it on to the 

 nitrifying organisms who in turn turn it over 

 to the plant in a utilizable form. The latter 

 in all probability build it up into the form 

 known to us as the vitamin group. 



Although only a short time has elapsed 

 since research was taken up concerning the 

 vitamins a great deal has been published 

 regarding their properties and distribution 

 but as to their identity, constitution and com- 

 position little more is known than at the time 

 of their recognition as a distinct class. The 

 cost of working up large amounts of material, 

 the lack of technical methods for their pre- 

 paration and analytical methods for their de- 

 tection is a problem for the biochemical 

 world of the future to overcome. 



THE REGISTRATION OF PLANTS 



The Canadian Horticultural Council, 

 which was recently organized with head- 

 quarters at Ottawa, has alread}^ taken steps 

 towards the organization of a system for 

 the registration of new varieties of plants. 

 Through the agency of Mr. W. B. Lobjoit, 

 Controller of Horticulture for Great Brit- 

 ain, the Secretary of the Canadian Horti- 

 cultural. Council will be kept informed of 

 the efforts being made not only in England 

 but on the Continent, to provide a means for 

 the registration of horticultural plants, 

 shrubs, and trees. The Secretary of the 

 Council has also got into touch with the 

 horticultural authorities in the United States 

 who are interested in this matter. It is 

 expected that a conference on the subject 

 will be arranged for during the present year. 



REPRESENTATIVE ON COUNCIL OF 

 A. A. A. S. 



Dr. W. H. Brittain, Provincial Entomo- 

 logist for Nova Scotia has been appointed a 

 member of the Council of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science, 

 to represent the C. S. T. A. 



