307 



in Europe, has some similarity to a bean cultivated in India since 

 the earliest times. The characteristic peculiarities of the cultivated 

 bean and its uncultivated relatives have probably existed for at 

 least five or six thousand years, and the original stock from which the 

 cultivated bean was derived has long since become extinct. 



PEPPER. 



The derivation and varieties of peppers from all parts of the world 

 (genus Capsicum) are described by E. L. Sturtevant (Agr. Sci., 

 Vol. II, p. 1). The general effect of climate is to diminish the size 

 of the fruit when the seeds are planted in higher latitudes — that is' to 

 say, with a diminution of temperature. Similarly, the effect of cold 

 nights is to check the growth, diminish the size, and promote early 

 ripening. 



KENTUCKY BLUE GRASS. 



The germination of Kentucky blue-grass seed {Pon ptrtteHKh), as 

 also that of red top and timothy, has been studied by Thomas F, 

 Hunt at the agricultural experiment station, Champaign. 111. Al- 

 though the object of the experiment was primarily to determine 

 the relative vitality or honesty of the seeds and samples from differ- 

 ent sources, yet the results have some bearing upon the question as 

 to the best temperature for germination and the possibility of accli- 

 matization, Kentucky blue grass, raised in Kentucky, wdien sown 

 in the Geneva sprouting apparatus, would not germinate in thirteen 

 weeks at temperatures from 70° to 80° F., wdiereas 80 per cent of 

 meadow fescue and 95 per cent of mammoth red clover sprouted 

 during the first w^eek in June, 1888. xVgain, in 1889 a specimen of 

 blue grass from the same locality would not sprout in sixty days at 

 an average temperature of 67° F., whereas during the first eight 

 days 98 per cent of both timothy and red clover and 85 per cent of 

 meadow^ fescue sprouted. Again, a sample from another dealer in 

 Kentucky, tested for thirty days under similar conditions as the last, 

 gave one sprout to a hundred seeds. Another sample w^as sent from 

 Chicago to Manitoba and thence to Champaign for testing. Out of 

 500 seeds not one sprouted, but in the best of subsequent samples 7 

 per cent sprouted. 



Finally, samples were obtained from 19 different sources, mostly 

 in Kentucky, and were all tested uniformly in the Geneva apparatus 

 at Champaign, 111., from July 23 to August 31, 1889. The range of 

 temperature in the apparatus was from 63.5° to 73.5° F. Out of all 



