NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



413 



Seeds: Possible Correlations concerning Position of Seeds in the Pod. By 



Byron D. Halsted (Bot. Gaz. vol. lxvii., No. 3, March 1919, pp. 243-250). — This 

 investigation was carried out by the late Professor Halsted with the Henderson 

 Lima bean on a block of ground one-fortieth of an acre in area. 

 The following summary of his investigations is given : — 



( 1 ) The greatest viability in Henderson Lima beans is associated with the 

 seeds that are borne in the middle of the pods. 



(2) Three-seeded pods make up more than four-fifths of the crop ; three-seeded 

 and four-seeded pods are more numerous in the second of the two field harvests 

 of ripe pods. 



(3) Seeds from the middle of the pod produce a much larger number of pods 

 than do seeds from the base or tip. 



(4) The heaviest seeds are produced in three-seeded pods and the lightest in 

 four-seeded pods. 



(5) The seed weights make a continuous rising series from the base to the tip 

 for all types of pods. 



(6) The first harvest yields lighter seeds than does the second harvest in each 

 pod position. 



(7) The seeds associated with aborts are heavier than are those in full pods 

 in each type of pod, and each position in the pod. 



(8) The abortiveness is less in the first than in the second harvest, and is 

 least in the rows grown from seeds from the middle of the pods. 



(9) Abortiveness is chiefly in the basal position and decreases regularly from 

 the base to the tip of the pod. 



(10) The position of the pod that yields the greatest weight of seed is asso- 

 ciated with the lowest percentage of abortiveness. — R. J. L. 



Seeds, Resistance of, to Desiccation. By George T. Harrington and William 

 Crocker (Jour. Agr. Res. xiv. Sept. 1918, No. 12, pp. 525-532). — This paper 

 describes some experiments to determine the effect on the vitality of certain 

 seeds when dried under varying conditions for varying lengths of time. 



It was found that the percentage of germination was not materially changed 

 when wheat, barley, Sudan grass, Kentucky bluegrass, and Johnson grass were 

 dried to less than 1 per cent, of moisture. Even reduction to 0*17 of moisture 

 did not affect the germination of Kentucky bluegrass and Johnson grass seed, but 

 the vigour of the seedlings was greatly reduced. If Kentucky bluegrass seed 

 was further dried in a vacuum oven for six hours at ioo° C, the percentage of 

 germination was not materially affected. All this controverts Ewart's state- 

 ments as to the degree of drying which seeds are capable of withstanding and 

 remaining viable, as far as the seeds used in this experiment are concerned. 



A. B. 



Seeds (Wolfryn Process), Report on proposed Electrolytic Treatment before 



Sowing. By E. J. Russell, D.Sc. (Jour. Min. Agr. vol. xxvi. No. 10, Jan. 1920). 

 — Farmers have, for the past three seasons, been offered wheat and other seed 

 treated by an electrolytic process which, it is claimed, causes a marked increase 

 in yield at a cost of ys. to 105. 6d. an acre. Previous reports from colleges 

 and experimental stations were unfavourable in the main, while farmers made 

 conflicting statements as to the success or otherwise of the treatment. Dr 

 Russell, therefore, undertook a fresh series of tests which were chiefly made in 

 pots although field experiments were undertaken, while results are also quoted 

 from other observers. The author comes to the conclusion that although, in 

 a few instances (where successes, however, may have been due to other causes), 

 increased crops were obtained, the losses are greater than the gain, and that, 

 to say the least, the process lacks certainty. He concludes that he "is not 

 prepared on present evidence to say that the process never succeeds, but the 

 risk of failure seems so great that the farmer should look upon it as an adventure 

 which may or may not prove profitable." — G. C. G. 



Shot Borer Beetle. By C. Warburton (Roy. Agr. Soc, England, Sept. 1917, 

 pp. 7). — A report dealing with the author's official visit to Evesham to in- 

 vestigate the damage done to Plum trees by Scolytus rugulosus and Xyleborus 

 dispar. X. dispar is a wood-borer, and only the imago bores. 



The chief attack is in spring when the eggs are laid. The larvae emerge in 

 June, and live in the " mother " cell and feed on the plant sap and a fungus 

 growing in the tunnels. 



At the end of August the beetles (nearly all females) emerge from pupae ; 



