1.2 54 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS.Chemistry of Vegetable Physiology and Agriculture.Glycogen in Ferments. By L, ERRERA (Hied. Cexltr.,1885, 549-550) .-Starch and glycogeii are widely distributed in vegetable organ-isms : the one in plants, the other in the ferments, bnt there are a fewcases when the appearance is exceptional, namely, of the first in theleaves of lStrelitzia and Mustz, of the other in Clnudopus varinbilis; alsoin a few cases they are totally absent, as in Monotropa hypopitys andXcleroderma vdgaae. The ordinary plants draw their carbon from theair, whilst the ferments obtain it from the soil or substratum. Starchis stored in the cells of the parenchym, whilst glycogen is found in thecells of the pseudo-parenchym, but both only appear in the growingcells, and disappear when growth is complete ; from this it is evident thatboth these substances afford the necessary material for the productionof the cells.Most seeds and spores contain oil, which in the one caseis converted i n t o starch, in the other into glycogen. Starch is absentfrom thick-walled cells, but is found in their neighbourhood; andgljcogen is absent from pnraphyts and completed crystals, and is tobe found close to thin-wa€led elements. Woody and leathery speciesare poor in glycogen, which is found in 39 out of 46 Basidiomycetee.Those plants and ferments poor in starch and glycogen are, however,rich in oil. E. W. P.Bitter Principle of the Cowberry (Vaccinium Vitis-Idea) .By E. CLAASSEN (Chem. News, 53, 78).-The bitter principle of thecowberry is shown to be identical with arbutin.The author pointsout that as arbutin is decomposed by boiling with most acids evenwhen they are much diluted, all acid shoul'd be neutraliscd beforeboiling when preparing it from bearljerries, otherwise some of theglucoside will be lost.B,y F. P. VENABLE(C12e.m. News, 52,172).-This shrub, the Yopon, belongs to the samegenus as the Ilexparnguaymsis, and the decoction of its leaves is alsoused as a beverage, and is very sudorific. The leaves have the follow-ing composition :-Water in air-dried sample, 13-19 ; extracted bywater, 26.55 ; tannin, 7.39 ; caffe'ine, 0.27 ; nitrogen (on combus-tion), 0.73; ash, 5.75. The ash on aualysis yielded the followingresults :-CaO.MgO. NqO. X,O. MnO,. Fe9O3. SO,, C1. P205. SiOp.10.99 16.59 0.47 87.02 1.73 0.26 2-50 0.66 3.34 1.32n. A. L.Analysis af the Leaves of Ilex Cassine.D. A. L,Analysis of Hyacinthus Orientalis, By A. TSCHIRCH (Bied.Centr., 1885, 551).-A fully grown sample of Hyacinths orientuiiscontainsVEGETABLE PHY SIOLOGT AND AGRICULTURE.Ashpercent.9 '3024.248125.3K20. Na,O.-----32.291 0 '6249.18, 0.85Water.. .......... 89.89 per cenh.Dry matter. ....... 10.11 ,,Ash .............. 8.5787 ,,Containing N. ..... 2.063 ,,Of the constituents of the ash, 46-97 consists of K20, solnble in water,and 16.94 C1,6*59 Na,O, whilst MgO is present to the extent of 7.219,insoluble in water; the ratio of insolubIe to soluble ash is 1 : 4.76.Comparing this ash with that of E.non scriptus, we find more sodapresent in the last, namely, €6.41, together with CaO 103.5, and C119.99. E. w. P.Caffetannic Acid, Citric Acid, and Quercitrin in VirginiaCreeper (Cissus Qinquefolia).. By T. L. PHIPSON (Chem. News,52, 65--66).--The extract obtained by soaking the leaves of thisplant in water is strongly acid, and citric, ceffetannic, and smallquantities of t4artaric acid hare been detected in it. If the extract issaturated with sodium carbonate, and evaporated t o a syrup, sodiurnviridate is formed. When the extracted leaves are treated withdilute soda a large proportion of quercitrin is dissolved before anychlorophyll is taken up. D. A. L.By R. HOHN- Mineral Matter in the Seeds of Forest Trees.Mn3O,.BERGER (Bied. Centr., 1885, 552-554).P,O,.--Elm......Ash ......Horn b earn.Maple ....Birch ....Pine .....CaO. MgO.Larch 2 -076 '34 * 68 1.25* * * . I I I23.7321-7735'6227-6623.771'632.41---6.276'577-825-829-2014-2212.810.322 . M2.492.782.051.830.09-Fe,O,.--3 -240.895.692-948.912.101-3011-2214.2814.1610.8935-7734.1515.21-sos.--4-869-063-935-274.804.454-09-SiO,.--13.941 . 2 95.056-188-9416-005.88Generally speaking, the seed contains less lime but more phosphoricacid, magnesia, and potash than the rest of the tree. E. W. P.Ensilage. By Sir J. B. LAWES (Agricultural Ga.zette, 188.5, 2, 13,93, 117).