Decembeb 18, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



891 



parasitic enemies, ■whose energies appear to be 

 largely concentrated upon cultivated rubber- 

 trees. The general criticism applied to the 

 treatment of the botanical aspect of the case 

 appears to be justified especially, for example, 

 to the discussion of guayule, a rubber-pro- 

 ducing plant with which Americans are more 

 familiar (or perhaps one should say less 

 ignorant). This plant is of peculiar interest 

 because of its preference for the arid con- 

 ditions of the central plateau of Mexico and 

 adjacent Texas. Indeed, any plant which 

 offers the possibility of using the desert with 

 economic intent may well be thought worthy 

 of special regard. With regard to the process 

 of manufacture of crude guayule rubber the 

 author appears not to be fully informed, but, 

 as the industry is comparatively new, and 

 as a number of methods have had more or less 

 vogue, it is naturally difficult to get exact 

 knowledge, especially at a distance, a difficulty 

 not reduced by the natural effort at secrecy on 

 the part of the manufacturers. 



In the discussion of the technical aspects 

 of the rubber industry the author is distinctly 

 at home. Though often brief and summary, 

 he gives the gist of the matter in a very satis- 

 factory way, and this despite the very abstruse 

 nature of the subject. Among the topics pre- 

 sented, to give a brief impression of the scope 

 of the book, are the chemical and physical 

 properties of rubber, its vulcanization, sub- 

 stitutes, reclamation, and the methods of 

 manufacture of various classes of articles 

 from it. It will suffice here to heartily com- 

 mend the way in which the numerous perti- 

 nent details have been handled, since more 

 than a very general criticism would occupy 

 the time of the inquirer better spent in read- 

 ing the original. As to the orthography, it 

 may be captious to say anything, especially as 

 we (speaking as Americans) have the sym- 

 pathy of Mr. Terry himself, if we take excep- 

 tion to the English spelling of " tyre." 



We may regret that the book is but poorly 

 illustrated, more especially in the pen-draw- 

 ings of rubber plants. These are hopelessly 

 crude, and behind the times. 



Francis E. Lloyd 



AuBUBN, Ala. 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE ACCLIMATIZATION OF AN ALFALFA VARIETY 

 IN MINNESOTA 



That practically none of our many crop 

 plants are indigenous is a matter of common 

 knowledge. Among the numerous agencies- 

 that have been instrumental in their intro- 

 duction immigrants from agricultural areas 

 of the old world deserve more credit than they 

 have hitherto received. Although it is likely 

 that many introductions have been made in 

 this manner, it is rarely possible to trace 

 clearly the history of an individual case. The 

 successful introduction of South American 

 alfalfa into California, to which we owe almost 

 exclusively the present extension of alfalfa 

 growing in the United States, took place about 

 1855. 



In the spring of 185Y another strain found 

 its way into the United States, this time from 

 Europe. In that year there came to this 

 country from the little village of Kiilsheim,. 

 near Wertheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, 

 a German farmer named Wendelin Grimm. 

 Like many of his countrymen, Grimm went 

 west, taking up- a farm in Carver Covmty, 

 Minn. 



Among the few possessions that he brought 

 with him from his old home was a small bag 

 containing less than twenty pounds of seed 

 of the alfalfa or lucerne commonly culti- 

 vated in Baden. Grimm, applied numerous 

 local names to this alfalfa, but most commonly 

 he called it "ewiger Klee" (everlasting 

 clover) referring to its perennial nature. 



This small lot of seed was the progenitor 

 of an alfalfa industry that has existed in 

 Carver County, Minn., for more than a gen- 

 eration and which is now being extended into 

 other parts of the cold northwest. 



The South American seed found a con- 

 genial soil and climate and became the basis 

 of a farming industry whose annual product 

 has in half a century attained a value of 

 about $150,000,000. The European seed, on 

 the other hand, encountered a favorable soil 

 but a very unfavorable climate, with the result 

 that a long period of years was required for 

 it to become finally established. The original ^ 



