May 22, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



767 



NOTES ON AGRICULTURE AND HORTICUL- 

 TURE. 



PREVENTION" OF SMUT IN OATS. 



Theee is a large loss annually from smut 

 in various crops and oats especially suf- 

 fers. It was about twenty per cent, at 

 the farm of the Ohio Station, and a fair 

 estimate of loss for the whole United States 

 is more than eighteen millions of dollars 

 annually. 



This smutting of the grain, as has long 

 been known, is due to an invading fungus 

 that produces vast multitudes of spores in 

 the grains ; in short, the grains are trans- 

 formed or replaced by the fungus which in 

 its final condition is mostly spores usually 

 dark and dusty. 



Prof. Selby shows by his experiments that 

 the smut enters the seedling oat plant by 

 spores adhering to the seed grain and may 

 be prevented by the destruction of the 

 spores attached to the oats before sowing. 

 This may be done by immersing the oats in 

 hot water at a temperature of 133° F. for 

 fifteen minutes. This treatment likewise 

 increases the vigor of the seed. It was 

 also found that " soaking the seed for 

 twenty-four hours in a solution of a f per 

 cent, solution of potassium sulphide made 

 by dissolving 1^ pounds of the salt in 25 

 gallons of water is equally efficient in smut 

 prevention." Both the above methods of 

 treatment apply to wheat, barley and other 

 grains, with certain modifications to suit the 

 particular cases. 



BACTEEIOSIS OF CARNATIONS. 



Bacteriosis is a term now growing into 

 general use for the disease in plants due to 

 bacteria. There are several of these trou- 

 bles caused by micro-organisms, but none 

 more interesting to the mycologist than 

 that of the carnation. Dr. Arthur and 

 Prof. Bolley conjointly have issued the re- 

 sults of their studies in a neat bulletin (ISTo. 

 59) from the Indiana Experiment Station. 



This bacteriosis is widespread among 

 carnations and while seated in the leaves 

 checks the growth of the whole plant. The 

 disease germs enter the plant through the 

 stomates, punctures of insects or by dissol- 

 ving a passageway in the cellulose through 

 the action of an enzym. The methods 

 of isolating the germs of the Bacterium Di- 

 anthi Arth. & Boll. n. sp. are given. A full 

 page heliotype plate is presented of gelatine 

 tubes and another of the appearance of a 

 portion of a diseased plant. It is found that 

 any variety of carnation may be affected, 

 but weak and old plants are most suscep- 

 tible. Other than members of the pink fam- 

 ily of plants are exempt from this trouble. 



Valuable practical methods of culture to 

 prevent the bacteriosis have been found, 

 the chief ones residing in the fact that the 

 disease is favored by moisture. By keeping 

 the foliage dry, by watering the soil between 

 rows of wire netting arranged to support 

 the plants the disease is largely prevented. 

 The aphis should be kept off. 



Byron D. Halsted. 



New Beunswick, N. J. 



CURRENT NOTES ON ANTHROPOLOGY. 



RACE AND DISEASE. 



Some interesting studies on the relations 

 of these factors in sociology have recently 

 appeared from the pen of Dr. William Z. 

 Eipley, who lectures on anthropo-geography 

 in Columbia College. One is upon the prob- 

 lems of acclimatization, and may be found 

 in the March and April numbers of the Popu- 

 lar Science Monthly It displays a thorough 

 acquaintance with the literature of the sub- 

 ject, and is marked by a careful weighing of 

 the numerous discordant opinions. It can- 

 not be said that he reaches a satisfactory de- 

 cision in favor of the possibility of acclima- 

 tizing the white race in the tropics, which is 

 the chief practical interest of the inquiry. 



Another of Dr. Ripley's papers appears 