-These papers contain the results of the feeding experi-ments with the ensilage whose manufacture and composition werefully detailed in former numbers (this vol., p.1088). Two sets offeeding .experiments were made-one with a iiumber of fatteningbullocks, and the other with milch COWR. The results of the latterexperiment will be described first, since a description of its methodand scope and of the rations given has already appeared in the pre-vious Abstract. Very elaborate tables giving the weekly weights ofmilk yielded by each of the 40 cows during the whole course of theexperiments and €or the three previous weeks, and also the exactquautities of food given each week, &c., are contained in the original4 p papers, but the broad results can alone be given here.The principleof the first set of experiment8 was to feed half the cows on weighed1-stions of oilcake, bran, hay and ratraw chaff, and mangels ; and withthe other half to try the effect of replacing the 80 or 90 lbs. ofmangels given daily, by 50 lbs. of red clover silage, estimated to con-tain an equal quantity of dry food. This programme was adhered toas nearly as the nature of the experiment allowed, with the followingresults :-Over the whole experimental period of 13 weeks the averageyield of milk of the cows receiving clover silage was 25 Ibs. 12 om. perday, against 27 lbs. 5 ox. yielded by the cows receiving mangels. Thiscorresponds with a difference over the whole period of 14 gallons perhead, or of 281 gallons in the lot of 20 cows, in favour of thoseq-eceiving mangels.The cows fed on the clover silage drank an averageof 12 gallons more water per head per day than those fed on the moresucculent mangels. On the other hand, all the silage-fed cows whoremained to the end of the experiment had increased in weight,whilst the mangel-fed cows had on the average lost weight. At theclose of the 13 weeks (March 14, lSSS), the expeziment was varied bythe gradual substitution of meadow-grass silage for clover silage-therations of the mangel-fed cow8 remaining the same, For the firstweek grass silage and 2 clover silage was given ; then half and halffor a week ; and €or the next four weeks grass silage only, One effectof this change was that some of the food supplied to the silage-fedcows remained unconsumed ; so that at first less chaff had to be given,then less silage, and, finally, a little mange1 had to be given instead ofsome of the chaff and silage to all of the cows in this lot.The grasssilage, it will be noted, contained a larger percentage of dry matter,and especially of woody fibre, than the clover silage. During thesix weeks of tae experiment, the grass silage-fed cows gave an averageof 2 lbs. instead of 39 lbs. less milk per head per day than the maiigel-fed cows, and they fell off in yield towards the end of the experimentlcss than the mangel-fed cows. The silage-fed cows in this experi-ment Eost weight on the average, whilst the mangel-fed cows gainedweight. Probably the improved relative yield of milk in the grasssilage-fed cows wa0 obtained at the expense of the lice weight storedup during the previous experimental ration of clover silage.Regularanalyses of the milk were made during the course of these experiments,and from the results it appears that the milk of the mangel-fed cowscontained on an average 12-27 per cent. of the total solids, of which3.45 was butter fat; the milk of the silage-fed cows contained 11.93per cent. of total solids, of which 3.24 was butter fat.As regards the experiment with fatting oxen, ten of these animalswere carefully selected, and on the 19th of December weighed anddivided into two lots-as nearly dike as possible in every respect.One lot of five was to receive 65 lbs. clover silage per head per day ;and the other lot 12 lbs.of clover-hay and 50 Ibs. of swedes, estimatedto contain together as much dry food as the 65 lbs. clover silage. Inaddition to this, both lots received 6 lbs. oil-cake and 4+ lbs. barley-meal per head per day. The experiment, lasted 16 weeks and 9 days,and the beasts were weighed at, the beginning and end, and a t twointermediate periods. The total quantity of dry substance consumeVEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AXD AGRICULTURE. 