680 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 25. 



the elevation by which the erosion of the 

 flaring and benched valleys of the noi-thern 

 Alps has been allowed. The problem in- 

 volved in the relation of elcA'ation and gla- 

 ciation would therefore seem to be not the 

 simple one of immediate cause and effect, 

 but on the other hand the diificult one of 

 why the apparentlj^ competent cause should 

 not have at once had its expected effect; 

 why glaciation should have waited so long 

 after elevation, not attaining its maximum 

 until a time of depression. 



FORESTS AND TORRENTS. 



The much-debated problem of the influ- 

 ence of forests on rainfall remains unproved, 

 after all that has been said and done; but 

 the influence of forests on torrents admits 

 of no question. The soil is washed from 

 the deforested slopes and the torrents spread 

 it over the valleys, greatly to the injury of 

 both high and low land. The Shenandoah 

 Valley, for example, one of the most beauti- 

 ful and productive farming districts in our 

 country, is suffering along its margin from 

 the encroachments of gravels and sands 

 washed from the enclosing deforested ridges. 

 Those who wish to present this matter to 

 forestrj' meetings in popular and impres- 

 sive form will find an abundance of illus- 

 trative material with references to European 

 literature on the subject in an essay by 

 Toula: Ueber Wildhadi-Verlieeruncjen and die 

 Mittel ihnen vorzubeugen (Schr. Vereins zur 

 Verbreitung naturw. Kenntnisse in "Wien, 

 xxxii., 1892, 499-622, with forty-one views 

 from photographs). W. M. Davis. 



Harvard Uxiveesity. 



NOTES ON AGRIGULTUBE (III.) 

 THE EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The Experiment Station Record, a 

 monthly (practically) published from the 

 office of Experiment Stations of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture gives under 

 the heads of Chemistry, Botany, Zool- 



ogy, Meteorology, Soils, Fertilizers, Field 

 crops. Horticulture, Forestry, Seeds, Weeds, 

 Diseases of Plants, Entomology, Foods, 

 Veterinary Science, Dairying, Technol- 

 ogy, Statistics and ISIiscellaneous, the prog- 

 ress made in these various branches in the 

 Experiment Stations of our countrj'. The 

 recent work in Agricultural Science in for- 

 eign countries is also briefly summarized. 



From the last issue of the Record, just 

 received, the reader is first of all informed 

 as to the amounts of the appropriations 

 made by Congress for the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture for the year ending June 30^ 

 1896. The total amount is $2,578,750, 

 which includes $720,000 for the Experi- 

 ment Stations established under the act of 

 Congress of March 2, 1887. There will be 

 two new divisions in the U. S. Division 

 of Agriculture, namely, that of Agrostology, 

 which contemplates ' field and laboratory 

 investigation relating to the natural history, 

 geographical distribution and use of the 

 various grasses and forage plants,' and that 

 of Soils. 



Among reports of agricultural science in 

 foreign lands is a paper upon ' Agricultural 

 Investigations in Switzerland,' by Dr. 

 Grete, director of the Swiss Station at Zu- 

 rich. In 1878 a Station for control of fer- 

 tilizers and feeding stuffs was established,, 

 and recentlj^ its work has been extended to 

 include culture tests of soils. There is a 

 Seed Control Station which at the present 

 time has eight workers besides the director, 

 and tests by germination thousands of sam- 

 ples of seeds. 



Under the head of chemistrj'^ the Record 

 gives the new methods of obtaining solutions 

 in soil analji^ses and the determination of 

 phosphoric acid. The department of Botany 

 contains a review of Professor Scribner's 

 ' Grasses ' of Tennessee, which is a valuable 

 contribution to the Agrostologj^ of the whole 

 country. ' Kotes on Maize,' by Dr. Sturte- 

 vaut, contains generalizations upon the 



