SCIENCE 



Friday, August 29, 1919 



CONTENTS 

 Field Crop Inspection: H. L. Bollet. 193 



Courses in Physical Measurements for Students 

 of Chemistry and Belated Sciences: Dr. 

 Paul E. Klopsteg 199 



Patent Beform Prospects: Beet Eussell .... 202 



Scientific Events: — 

 Memorial to the late FredericTc du Cane God- 

 m,an; Exhibit of Marine Camouflage ; The 

 Philadelphia Meeting of the American Chem- 



■ ical Society 204 



Scientific Notes and News 206 



University and Educational News 208 



Discussion and Correspondence: — 

 ; The Valence of Nitrogen in Nitrous Oxide: 

 1 "William T. Hall. A Snow Effect: Leon 

 ; Elmer Woodman. On Measuring the Den- 

 sity of the Seventeen-year Locust Popula- 

 tion: Dr. Enoch Kaerer 209 



Scientific BooTcs: — 



■ Huntington's World-power and Evolution: 

 Professor Charles Schtjchert 211 



New Activities in tlie History of Science: Pro- 

 fessor Louis C. Karpinski 213 



Special Articles: — 



The Motion of a Gravitating Needle: Pro- 

 fessor Carl Barus 214 



MSS. intended for publication and books, etc., intended for 

 review should be sent to The Editor of Science, Garrison-on- 

 Eudson, N. Y. 



OFFICIAL FIELD CROP INSPECTION 



Now, when it has been forcibly brought out 

 that the nation is vitally interested in farm 

 results and that to get maximum production, 

 some system of efficient supervision is essen- 

 tial it may not be out of place to call atten- 

 tion to a line of work in which official super- 

 vision would be beneficial and for various 

 reasons quite essential, even under normal 

 conditions. There is a phase of farm crop- 

 ping, especially with cereals, in which the 

 state is not only vitally interested but could 

 become of great aid to growers, and to the 

 consuming public. That line of work may 

 perhaps be properly named official field crop 

 inspection. 



Great strides have been made, from the edu- 

 cational standpoint, in crop improvement dur- 

 ing the past twenty-five years. It is apparent, 

 however, to those who are closest to the work 

 that improvement in cereal cropping is not 

 nearly proportionate to the general gain in 

 information as to possible cropping methods. 

 There is much knowledge as to tillage, crop 

 rotation, seed breeding, and much improve- 

 ment in farm machinery and methods of crop 

 handling through farm machinery; yet the 

 processes which, from a scientific standpoint 

 are necessary to high production of yield and 

 quality are not in common practise and, when 

 used, are so intermittently followed as to 

 cause failure of crop improvement that should 

 otherwise naturally follow. 



If the above is true, it is worth the at- 

 tention of those of us who are specialists in 

 certain lines of agriculture to try to deter- 

 mine the reasons for such failure to follow 

 best processes and to arrive at a remedy along 

 the lines which may result in getting the 

 process constructively carried on. 



For example, much work is done in breeding 

 seeds. The states and nation are at much ex- 

 pense to allow certain experts to study Men- 