125767.6032'40100-00---4.424.4;1'1251-771.9427-978'33--by each lot was, on a.n average, 24-25 lbs. per head per day, and thequantity of contained nitrogen was practically the same in the twocases.Taking the result for the whole period-whether we compare thetotal increase in weight, the average increase per head, the increaseper head per week, or per 1000 lbs.live weight per week-there is avery close agreement between the two lots ; the one receiving cloversilage, and the other very nearly the same quantity of dry substancein clover-hay, chaff, and swedes. The silage has slightlj the advantage,but the difference is not more than might be expected in two lots ofoxen fed on precisely the same food. Both lots did remarkably well,the silage-fed oxen giving an average increase of rather more, theothers of raither less than 18 per cent. of their live weight per meek.Sir John Ilawes makes the following remarks on the differeilce inthe cropping of the farm necessary to produce clover silage, or, as analternative, clover-hay and swedes, in the proportions given in theabove experiment>s. Afairly good crop of red clover, cut twice, wouldweigh about 10 tons per acre in the green fresh state ; and, accordingt o the results with No.1 silo, this would yield only 74 tons of cloversilage; so that it would require €32 acres to produce the 65 tons ofsilage. The 10 tons of first and second crop green clover would makeabout 2) tons of clover-hay ; so that it would require 42 acres to pro-duce the 12 tons of clorer-hay. There would remain 4 acres for theproduction of the 50 tons of swedes. 3. M. H. M.73-8526-15100~00 ----7'032-810 9645.795-34!28-0510'.02 --__Report to the Chemical Department of the Highland andAgricultural Society. By A. P.ATTKEN (Trans. H. and A . Xoc.,1885, 17, 397-424).-The following analyses of ensilage aregiven :-Water ........................Solids ........................7--Solids (dried st 100" C.)AlbuminoIds ..................Non-albuminoi'd nitrogenous ma!,-ter ........................Sugar ........................Other soluble carbohydrates .....Ether extract.. ................Woody fibre ..................Ash ..........................Acidity reckoned as acetic acid.. .1.--63 -1036.90100.00----3 -961 '223 -8238'244 -5038-0410 '22loo -00---0 -482.--80 -9019'10100-005 -183 *503'2427 *2114 -4336 -3510 -09100 *oo1 *25--3.76.7023 -30100~005 -G63.702 '7436.659 '1832 -389 *694. 1 5.1238 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMlGAL PAPERS,73'1026.90100~005.692-872.0541.557'1432.608-10100~00 ---Water............................Solids ........................ 82-1517.85 Hay --- --100~00 - -----10.15 3-452-18 2.235.72 2.7735-31 4J.285.77 0.5731-03 38569-24 11.14100'00 100~000.34 --------- --Solids (dried .at 100" C.)AlbuminoYds ..................Non-albumindid nitrogenous mat-ter ..........................Sugar ........................Other soluble carbohydrates .....Ether extract.. ................Ash ........................... Woody fibre ....................Acidity reckoned as acetic acid. ...6.--75 -6124.39100 -00------8.622 '020 *4947.794 '8926 -499.70100 "001-97----7.I 8. 1 9. 10.--Hay ----3 *290.442.5433 *546 *0446'018 -14100 -00--No. 1. Grassss. Slightly fermented ; colour light-brown ; odourpleasant.No. 2. Cocksfoot and meadow fescue, plantain, and white clover ;wet, dark-green, and sour.No. 3. Rough meadow-grass, sweet vernal, and Yorksliire fog,&c. ; pnle-brown, pleasant odour.No. 4, Porkshire fog, bent grass, plantain and otlier weeds;fruity odour, not acid.No. 5. Red clover, rye-grass, Yorkshire fog, and wheat-straw ;sweet smelling.No. 6. Oats and vetches ; sour, but not unpleasant smell.No. 7. Rge-grass and clover ; sweet vernal, wood-rush, and a fewother weeds.No. 8. Red clover and Italian rye-grass, cut in blootn, and even-tually preserved.Nos. 9 and 10.Grass from which silages Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 weremade. No. 9 chiefly poor Timothy; No. 10 more bent grass, sweetvernal, clover, and weeds.The author remarks that the sweetest smelling and best preservedsilage is generally made of the poorer grasses and weeds.Experimental Bean Crop of 1884.-Beans were grown in 1884 onthe plots deroted to manurial experiments on an ordinary rotation ofcrops, on land not dunged for 10 years, and each plot of which hasreceived the same mannre year after year since the experiments com-menced. Tn the ordinary course, rye-grass and clover would have beenthe 1884 crop ; but as this gave a poor result in the previous rotation,beans were substituted, and an excellent crop was obtained, and somevery valuable information elicited as to the effect of certain manureson this crop.There were 40 plots in all ; but from the results, whicVEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY AND AQRICULTURE. 