325 



data arc given for 36 varieties tested ; for a fertilizer experiment in 

 ■which cotton-seed meal, acid phosphate, kainit, and mnriate of pot- 

 ash, singly and in combination, and stable manure, were compared with 

 each other and with no manure; for an experiment in which whole pota- 

 toes and one-eye and two-eye cuttings were planted ; and for field tests 

 of seeds of different varieties obtained from different i)arts of the United 

 States. Stable manure and complete fertilizers gave the best results. 

 Whole potatoes gave larger yields than the cuttings did. Southern 

 seed gave better results than that from other sections. A small experi- 

 ment in planting pieces of potatoes cut ten and five days before plant- 

 ing and on the day of planting gave results slightly in favor of cutting 

 on the day of planting. 



Georgia Station, Bulletin No. 9, October, 1890 (pp. 48). 



Potash and paying crops (illustrated). — A reprint of a compila- 

 tion iirepared by the German Kali Works. 



Indiana Station, Bulletin No. 32, July, 1890 (pp. 22). 



Treatment for smut in wheat, J. C. Arthur, D. Sc. (pp. 3-9). — 

 The publication of an article on smut of wheat and oats in Bulletin 

 No. 28 of the station (See Experiment Station Eecord, Vol. I, p. 207) 

 has served to bring information regarding the prevalence of smut in 

 different parts of the State: "The stinking smut of wheat (Tilletia 

 fcetens) is far more common than heretofore suspected, and has been 

 especially abundant over a considerable portion of the northern part in 

 the State during 1890. A loss of one half of the crop in certain fields 

 has not been uncommon, and a careful inspection shows many fields 

 affected where it was not supposed to occur." 



Experiments at the station in the treatment of the seed of wheat with 

 sulphate of copper and with hot water, as recommended by Jensen, 

 are reported. Tabulated data are given, showing the effects of hot 

 water at temperatures ranging from 51° C. (125° Fah.) to 75° C. (165° 

 Fah.) on the germination of wheat seed immersed from 3 to 15 minutes. 



The limit of vitality proved to be at 150° Fall, for 5 iniuntes, uo germinations being 

 obtained at the .same temperature when continued 10 minutes, or at the higher tem- 

 peratures used in the experiment. * » • Tlio lots ranging from 135^ Fah. for 10 

 minutes and upwards were injured to some extent by the treatment, none of them 

 showing as large a total for either the first 24 hours or for the whole time, as the un- 

 treated seed. The injury to those treated at 135° Fah. for 10 minutes and at 140° 

 Fah. for 5 minutes amounted to about 20 per cent, and to considerable more for the 

 more strongly treated. 



More complete experiments with oats, not yet published, have shown that the 

 number of germinntions during the first day holds a more important relation to the 

 harvest than the total germinations. Assuming this to be true in the case of wheat, 

 we find that the seed treatel at 130- Fah. for 5, 10, and 15 minutes, and at 13.^^ Fall, 

 for 5 minutes, were materially benefited by the treatment, showing from 1.2 to 4.7 

 per cent advantage over the untreated. • • * 



