394 



THE AGIIICULTURAL NEWS. 



December 12, 1908. 



GERMINATION EXPERIMENTS WITH 

 PARA RUBBER SEED. 



It is well kiiDun that the geiiiuiiativi' eajiaritv ni 

 thesecd o( Hevea hnisilU'iisiv is IVeqiipntly (li.-a|ip(init- 

 ing, more especially in iiie case ot !-auiples that ha\e 

 undergone any lengthy i'lnrney in i lansporlation from 

 <jther countries befoic being sown. The leMilts of 

 experiments carried out in Ce\ Ion to test the germinat- 

 ing power of various sain[iles of Para rubber seed should 

 therefore prove of interest. 'I'ese trials are described 

 in Circuhii' No. II — Vol. /T, i-ssiied from the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Ceylon. 



The inve.stigation yielded the very definite result that 

 in a few weeks the .-eed.s lose their power of gerunnating. 

 Seeds from untapped trt-e.s failed to germinate after being 

 kept for three or four weeks. Seeds from trees that had 

 already been tapped for rubber sjiowed a higher percentage 

 <.if germination, and somewhat better keeping properties than 

 tho.se from the trees which had never undergone tapping ; 

 otherwi.se they .were .smallei:, than the seeds from initapped 

 tree.s, and Wduld pie.-uinat>lv vield less oil if they »'ere 

 crushed for that )iuipo>c 



MAIZE BREEDING IN THE 



UNITED STATES. 



: 'Ten Generations of Corn Breeding ' ia the title of 

 an interesting bulletin (No. 12!S) lately issned by the 

 Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station. In this 

 pamphlet are brought together the results of a long 

 series of experiments in corn selection and breeding that 

 have been carried on at the Illinois Station since 1890. 



A single variety only, known as 'Illinois' corn, \\as 

 employed at the .start, and in working towards the improve- 

 ment of the variety, the results of chemical analy.sis of the 

 grain were adopted as the basis of seed selection. It was 

 found that although tjiere is a wide variation in the chemical 

 composition of dilferent ears of tjie same variety of corn, vet 

 a single ear is approximately unifonn tlirciughnut in the 

 chenncal composition of its kernels. 



In carrying otit these experiments in seed selection and 

 breeding, the officers in charge set before themselves 

 the object of develnping and lixing four separate strains 

 from the original variety. 



la line strain .seed selection was annually continued 

 with the object cif increa.siiig, so far as possible, the protein 

 {or albuminoid) content of the grain. In llir nutritiun of 

 man and animals protein is the most ex[iensivo of all food 

 constituents, and stock-Tireeders especiallj- realize the value of 

 a food with a high protein content. 



A second strain was bred fnr the purpose of decreasing 

 so far as possible the [irotein content, oi-, in other words, to 

 increa.se the projiortion of starch. This line of work was 

 taken up as there is a demand from the manufacturers of 

 st<trch, ginn, dextrin, and alcohol for a grain rich in carbo- 

 hydratt's, and conseipiently with a low proportion of protein 

 matter. 



Strains .'' and I of the maize were bred i-cspectively, 

 for niaxinunn and nduimum content of oil. .Maize oil 

 ha.s now found such a wide commercial use tliat it has 

 become, jionnd for pound, by far the most vahtablo constituent 

 of the grain. < )n the other hand, there is a practical use for 

 a corn with a low oil content, since in feeding swine, for 

 instance, the oil in maize tends to produce a flabby quality 



<if flesh, which is> very undesirable. The object of breeding 

 corn for a decreased oil content i.s therefore apparent. 



The four strains of corn under experiment were, of 

 course, grown every yearlirTour .sei)arate seedbeds. No 

 artificial hybridization was attempted, but pollination from 

 sources outside the particular plot was prevented, .so far as 

 possible, by every available means. On the other hand, self- 

 pollination was prevented by ' detas.selling ' the plants in 

 alternate rows, and selecting seed only from the deta.s.selled 

 maize plants. 



Tlie work reported upon in the bulletin under considera- 

 tion has certainly been attended with satisfactory results. 

 Starting with a variety of maize of average composition, it 

 has been found possible to increa.se the average i)rotein con- 

 tent of strain No. 1 from 1092 to 14-26 per cent., to decrease 

 the average protein content of strain No. 2 from 10-92 to 

 S04 per cent. : with strain No. 3 to increase the average 

 oil content from 4-70 to 7-37 per cent., and with strain No. 4 

 to decrease the average oil content of the grain from 4'70 to 

 2 66 per cent. In other words, out of a single variety of 

 corn, two strains have been developed,_of which one is now 

 almost twice as rich in protein as the other, and two other 

 strains have been developed, one of which is now nearly three 

 times as rich in oil as the other. 



In the course of the work, variations among individual 

 ears were found, ranging in protein content from 6-l;i per 

 cent, in the low pr<jtcin strain to 17-79 per cent, in the high 

 protein strain, and in oil content from 1 -GO per cent, in the 

 low oil strain to 8-.59 jjcr cent, in the high oil strain. 



It is mentioned that selection for high protein content of 

 the grain is ajiparently accompanied by a reduction in the 

 total yield. In the other strains, the yields for the most part 

 have been maintained, in spite of the rigorous selection for 

 the special chcniical characteristics. 



RENOVATING WORN-OUT LAND. 



The progress that was made during a period of three 

 years in building up a worn-out cotton plantation in Arkans;is 

 into a profitable stock and forage producing farm is described 

 in Fnnn"i:i' liidlrtin .i.'d of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. The cultivation of cowpeas and other legumin- 

 ous crops [jroved the chief agent in the restoration of 

 fertility, while careful cidtivatioii and the ai)plication of 

 artificial manure assisted the work. 



In 190.'), the estate produced |-l>ale of cotton, and I't 

 l)Ushels of corn per acre ; in 1901), after a crop of cowj)eas 

 liad been cultivated, it laodiu-ed J,-bale of cotton and 37i 

 bushels of corn per acre, and in 1907, after a secoml crop of 

 cowpeas, J-bale of cotton and 34 bushels of corn were grown 

 to the acre. On a portir)n of tlie land, a crop of cowpeas was 

 grown, and 300 lb. of mixed artificials were applied. This 

 resulted in nearly J-bale of cotton per acre, and wlien cowpeas 

 were grown continuously for two years, nearlv 1 bah' of 

 cotton per acre was ])roduced. 



Deep plougldng wa> jiractised, and the corn and cotton 

 were ]ilanted in rows at right angles to each other, cultivation 

 being carried on both ways. The cowpeas were grown in 

 rows 3 feet 6 inches ajjart. 



From a plot one-tenth of an a^re in area at the St. Kitts 

 l^xperiment StatitjJi, l,(i.i0 lb. of onMfi.s, of the while Hernnida 

 variety, were obtained last .soasoni The seed was first sown 

 in luirsery beds, and the young .seedlings were transplanted 

 out when about a niontli old. 



