No. 1, November, 1921] AGRONOMY 3 



briefly reviews the work of the section for previous years and reports on the results of variety 

 tests of barley, rye, wheat, oats, and beans for the year 1919-20. — .4. /. Pieters. 



14. Miller, M. F., and R. R. IIudelson. Thirty years of field experiments with crop 

 rotation, manure and fertilizers. Missouri Agric. Exp. Sta. Bull. 1S2. 43]). 1921. — Results 

 of Missouri rotation experiments for 30 years, beginning with 1888, are reported, and all yield 

 data are detailed in an appendix. The rotations included: (1) Corn, oats, wheat, clover, 

 timothy, timothy; (2) corn, oats, wheat, clover; (3) corn, wheat, clover; and (4) wheat, clover. 

 In addition, each of the crops was grown continuously on the same land. All cropping systems 

 were used both with a manure application of G tons annually and with no fertilizer treatment. 

 Also, commercial fertilizers were used on many of the plots. — In general, crop rotations gave 

 better yields than were secured from crops grown continuously without rotations, and the 

 4-year rotation, — corn, oats, wheat, clover, — gave best results. Crop rotation without 

 manure was practically as eilective in maintaining the yields of corn and wheat as was heavy 

 manuring without rotation. INIanure was more effective than heavy chemical fertilizers in 

 maintaining the jield of corn and grass in rotations, but the reverse was true in the case of 

 wheat and oats. Soil analyses at the end of 25 years indicated that the most important factor 

 in the soil exhaustion was the loss of nitrogen and organic matter. The supply of nitrogen in 

 the continuous culture plots without fertilizer or manure was reduced most rapidly by corn 

 and least rapidly by timothy. The supply of soil nitrogen was much more effectively main- 

 tained by heavy applications of barnyard manure than by heavy applications of chemical 

 fertilizers. Continuous cropping to grass reduced the supply of soil nitrogen less than crop 

 rotation. — L. J. Stadler. 



15. Popp, M. Siisspressfutter aus Duwockgrass. [Sweet silage from Duwockgrass.] 

 Mitteil. Deutsch. Landw. Ges. 36: 301-302. 1921. — Duwockgrass, Equisetum palustre, is 

 poisonous if fed as new hay but can be ensiled and the ensilage used with safety and profit. 

 The author believes that the poisonous alkaloid, equisetin, which is known to be very unstable 

 at higher temperatures, is destroyed by the heat due to fermentation. — A. J. Pieters. 



16. Root, A. I. Still another new sweet clover. Gleanings in Bee Culture 49: 302. 

 1921. — Notes are given on varieties of sweet clover (Melilotus alba). — /. H. Lovell. 



17. Root, A. I. The new annual sweet clover. Gleanings in Bee Culture 49: 374. 1921. — 

 It has been proposed to call the new annual sweet clover "Hubam clover." — /. H. Lovell. 



18. RuDKiN, S. Harvest report. Nyngan experiment farm. Agric. Gaz. New South 

 Wales 32: 391-392. 1921. — Yields are given of wheat and oats from large fields of the experi- 

 mental farm. — L. R. Waldron. 



19. Saunders, C. E. The effects of premature harvesting on the wheat kernel. Sci. 

 Agric. [Canada] 1 : 74-77. 1921. — The author gives an account of part of his work on the early 

 cutting of wheat in 1917. One hundred heads of previously marked Marquis wheat were 

 gathered every 2nd or 3rd day from July 21 to Aug. 15 in 4 groups according to length of straw 

 retained. The average weight of 1,000 kernels from heads with 3-inch straw was practically 

 the same as from that of full length straw with roots, owing to the very rapid drying of the 

 straw. Taking into consideration the daily growth in weight of 1,000 kernels and the mean 

 daily temperatures, it is shown that the period of greatest daily gain occurred from July 25 to 

 Aug. 2, with a normal maximum on July 29. It would appear, therefore, that in ordinary 

 Ontario summers there would be little loss to the wheat crop if cut about a week before the 

 ordinary date and allowed to ripen in the stook. — B. T. Dickson. 



20. Shepherd, A. N. Farmers' experiment plots. Grain trials, 1920. On and adjacent 

 to Murrumbidgee irrigation areas. Agric. Gaz. New South Wales 32: 393-395. 1921.— Trials 

 with wheat were conducted cooperatively with 4 farmers, no irrigation being practiced; the 

 varieties used were not the same for the 4 farms. In fertilizer trials, superphosphates gen- 

 erally caused marked increases in yield. — L. R. Waldron. 



