Januaet 7, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



11 



Haberlandt, Sempolwski, Beck, Moeller and 

 Oesterle, Mattirolo and Buscalioni, Hanausek, 

 Harz, Junowicz and many others who were 

 interested in a study of seeds of Legiiminosse, 

 particularly with reference to the light line. 

 The writer more than a quarter of a century 

 ago brought the literature on this subject to- 

 gether in his paper on the " Comparative 

 Anatomy of Seeds of Leguminosse." Com- 

 paratively little has been done since. In- 

 tensive studies on the seeds of such families 

 as the Leguminosffi. Convolvulacese, Cucurbi- 

 tacere, Malvaceae, Tiliacese should be made be- 

 cause in most of these families where the 

 light line occurs the seeds have a prolonged 

 vitality. The subject has more or less of a 

 practical bearing. The problem as to the 

 nature of the light line in these seeds has not 

 been solved. A number of present-day botan- 

 ists, like Martin, Harrington and others are 

 taking up the problem. Present-day investi- 

 gations with seeds are bringing many valuable 

 practical results in commercial seed produc- 

 tion, as in clovers. The seed control work by 

 the establishing standards of purity is a prac- 

 tical problem. The work in determining the 

 conditions of germination, experiments with 

 light, electricity, heat, moisture and drying 

 and studies of seed coat are also important. 

 The important problem of rate of maturing 

 of seed in storage is being worked out. Seed- 

 testing laboratories, while they are obliged to 

 answer the immediate pressing problems on 

 the impurities of seeds and their germination 

 are engaged in a study of the more funda- 

 mental problems of the viability of seeds. It 

 has been the custom for the American Seed 

 Analysts Association to send to its co-workers 

 seeds to test for purity and vitality. With 

 careful treatment, there is still the greatest 

 variation in the results. Presumably, in part 

 at least, the methods used by seed testers is 

 not the same and, therefore, the result can 

 not be uniform. We should bear in mind 

 that the viability is a matter of climate and 

 condition of storage of the seed. The funda- 

 mental problems of every one of the great 

 staple agricultural crops, so far as vitality of 



seeds is concerned, has not been entirely 

 solved and awaits solution by the investigator. 

 The writer and Miss King, during the past 

 few years, have continued investigations on 

 germination of seeds of forest trees and 

 shrubs. The results exhibit surprising irreg- 

 ularity and uncertainty in the germination of 

 these seeds. Boerker, of Nebraska, has fol- 

 lowed the same line of research. The work of 

 Sir John Lubbock on Seeds and Seedlings 

 and various papers of Tubeuf on seeds of 

 forest trees, although purely morphological 

 are always valuable for reference and bear in 

 general upon forestry problems, of economic 

 botany. 



GRASSKS 



Botanists have long recognized the im- 

 portance of grasses in our welfare. The 

 prosperity of the United States outside of the 

 rich natural resources of forestry, mines and 

 water power is concerned with the economic 

 production of cereals, cotton and livestock. 

 Turning to some of the older works I recall 

 the work of Sowerby and Pamell on grasses, 

 Metzgar, "Die Gereidarten," Stebler and 

 Schroeter, " Kornicke, Die Gebreidearten," and 

 Hackel, " True Grasses." In our own coun- 

 tiy early works were Flint's " Grasses of 

 Massachusetts," Klippart, " Grasses of Ten- 

 nessee," Lapham, " Grasses of Wisconsin," 

 Vasey, " Grasses of the United States," Lam- 

 son- Scribner, various papers published by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Beal, 

 " Grasses of North America," Hitchcock and 

 Chase papers. These and other authors touch- 

 ing the economic problems of cereals, like 

 Hunt, Carleton, Shear, Warburton and Ball 

 have stimulated prduction but it would seem 

 as though we have only scratched the surface 

 so far as a study of the real problem of cereal 

 production is concerned. It vitally concern^ 

 us as a nation to stimulate the production of 

 cereals and forage crops because the ever-in- 

 creasing population demands increased pro- 

 duction. How can the botanists contribute 

 more to the welfare of mankind than to study 

 such problems as the physiology of the nutri- 

 tion of the growing of wheat, maize, oats, bar- 

 ley and rice, or to make a study of pollination 



