The Indianapolis journal., 1890-08-20

pay bounty upon raw. sugars produced in
this country. The character of the expert
mental work which the Department of Ag-
rlcuiture has undertaken was outlined and
the sympathy and support of the society
asked.
Prof. w. o. Atwater. of the Department
OF Agriculture, Washington, ID. c., who has
charge of summarizing the work of the ex-
pertinent stations. read paper on Notes
on the Proportions of Nitrogen in Plants"
In which he held that where nitrogen was
used as a fertilizer 1t increased the presence
OF that desirable substance in the plants so
treated.
The Pentaglucoses as Constituents of
Food d-stuffs" was the subject of paper by
w. r; Stone. professor OF chemistry of Pur-
due University, Lafayette. Ind. Professor
Stone said that the "pentaglucoses" are
sugar-like substances, which differ from
the true glucoses IN their compost ton, their
chemical formula being C5 H10 O5. Two
members only of the group are known
arabinose. obtained from gum-arabic orig
Inally, but since prepared from several sub
stances. such as bran. brewers grain. the
eugar-beet. cherry-gum, ETC.; the other pen
tagluc0se is called XylOse. and has been pre-
pared from saw-dust, straw. etc. These
two substances behave very much like the
true sugars, and have, until within short
time. been confused with the same, espe-
claily In analysis or foods by means OF
reaction discovered by Professor Stone,
they may now be recognized in the pres
ence of the true carbohy ydrates. Some forty
common vegetable products used as food by
man and beast, such as seeds, grains, hay,
etc., havo been examined for the presence
of the pentaglucoses. and in thirty-two of
the samples from l to ID per cent. OF the
same were found. This is of Importance in
studying the value and composition of
foods, since it gives q better insight into
the nature of the different constituents.
In this connection method has been de-
velOped by which the exact amount of these
substances contained In given material
may be determined. as has been formerly
the case with the true glucOses
Papers by Prof. j. b. Sanborn, of Column
bia, Mo-. on "Tillage;" by Professors Papa
relli and Colby, of the University of Cali
fornia. on Quantities OF heterogeneous
and by Professor Jaffa, also of the Univer-
. sity of California, on Further Expert
ments on the Reactions Between Alkall
Sulphates, Calcic, Carbonate and Free Car
bOlic Acid, were read by their titles.
DR.. Manly Miles. of Lansing. Mich.
formerly professor of agriculture at the
Michigan Agricultural College. opened the
biological and botanical series with an ex-
hhaustlve paper on biological Factors
In the course of his paper DR.. Miles said:
"The interdependent biological relations
OF different farm crops, and OF the
soil microbes that, find favora-
vicinity of their roots, appear to be quite
as important factors in farm econ0 my as
the chemical composition of soils and crops,
and the conditions of the soil that influence
these relations are of great practical inter-
est In the light of our present knowledge
it must be obvious that the applications of
science to agriculture will be best promoted
by investigations relating to the life his
tory of these microbes and their immediate
and remote relations to the roots of plants
of different species and TO processes Of mot
abolism in the soil under different cOndi-
tions"
The Forage Problem on the Plains" was
the subject discussed by President Bless
ing. THE agriculture of the central
plains said he, in beginning his paper, lis
met by q problem of the greatest lmpor-
tance in the question what plants will best
supply food for the domestic animals of the
farm, and especially for the herds Of cattle
grown for beef or milk. Originally these
plains were covered with an abundance of
nutritious grasses. such as buffalo grass,
gramma, wild wheat grass, big blue-stem,
wild June grass. besides many less com
monty known; but as the herds of domestic
animals have increased the wild grasses
their places. This disappearance of
ss s tn
tain them for their nutritious forage.
While these grasses could endure the crop
ping and tramping of the buffaloes and
antelOpes. they gave way to the far more
~
ers' cattle and horses confined in small
fields" DIR. Blessing said the problem was
increased by the dryness of the climate,
.Aeelayation of the plains, which range
and the character of the soils. On the CEN
tral plains there are now known to be con-
siderably over one hundred species of ma
tive grasses.
of Seed corn for Grain and Fodder" was
presented by Prof. William r. Lazenby, of
Columbus o., secretary of the society.
THE most obvious lesson from the eight
year test of the distribution of seed-cOrn."
said the Professor, lis that for the best re-
suits, both in grain and fodder, the COM
mon method of sowing or planting is
faulty, in that far too much seed is used.
1t is safe to say that millions of dollars are
lost every year by this vicious practice.
Not only are thousands of bushels of good
seed corn wasted annually, but the far great
er loss is in the lessened value of the crop.
From two-thirds to one peck of seed corn is
wears ago it was a general belief and COM
mon practice to SOW from one and one-half
to two bushels of corn upon each acre
when fodder was tine object in view We
have certainly made some advance IN the
economical culture of fodder corn since the
introduction of the silO. The average an
nual area of corn grown in the United
States during the past five years
has not been far from 600; 600
valuation of s. per acre gives an aggre-
gate value of 5000. 100000. 1t is thus seen
that this crop, in an economical and COM
mercial point of view. overshadOws all
others.
Indian corn is the cornerstone of Ameri-
can agriculture. Nowhere else on this
planet can so much nutritious food be pro-
duced with so little labor as in the spacious
corn-tields of the great Mississippi valley.
Yet the average yield of corn per acre in
the United States during the past
five years is less than twenty-five bushels.
Certainly intOur soil and climate the culti-
walton, or, rather. lack of cultivation which
permits such results, is equally unscientifio
and unthrifty. Corn culture is an art to be
studied, learned and mastered. Among the
first requisites of any substantial progress
are the consciousness of ignorance and the
desire to improve. The results of the tests
and observations made at the Ohio Expert
ment Station upon the proper distribution
of seed cord are presented az a slight con-
tribution to our knowledge of the great
staple crop of our country"
A brief synopsis was read by President
Bessay of paper by DR.. L. l.. Sturtevant,
of South Framingham, Mass, past director
of the New York Experiment Station. on
"CucurbIta In American Germs" DR.. s. NJ.
Tracy, director Of the Mississippi Agricult-
ural Experiment Station. read short pa
per on The Requisite characteristics of
Forage Plants" After report from COM
mittee Oh the classification of wild grasses,
the society adjourned.
5t Officers Elected.
The Sociefv for the prOmofion of Uri-