NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



627 



represents the results, in sugar content of the must, of some experiments 

 made by M. Bailhache and the author. Grapes were chemically analysed 

 from canes of the variety ' Golden Chasselas,' which had been pinched 

 off above the first, second, third, and fourth leaf respectively, after the 

 second bunch of grapes. 



Grammes of 



0 leaf. 



1 leaf. 



2 leaves. 



3 leaves. 



■ 4 leaves. 



Sugar per litre of must 

 Acidity expressed in 

 sulphuric acid, H 2 So p 

 per litre of must 



70 grs. 

 60-5 grs. 



100 grs. 

 55 grs. 



131-2 grs. 

 49*5 grs. 



141-9 grs. 

 43 9 grs. 



145-8 grs. 

 30-3 grs. 



M. L. H. 



Vitality Of Seed. By E. H. Jenkins (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Conn., Rep. 

 1906, pp. 395-397). — The average vitality of onion seeds for thirteen 

 consecutive years was 77'7 per cent., that in 1903 being only 62 per cent, 

 owing to the wet and cold summer. Californian seed gives a higher 

 percentage of vitality than Connecticut seed, and the vitality decreases 

 with age, as shown in the following table : — 



Alleged age of seed. 



Connecticut grown. 



California grown. 



No. of samples. 



Per cent, sprouted. 



No. of samples. 



Fer cent, sprouted. 



1 year .... 



573 



75-38 



215 



89-55 



2 years 



122 



61-81 



128 



79-08 



3 years 



24 



21-90 



20 



5753 



4 years . . ' . 



1 



59-50 



1 



10-00 



F. J. C. 



Woburn Wash, The. By Spencer Pickering (Gard. Chron. 

 No. 1051, February 16, 1907). — This wash, which is a caustic one, 

 containing paraffin, is the result of many experiments made with a 

 view of obtaining such a wash in which the paraffin will not separate 

 from the other ingredients. This has been effected, and the wash may 

 be made as follows : — " Take sulphate of iron (copperas), or sulphate of 

 copper (blue vitriol), H lb. ; quicklime, 6 oz. ; paraffin, 5 pints ; caustic 

 soda, 2 lb. ; water, 9^ gallons. Dissolve the sulphate of iron or copper 

 in the water by suspending it in a bag of sacking over night ; at the 

 same time put the lime into a jar with enough water to not quite cover it ; 

 next day, when the sulphate is dissolved and the lime slaked, add a little 

 more water to the latter to make it into a milk, and pour it into the 

 sulphate solution ; add the paraffin and churn the mixture with a garden 

 syringe ; one or two strokes of the syringe are sufficient to produce a 

 perfect emulsion. The soda may then be added and the whole mixed 

 well together ; if the soda is in the powdered form, it may be added 

 while solid to the water ; if it be in large lumps, it should be dissolved 

 separately in a little water reserved for that purpose." An account is 

 then given of how this wash may be modified to suit certain circumstances. 



G. S. S. 



Wood Ashes and Acid Phosphates, Effect of, on Yield and 

 Colour of Apples. By U. P. Hedrick (U.S.A. Exp. Stn, New York, 

 Bull. 289 ; 4/1907). A record of experiments on this point extending 



