338 



all the five methods of seeding, while the drilled oats gave the best. 

 This superiority of the drilled oats is probably due to the fact that 

 the instrument pressing firmly upon the soil makes a firm bed at the 

 bottom of the drill, into which the seed is dropped. In a loose soil 

 oats run to straw, but in a firm soil they give a larger percentage of 

 grain. In the present case oats drilled into Unplowed land gave 34.5 

 bushels per acre, but when plowed under gave 21.6 bushels, or a loss 

 of 35 per cent. 



As to the time of harvesting oats, they should be cut early, viz, in 

 the dough stage, if the straw is wanted for feed; but if the grain 

 alone is wanted they should be allowed to mature, notwithstanding 

 the fact that there is then a greater loss due to the beating out or 

 dropping of the grain in harvesting. (Agr. Dept. Exp. Sta. Record, 

 Vol. II, p. 222.) 



OHIO. 



In Bulletin No. 3 of Volume III of the Ohio xigricultural Experi- 

 ment Station it is shown that the experiments of 1889 indicate that 

 more cultivation should be given in dry seasons than in wet seasons. 



FREEZING OF PLANTS AND SEEDS. 



Detmer (1887), with reference to the effect of low temperatures on 

 plants, finds : 



(1) Fruits and seeds that have been dried in the air can be exposed 

 for a long time without injury to very low temperatures, but if they 

 have first been swollen with moisture they are destroyed by low tem- 

 peratures. In the case of wdieat exposed to a temperature of — 10° C, 

 although it will germinate, still its power of growth is decidedly less 

 than before. 



(2) Many plants and parts of plants withstand temperatures below 

 freezing, and many bacteria withstand much lower temperatures: 

 those experimented on by him w^ere not killed by an exposure to 

 temperatures of— 17° C. 



(3) In accordance with Sach's experiments, he finds many plants 

 which after being frozen survive if they are thawed out in water at 

 low^ temperatures (6° C), but not when thawed out in water at 

 -f 17° C, thus showing the manner in which a warm rain may act 

 injuriously upon a forest. 



(4) Certain plants are definitely destroyed by freezing independ- 

 ently of the subsequent thawing, such as the leaves of the begonia. 



(5) Experiments have given a negative result as to the question 

 whether any plant, although accustomed to the warmest climate, can 

 be killed by a short exposure to a low temperature which is, however, 

 still above freezing. (See Wollny, X, p. 236.) 



