No. 1, August, 1920J AGRONOMY 9 



51. Pltmen, F. J. Nitrate of soda as a manure for cotton. Agric. and Co-op. r, ;i /. 

 [India] 15 7 : 10-11. 1919. — Nitrate of soda is strongly recommended as a fertilizer for cotton. 

 Methods for application and instructions for storage arc given. — Winfield Dudg 



52. Poxsdomexech, J. Elementos quimicos necesarios a un terreno para cana. [Fer- 

 tilizer necessary for sugar cane.] Revist. Agric. Com. y Trab. 2: 489 493. 1919. 



53. Powers, W. L. The improvement of wild meadow and tule land. Jour. Amer. 

 Peat Soc. 13: 1S-25. 1920. Oregon has about 500,000 acres of such land. There are two soil 

 types — peat and silt loam. Its crop production can be greatly increased by regulating the 

 water supply by drainage and irrigation. — G. B. Rigg. 



54. Richey, Frederick D. Formaldehyde treatment of seed corn. Jour. Amer. S 

 Agron. 12: 39-43. 1920. — Seed corn was treated with solutions of 5, 15 and 25 cc. of formalde- 

 hyde per liter. The weakest solution did not materially affect the vitality of the seed while 

 the 15-cc. solution was injurious, as evidenced by the germination and development in sand. 

 The treatment with 5 cc. per liter was markedly injurious. Fungus development was best 

 checked by soaking the seed in a solution (5 cc. HCHO in 9.95 cc. of water) and "fuming" 

 the seed for 2-24 hours. This treatmsnt did not interfere with the normal development 

 of corn seedlings in water culture. — F. M. Schertz. 



55. Rixdl, M. Vegetable fats and oils. I. South African Jour. Indust. 3 : 14-23. 1920. 



56. Robsox, W. Cotton experiments. Report on the Agricultural Department, Mont- 

 serrat, 1917-18: 3-12. Imperial Department of Agriculture, Barbados, 1919. — Full account 

 is given of the breeding and selection work with this crop done by the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment. — J. S. Dash. 



57. Roemer, Tii. Die technik der Sortenpriifung. [The technique of variety testing.] 

 Illustrierte Landw. Zeitg. 39: 35-36. 1919. — As a result of experiments to determine the best 

 experimental technique in variety tests, the author considers the following as important 

 factors: (1) weather (2) kind of fruit (3) size of plats (4) shape of plats (5) number of replicate 

 plats (6) number of plats for comparison (7) situation of the plats with regard to one another 

 (8) treatment at harvest time. The field for the experiments should be carefully selected. 

 There should be at least six replicates of each plat. Care should be taken to give each plat 

 proper cultivation. The author also discusses the things to be considered in determining 

 the quality of the yield. Among these are size of grain, susceptibility to fungous attack, and 

 ability of the seeds to germinate. — John W. Roberts. 



58. Rosexfeld, A. H. Kavangire: Porto Rico's Mosaic Disease-Resisting Cane. In- 

 ternal Sugar Jour. 22: 26-33. 1920. — An account of the history and behaviour of Kavangire 

 in the Argentine is presented. — From investigations carried on for the purpose of combating 

 the mosaic or mottling disease of sugar cane in Porto Rico, it was found that of 20 imported 

 varieties there was one Japanese variety (Kavangire) which proved to be immune. This 

 cane was obtained from the National Agricultural School in Tucuman, which in turn obtained 

 the variety from the Experiment Station in Campinas, Brazil. When tried out at the Tucu- 

 man Sugar Experiment Station, it showed on first germination remarkable vigor, dark color, 

 high agricultural production, fair juice if left for late cropping, and extreme resistance to 

 fungous disease and attacks of boring insects. — It is a typically thin Japanese bamboo t}-pe 

 of cane, identical with the Uba variety of Natal and bears no relation to the Cavangerie which 

 is a large soft red cane with faint black stripes. Experiments were continued with the variety 

 under the name of Kavangire and a consignment of this variety was sent to the Federal Ex- 

 periment Station at Mayaguez, Porto Rico. — Being resistant to root disease, borer and stem 

 rot, and to frost, it requires less replanting than other varieties which reduces cost of pro- 

 duction. Experiments at Tucuman with Kavangire in comparison with native striped and 

 purple canes (Cheribon) show that the yield of cane per hectare as second, third, and fourth 



