Vol. VIII. No. ISS. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



215 



SUPPRESSED AND INTENSIFIED 



CHARACTERS IN • COTTON 



HYBRIDS. 



The following are some of the conclusions arrived 

 at by Mr. O. F. Cook, Bionomist of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, in 

 a pamphlet with the above title: — 



When the different characters of cotton hybrids are 

 compared with those of tlie [laient plants, .some of tlieni are 

 observed to be intensified, while others are suppressed. The 

 character may be weakened or even sap[iressed in one series 

 of hybrids, and intensified in another series, as is shown by 

 the reduction of the bractlets and lint when the Kckchi is 

 crossed with Upland cotton, and the intensification of these 

 characters when Kt^kchi is crossed with the Eiiyptian plant. 



In the first generation of Egyptian and Kekchi hybrids 

 the intensification of the characters whicli give superiority to 

 the lint is .so regular that it may be possible to utilize it in 

 the connnercial production of high-grade fibre. 



Unfortunately this intensification, as also in the case of 

 other characters, tends to disappear in later generations, so 

 that hybrids with permanently intensified characters have not 

 been obtained. I'.ut if hybrid seed can be obtained in 

 .sufficient quantities, this fact should not stand in the way of 

 the commercial production of cotton from first generation 

 hybrids. 



It is also possible that the superior value of the lint and 

 the increased crop to be obtained from these hybrids would 

 justify the e.xpense of special metl]o<ls of breeding and 

 ciiltivation. 



BIRDS AND AGRICULTURE. 



In an article entitled 'Does it Pay the Fanner to 

 Protect Bii-ds,' in the YearJiuok of the United States^ 

 Department of Agriculture, a considerable amount of 

 information as to the usefulness of birds of different 

 kinds is given, and mention is made of the many ways 

 in which they may be encouraged and protected. 



The following brief notes are abstracted :^ 



Birds as a general rule are insect eaters, and they are so 

 persistent in pursuit of insects that they are important insect 

 enemies, and as such should receive all consideration and 

 protection from farmers. Insects are so numerous that the 

 amount of green vegetation necessary for their subsistence 

 is very great. If it were not for the birds, agriculturists 

 would suffer much more than they do at present from the-se 

 pests. Birds are particularly useful during an insect invasion, 

 a-", the more numerous the insect? , the more do the birds seem 

 capable of eating, and they devour not only the adult insects, 

 but the larvae also. At the same time, birds are not wholly 

 beneficial ; their good (pialities however, generally outweigh 

 their bad, and, on the whole, they must be considered as the 

 friend rather than the enemy of the farmer. Blackbirds, for 

 instance, destroy grain ; but, on the other hand, they consume 

 insects in such a wholesale way that the balance is strongly 

 in their favour. 



Sparrows, unlike most Ijirds, are not insect feeders. 

 Their cliief qualification lies in the fact that they are diligent 

 .seekers for, and devourers of .seeds of weeds, and their utility 

 depends largely on the amount of weeds and ivild land in the 

 vicinity. Unfortunately they do not confine their attention 

 to seecls of weed.s only, but often do much damage to grain 

 rrops. 



There are many ways of attracting birds to the farm 

 and about the farm house, one nf the most efhcient being 



a convenient drinking ami Ijathing place near the house. 

 Cats are responsible for a large number of deaths among the 

 birds, and the farmer who rightly counts birds among his 

 friends should see to the destruction of .stray cats, and the 

 adequate feeding of his house pets, and a reasonable restraint 

 on their raids on nests. 



For protecting crops from birds, the old methods of 

 a scarecrow, a dead bird hung on a pole, a white cord 

 stretched around a field, the drilling-in of .seed, and the tarring 

 of seed C(.)rn may be adopted. None of these should be em- 

 ployed e.xclusively or for too long a time in the same locality, 

 or they become ineffective. Fruit trees may be protected by 

 netting, or wild trees grown for the protection of orchards. 

 The gun should be the last method employed. Hawks, 

 crows, and even robins are often serious pests, the hawks 

 attacking poultry. Crows and robins, in addition to their fruit 

 and seed-eating habits, attack the nests and young of other 

 birds. After all other means have been tried without 

 success, it sometimes happens that one particular aggres.sor 

 in a locality can be identified, and its destruction, or that of 

 the principal offenders, may be enough to protect the poultry 

 yard or crop. It undoubtedly benefits the farmer to 

 protect birds, as it gives him an increa.sed profit on his crops, 

 and increased pleasure of living. 



The Barbados blackbird is so useful that attempts have 

 been made to introduce it into various places. The Marti- 

 nique blackbird, or Tick bird, is also very useful. 



MANURING WITH SUPERPHOSPHATE, 



AND THE PRESENCE OF LIME IN 



THE SOIL. 



Tbe presence of a sufficient t^uantity of lime in 

 a soil to which superphosphate is applied is an impor- 

 tant factor, since upon this depends, to a large e.\tent, 

 the manner in which the superphosphate is held in the 

 soil, and the degree to which it is available for the 

 growing crop. In his book ' The Soil' (2nd edition, 

 p.ige 220), Mr. A. D. Hall, F.R.S., Director of the 

 Rothamsted Experiment Station, thus refers to this 

 matter : — 



In an ordinary soil containing a sutRciency of calcium 

 carbonate, the application of soluble phosphoric acid, like 

 suuerphosphate, will chiefly result in the precipitation of 

 di-calcium or 'reverted' phosphate, wherever the solution 

 meets w^ith a particle of calcium carbonate. This di-calcium 

 phosphate is a compound easily soluble in ^veak organic acids, 

 or in water containing carbonic acid : hence the great value of 

 applications of superphosphate on soils rich in lime, for thus 

 a readily available jihosphate is very (juickly disseminated 

 throughout the ground in a state of fine division. 



( )n soils poor in calcium carbonate, the precipitation 

 will be chiefly effected by the hj'drated iron and aluminium 

 compounds, and the resulting phosphates are practically 

 insoluble in water containing carbonic acid, and but little in 

 saline solutions, or in weak organic acids. Hence applications 

 of superphosphate to such soils become much less available 

 to the crop, and should be preceded by a thorough liming of 

 the land. Even a subsequent liming on soils containing 

 phosphates of iron or alumina will help to bring them into 

 a more availalile form, because a double decomposition will 

 take place, resulting in the production of calcium jihosphate 

 and hydrate of iron. This reaction will proceed to an extent 

 depcnilent on the proportion of lime present in the medium. 



