^<90 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 372 



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Vol. XV. NEW YORK, March 21. 1890. No. 373. 



CONTENTS: 



An Improved Truck for Elec- 

 tric Cars 183 



The Influence of Learned In- 

 stitutions UPON THE Prog- 

 BESS OF Modern Society.. .. 183 



Notes and News , 188 



Should Farmers raise their 

 OWN Vegetable-Seeds ISO 



Climatological Temperature... 190 



KlLIMA Njabo 191 



Booe-Reviews. 

 Sound-English 191 



On the Relative Advantage of 

 Tubs with Bottoms and Tubs 



without 192 



The Way out of Agnosticism . . . 198 



Among THE Publishers 192 



Letters to the Editor. 

 Solar Halos. John C. Branner, . 195 

 Lake and River Temperatures. 



A. T. Drummond 195 

 Industrial Notes. 

 A New Drawing- Table 196 



SHOULD FARMERS RAISE THEIR OWN VEGETABLE- 

 SEEDS ? 



Tms is a question of considerable importance, and one to 

 "which attention is frequently directed by the agricultural joiir- 

 aials. It has been made the subject of an experiment by George 

 "C. Butz at the Pennsylvania State College Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, with a view to determining some facts that would 

 aid in its consideration. Cultivated vegetables, as a rule, are 

 further removed from their original or "wild" forms by the 

 natural development due to high culture than are the cereals and 

 ■other ordinary farm-crops : therefore the conditions of soil and 

 ■cultivation under which vegetable? are grown have much to do 

 in fixing the value of the seeds maturing on these plants. We 

 have only to compare the wild carrot of our fields with the culti- 

 ivated form of the garden to note the change which has been 

 wrought by cultivation. The former is an annual, with a slender 

 oroot, toughened by much woody fibre; the latter is a biennial, 

 with a fleshy, tender root. It has often been observed, too, that 

 a-eversions are common among carrots growing in poor soil. 

 These and similar facts concerning other vegetables should not be 

 ignored in considering this question. 



Undoubtedly there was a time when many farmers bought 

 'Commission seeds with but few satisfactory results, for often 

 these seeds were greatly impoverished and adulterated, and re- 

 flected much discredit on the seed-business. It is fair to say at 

 4his time, however, that the seeds found in country stores, bear- 



ing the names of reputable firms, are quite as good as seeds ob- 

 tained direct from the warehouses. The results of some tests of 

 such seeds made last year may be found in Bulletin No. 4 of the 

 Pennsjlvania station. The germinative value of the seeds thus 

 tested compared very favorably with that of the seeds obtained 

 in bulk. Considered from a financial standpoint, no farmer or 

 gardener can complain about the price of seeds, when for a dollar 

 a fuU assortment of good clean seed, in quantity sufiScient for a 

 family, can he obtained. If, however, the farmer tries to save 

 this expense by raising bis own seeds, he finds in a few years that 

 his vegetables are not so choice as they once were, because the 

 seeds are not selected with care, and the proper cultivation has 

 not lieen given to the garden. 



The question in its scientific aspect presents itself in the follow- 

 ing form: Are seeds which have matured under high cultivation 

 (as on cur best seed-farms) better for our hss enriched farm soils 

 than seeds which have matured in this poorer soil ? The answer 

 must be found in a comparison of results regarding earliness, pro- 

 ductiveness, \igor. and quality of the products. The conditions 

 at the station were very favorable to the work, and in 1888 seeds 

 wer^ gathered from the best of those vegetables that seeded. The 

 ground in which they grew is not a rich garden soil, but only an 

 ordinary farm soil. These seeds were planted last year along with 

 seeds of (he same varieties frum the seed-houses of Landreth, 

 Dreer, Thorburu. and others. In March the seeds were examined 

 and carefvil weights taken of a hundred seeds of each variety. 

 From the figures in the tables of tomatoes, radishes, and lettuce, it 

 appears that in nearly all varieties of the first two vegetables 

 mentioned the station-grown seeds were heavier than those from 

 tlie seed-houses, while those of the lettuces in the majority of 

 cases were lighter. Following this examination, a test of the 

 germinative values was made by putting a hundred seeds of each 

 variety in the germinators. These results are slightly in favor of 

 the station seeds in case of radishes, but against them in that of 

 the tomatoes. 



The seeds of each vegetable were sown at the same time, and 

 given similar treatment. The heans and tomatoes suffered some- 

 what from a severe late frost, and hence we cannot attribute 

 much value to the figures on earliness and yield, except perhaps 

 as comparisons under like conditions. 



Il was observed after the frost, which occurred on the 39th of 

 May, that the plants from station seeds were, as a rule, more 

 seriously affected than the others. 



The indications of the tables are, (1) the station seeds were, as a 

 rule, heavier than the purchased seeds ; (2) the weight was no 

 indication of the germinative value of the seeds ; (3) in the 

 majority of cases the earlier marketable products were obtained 

 from the purchased seeds ; (4) the greater yield, with but few 

 exceptions, was obtained from purchased seeds ; (5) lettuce from 

 purchased seed produced heads that did not "shoot up" to 

 flower as early as the plants from station seed : (6) radishes from 

 purchased seeds were larger, more tender, and more uniform than 

 those from station seeds ; (7) on the whole, the results are strongly 

 in favor of seeds from good soil, however rich that may be. 



The experiment will not cease with the present results, how- 

 ever conclusive they may appear, as it is desired to determine 

 how much is lost by several years' use of seeds raised on average 

 soil. 



CLIMATOLOGICAL TEMPEEATUBE. 



It is well known that the sensation produced by heat and cold 

 of the atmosphere upon the exposed surface of the human body 

 has no direct constant relation to the rising and falling of the 

 temperature in the shade, commonly regarded as the tempera- 

 ture of the external air. When overheated, we fan ourselves or 

 court a di'aught, and wind produces a like cooling effect. In 

 stagnant air the heat of the tropics is unbearable. In polar 

 regions the cold of winter is unsupportable in high winds. Thus 

 a cooling sensation is maintained by a breeze throughout the 

 thermometrical range of temperature. But, whatever the tem- 

 perature of the air may be, in sunshine we experience additional 

 warmth, especially if there is little or no wind. Hence our sen- 



