Experiments at Botanical Gardens.

A very important and unusual series of experiments is now being carried on in the Botanical Gardens by Mr. L. A. Scott '04, on forcing plants with alkaloids. Dr. Johansen, of Copenhagen, discovered that by treating certain dormant shrubs, or plants out of season, with ether, and then forcing them in a hot house, they would flower from eighteen to twenty days before the usual time. With this end in view Mr. Scott has performed a series of experiments with other alkaloids on different plants, with general success. He found that by treating the cotton plant with ether, it germinated before the control, or normal condition of the plant, and finally blossomed two weeks ahead of the usual time. On the other hand, although the antiseptic causes the celery plant to germinate more quickly, in the end there is no distinct advantage. The theory is that while the plant is dormant it is in a period of rest which the alkaloid artificially increases, so that a shorter period of time is required to reduce the period of dormancy to a hypothetical minimum. As soon as that point is reached the plant commences to germinate.