590 
where they would not grow at all, and yet this 
is what F. V. Coville, the government botan- 
ist, seems to have done. In an interesting 
bulletin (193) of the Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry of the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture which appeared a little more than a year 
ago, Mr. Coville shows that blueberries 
(mainly of the species Vaccinium corym- 
bosum, known as the swamp blueberry) differ 
from many ordinary plants in their soil re- 
quirements, and with the knowledge thus at- 
tained he has worked out a system of culture 
that promises to result in their successful cul- 
ture. In the course of his paper it is shown 
that the swamp blueberry “does not thrive in 
a rich garden soil,” nor on “ heavily manured 
soil,” and so for soil treated by lime, heavy 
clay soil, ordinary leaf mold soil, or any soil 
with a neutral or alkaline reaction. On the 
contrary, it is shown that it requires an acid 
soil, such as afforded by peat. 
Applying these facts, Mr. Coville has suec- 
cessfully grown many plants of the swamp 
blueberry in pots, and their robust growth af- 
fords good promise of success in the field. 
The investigation with pot cultures is to be 
followed with those in the field and in this 
considerable progress has been made. “ There 
is good prospect that the application of the 
knowledge thus gained [from the pot cultures] 
will establish the blueberry in field culture, 
and that ultimately improved varieties of 
these plants will be grown successfully on a 
commercial scale.” 
THE GRAMA GRASSES 
Davi GrirritHs has rendered a good sery- 
ice to students of the grasses by the publica- 
tion of his paper on “The Grama Grasses ” 
(Contrib. U. S. Nat’?l Herbarium, Vol. 14, pt. 
8, 1912), in which he describes the species 
(46) included in the genus Bouteloua (86), 
Cathestecum (4), Pentarrhaphis (2), and 
Triaena (1). By means of good figures the 
details of the spikelets are made plain, and 
these are supplemented by full descriptions, 
and a citation of specimens in the National 
Herbarium. The synonymy of these species 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 902 
is given very fully with critical notes. From 
this portion of the paper we learn why the 
more common species now bear the names 
Bouteloua hirsuta, B. gracilis (instead of B. 
oligostachya), and B. curtipendula (instead 
of Atheropogon curtipendula). One new 
species of Cathestecum and two of Bouteloua 
are described. 
In speaking of their economic importance 
the author says: “It is doubtful whether there 
is another group of native pasture grasses 
which is of as much economic importance as 
this when both quality and quantity are con- 
sidered.” “The most promising of all the 
species for field cultivation is B. curtipendula, 
not that it grows any more readily than the 
others, but on account of its size and habit.” 
“ Bouteloua gracilis makes a splendid turf 
when sown thickly and well cared for.”” How- 
ever, on account of the difficulty in collecting 
seed he has to say at last that “in short, it 
is more than probable that because of the lack 
of good seed habits in this genus, even the 
most valuable species can not become of im- 
portance in cultivation.” 
BOTANICAL NOTES 
A NUMBER of papers on the fungi should be 
noted here—the first, by W. C. Coker and 
Louise Wilson (in Mycologia, November, 
1911), on a curious “conjugating yeast” 
(Schizosaccharomyces octosporus) in ferment- 
ing grapes, in which the plants multiply vege- 
tatively not by budding, as in other yeasts, but 
by fission. The “conjugating” cells consti- 
tute “a double sac that resembles a pair of 
saddle-bags” and in this structure eight 
spores are produced. 
The “Experiments on Spore Germination 
and Infection in Certain Species of Oomy- 
cetes ” (Research Bull. 15, Wisconsin Experi- 
ment Station) by I. E. Melhus, are concerned 
with the White Rust of Crucifers (Cystopus 
(Albugo) candidus). It was found that the 
spores germinate best in water and rather 
low temperatures, and that plants are more 
easily infected at low temperatures, also, prob- 
ably “due to the increased percentage of 
spore germination.” 
