Septembek 4, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



193 



first in the group of five academies, b}^ which, 

 under the name of the Institute the people of 

 France provide for the preservation and im- 

 provement of their language, for the promotion 

 of histor}', for the advancement of science, for 

 the encouragement of art, and for the estab- 

 lishment of just ideas in morals and politics. 



THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION 

 OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 



The sixth annual meeting of this society at Ann 

 Arbor, Aug. 25, may fairly be said to have been the 

 best of the number, whether as regards the attend- 

 ance of members and others, the number and char- 

 acter of the papers read, or the general interest and 

 profit of the discussions. 



The meeting was opened on Tuesday morning by 

 a paper from Mr. J. J. Thomas of New York, upon 

 •The influence of locality upon varieties of fruit,' 

 in which the author opposed the opinion which has 

 been advanced by eminent pomologists, that varie- 

 ties of fruit raised on our own soil and in our own 

 localities are, on that account, better suited to this 

 country. As regards pears, fully half our varieties 

 are of foreign origin ; and very many of these are 

 among our most esteemed varieties, notably the 

 Bartlett, and can hardly be equalled by the same 

 number of native varieties. In the case of the apple, 

 while many good varieties are of foreign origin, this 

 fruit has been so extensively and successfully culti- 

 vated in America that our best varieties have come 

 to be those of native origin. At the same time, 

 most of the esteemed western and southern varieties 

 are of eastern origin. The apple is very susceptible 

 to influences of locality during the growth and ripen- 

 ing of the fruit; and this fact, rather than any dif- 

 ferences due to origin, accounts for the preference 

 shown for different varieties in different regions. 



In the discussion following the paper, attention 

 was called by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant to what appears 

 to be the fact, that well-ripened specimens of any 

 fruit are of the highest flavor in the most northern 

 localities, while the size and appearance usually im- 

 prove as one goes southward ; and he suggested as 

 a possible explanation the influence of actinism. 

 During the growing season, plants receive more 

 hours of sunlight in northern than in southern local- 

 ities; and it is possible that this has something to do 

 with their higher flavor. The subject is an impor- 

 tant one for investigation. He also described a sim- 

 ple and inexpensive apparatus for automatically 

 recording the number of hours of sunlight daily, 

 without reference to intensity. This apparatus is 

 now in use at the N. Y. experiment station ; and the 

 U. S. signal service is considering its introduction at a 

 number of stations, in the hope that a record of the 

 hours of sunlight may at least show whether it is 

 desirable to attack the much more diflBcult problem 

 of measuring its actinic intensity. 



Prof. W. J. Beal confirmed Dr. Sturtevant' s state- 



ment as to the flavor of fruit from northern and 

 southern localities as regards Michigan fruits. Mr. 

 Crozier instanced an experiment in which flowers 

 from the same seed grown in Paris and in Upsala 

 were much brighter colored in the more northern 

 locality. Prof. I. P. Roberts called attention to the 

 fact, that the soil has also much to do with the flavor 

 of apples, stating that about Ithaca, N.Y., the best 

 apples were grown on a clay soil and in elevated 

 localities. 



Following Mr. Thomas's paper were two by Dr. E. 

 L. Sturtevant of New York, upon the ' dandelion ' 

 and ' lettuce.' These papers were in support of the 

 hypothesis that the form-species of cultivated plants 

 are not originated by culture, but are really selections 

 from wild types. Thus in Yilmorin, Andrieux et Cie's 

 seed-catalogue, three distinct varieties of dandelion 

 are figured. Upon the grounds of the N. Y. experi- 

 ment station, there are to be found growing wild, 

 under conditions which seemingly preclude the pos- 

 sibility of their being escapes from cultivation, dan- 

 delions corresponding very closely to these three 

 varieties. Moreover, two of these three varieties are 

 figured respectively by Anton Pinaeus in 1561, and 

 by Dodonaeus in 1616. 



If it be granted, upon this evidence, that the culti- 

 vated varieties of dandelion are simply selections 

 from wild types, ''it may be legitimately questioned 

 whether other of our cultivated form-species in other 

 plants are not likewise of natural origin. A careful 

 investigation into the history of the origin of our 

 cultivated varieties, fully justifies the statement that 

 I have as yet secured no data which justify the belief 

 that form-species in culture are other than of natural 

 origin; and I have secured much evidence in favor 

 of the view that form-species are introductions from 

 natural variations." 



The paper upon lettuce is in further confirmation 

 of this hypothesis. It should be said, however, that 

 the author expressly recognizes the fact that much 

 further study is necessary before so radical a belief 

 can receive countenance. 



In the ensuing discussion. Professor Bailey called 

 attention to the fact that variable wild plants are 

 those most likely to be selected for improvement, as 

 to a certain extent sustaining the hypothesis ad- 

 vanced in the papers. 



The afternoon session was opened by a paper upon 

 ' The demands made by agriculture upon the science 

 of botany,' by Prof. C. E. Bessey of Nebraska. The 

 paper was devoted to the subject of the teaching of 

 botany in colleges; and the writer made an earnest 

 plea for the more extensive and thorough study of 

 this science, classifying the demands made upon it 

 by agriculture under three heads : First, a nomen- 

 clature and classification of the plants of the farm, 

 cultivated as well as wild. Second, a better knowl- 

 edge of the physiology of plants, including such sub- 

 jects as growth and nutrition, fertilization, heredity, 

 and the physiology of cultivation and improvement. 

 Third, a better knowledge of the pathology of plants, 

 particularly of that ill-defined state known as ' low- 

 ered vitality.' 



