624 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 590. 



weight per ton, which loss falls mainly on 

 the crude fiber and the carbohydrates. The 

 protein content is high, 24.75 per cent., but 

 experiments indicate that it is much less 

 digestible than the protein of prime alfalfa. 

 Soapweed contains 9.09 per cent, protein 

 and the hornwort 17.68 per cent. The high 

 protein content of the Russian thistle, 17.95 

 per cent., indicates that the former pest 

 has a feeding value that makes it a source 

 of profit to the western rancher. 



New and Little-known Plant Diseases in 



Nebraska: F. D. Heald. 



Notes were given upon the following dis- 

 eases : 



(1) Twig-girdle of the apple due to a 

 Phoma-like fungus. (2) Trunk rot of the 

 cherry due to Schizophyllum commune. 

 A small orchard of trees five to six years 

 old was completely destroyed by this fun- 

 gus. (3) Wheat leaf -fungus, Leptosphm- 

 na tritici. Among other things, its dis- 

 tribution over the same area as the Hessian 

 fly was noted. (4) Bacterial leaf blight of 

 wheat. A bacterial blight of the leaves was 

 common on the leaves of wheat in the breed- 

 ing-plot at the experiment station and was 

 also observed elsewhere. (5) Bacterial 

 blight of soy bean. This disease was quite 

 serious on soy bean used as an orchard 

 cover crop at the experiment station. (6) 

 Moldy corn due to a fungus provisionally 

 referred to Diplodia Maydis, but differing 

 in several points in habit and structure. 



A New Limestone in the Indian Territory: 



G. E. CONDRA. 



This new stone represents an abnormal 

 development of calcareous oolite in the 

 Hunton formation and is underlaid by sev- 

 enty-five feet or more of Sylvan shale. 

 This stone forms a single massive ledge 

 without distinct jointing and bedding, the 

 thickness averaging ten feet. The forma- 

 tion where exposed is a hogback of the Ar- 

 buckle Mountains dipping three to five de- 



grees northeast. The stone is very plainly 

 oolitic, much more so than the Bedford, 

 and approaching the famous English oolite. 

 The spherules range from .5 to 2 mm. in 

 diameter, the largest being in the lower 

 part of the ledge. The spherules are held 

 together by a matrix of clear olive-green 

 crystallized calcite, giving the stone a beau- 

 tiful surface when polished. The oolite is 

 a very pure limestone, in fact a marble, 

 running as high as 98 per cent. CaCOj. 



The stone and the underlying shale are 

 to become the basis of several industries 

 which will furnish building stone, orna- 

 mental stone, carbonate, lime, cement, 

 brick, tile and ballast, all of which are in 

 great demand in that section of the country. 



The Causes of the Dwarfing of Alpine 

 Plants: Frederic E. Clements. 

 Preliminary work upon the moimtain 

 vegetation of Colorado from 1896 to 1899 

 seemed to show clearly that the prevailing 

 opinion that light was the primary factor 

 in alpine dwarfing was erroneous. A large 

 number of species was found to exhibit 

 dwarf and normal forms at the same alti- 

 tude, and often in close proximity. In 

 every case the dwarf form grew in dry soil, 

 and the normal one in wet soil, indicating 

 that the difference was one of water con- 

 tent. Owing to lack of instruments, satis- 

 factory determinations of light intensity 

 were not obtained until 1904. The latter 

 naturally showed no differences in dry and 

 wet habitats at the same altitude. Read- 

 ings taken at Manitou (1,900 m.), Minne- 

 haha (2,600 m.) and on Mount Garfield at 

 3,600 m. gave practically the same light in- 

 tensity for the three altitudes. The great- 

 est intensity on Mount Garfield was 1.2. 

 the intensity at Manitou being 1. This dif- 

 ference is altogether too slight to account 

 for the dwarf habit of alpine vegetation as 

 compared with that of the plains. Accord- 

 ingly, in 1905, recording psychrometers 