1959are tabulated in detail, the following specimens are selected whichembody general conclusions drawn from the whole series :-Plot 3. Ground copvolites, with sodium nitrate and,, 4, Dissolved coprolites with sodinm nitrate andpotash salts.. .........................,, 11. No phosphates with sodium nitrate and,, 12. Bone ash alone .........................,, 16. Dried blood with superphosphate and potashsalts.. ................................,, 17, No 7vitroge.n with superphosphate and potashsalts. .................................,, 18. Sodium nitrate alone ....................,, 19. Potassium sulphate with superphosphateand sodium nitrate ....................,, 20.Potassium chloride with superphosphateand sodium nitrate .....................,, 21. n70 potash with superphosphate and sodiumnitrate. ...............................22. Potash salts alone.. .....................1: :::} Unmanured ...........................,, 3821. Like No. 3, but, 2 cwt. “supersulphate oflime ” in addition.. ....................potash salts.. ..........................potash salts ..........................,,Grain peracre.lbs.2239a7552636300249626583642649290331316305023216--Straw peracre.lbs.100815689241008168018485541680145625258829418744The soil was a stiff clay.Probably on almost all soils potash saltsare the most important constituents of bean manures.ExperirnentaE Barley Crop of 1883.--The crops yielded by $he severalplots were submithed t o analysis, and the results are discussed in con-nection with the yields per plot reported in last year’s Transactions.The general conclusions arrived at are :-Nitrogenous manures are the most essential. The quick acting ones(sodium nitrate and ammonium sulphate) are the best, and are bestapplied as top dressings, not later than three or four weeks after thedate of sowing. When the top dressing is put on too lahe the qualityof the grain is lowered and the harvest retarded-although there n i a ~be an increase in grain and straw.Nitrogenous manures increase theproportion of albumino’ids in the grain. Phosphatic manures are next,in importance ; but unless employed in a quick acting condition, andin conjunction with nitrogenous manures, they produce lithle effecton ordinary land. * J. M. H. M.Feeding Value of Various Roots. By A. MAPER (Bied. Centr.,1885, 338--540).--0f various mangolds grown, the largest crop masproduced by Golden Tankard seed, the money d u e also per hectareof this sort was higher than that of any other sort; in fact nearlydouble that of Mammoth. As regards the value of the individua1260 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS.roots, Giant Yellow was found t o be the best quality, closely followedby Golden Tankard and Yellow Globe. The values employed were 34pfennigs for albumin and fat, and 8* for sugar, &c. Giant Yellowyielded juice of the highest density, 10.7". E. W. P.Evaporation of Water into the Atmosphere. By MASUREFarmyard Manure. By A. AUDOYNAUD and E. ZACHAREWLCZ(Ann, Agronom., 11, 33?-345).-From several new analyses of theauthors, compared with the well-known ones of Bonssingault, thefollowing conclusions are drawn :-The excrements of the horse and cow contain, on an average, in1000 parts :-(Ann. Agronom., 11, 289-308 ; 345-366).Horse. cow.Nitrogen. ........ 15.21 10.50Urine .... P,05 ............ traces tracesPotash ........... 9 -24 13-60Nitrogen ......... 5.58P,O, ............. 3.50Potash 1-00 excrements ..........4.352-200.42The quantities excreted per diem are-Horse. cow.Nitrogen .................... 155.6 grams 212 gramsP,O, ........................ 513.5 ,, 32-4 ,,Potash ...................... 53.8 ,, 133.7 ,,The diet, unless very exceptional, modifies these figures onlyslightly. A diet poor in nitrogen diminishes the quantity of urea inthe urine, but does not influence the proportion of potash. A dietrich in potash does not sensibly influence the proportion of this alkaliin the urine or feces, the surplus being eliminated by the cutaneousexcretion of herbivorous animals. The coat of the horse especiallycontains large quantities of potash, which are to a great extentremoved every time tbe animal is groomed. J. M. H. M