474 



!ar results. Cotton-seed meal always gave tlie best results, and it was 

 thought that the uieal would pay, but the above results seem to prove 

 that it will not." The indications are " that the vegetable sources of 

 nitrogen are the cheapest and best for improving the canebrake lands, 

 and that fall plowing is very beueficial. The frosts, freezes, and winter 

 rains pulverize the soil, and it is in better condition for seed than when 

 plowed in the spring." 



Fodder imlling and cuiting tops (p. 8). — A number of experiments in 

 fodder pulliug and cutting the tops are reported. There was no per- 

 ceptible increase or decrease in yield where the tops were cut, but there 

 was an increase in yield where no fodder was pulled, averaging about 

 4 bushels per acre. When labor is hired to pull the fodder there is a 

 loss of $1.50 per acre and often more. 



Meteorological report (pp. 9-13). — A tabulated monthly sum- 

 mary of meteorological observations from August, 1889, to September, 

 1890, inclirsive; and of soil temperatures at depths of from 1 to 36 

 inches, from September, 1889, to August, 1890, inclusive. The report 

 on soil temperatures is in continuation of that in Bulletin No. G, of the 

 station (See Experiment Station Eecord, Vol. I, p. 188). "The monthly 

 means for the 2 years have varied very little, the drained land averag- 

 ing a very little higher than the undrained. * * * From the obser- 

 vations it seems as if drainage does not increase the temperature of the 

 soil at any season of the year enough to benefit vegetation." For 

 other reasons, however, the canebrake lauds should be thoroughly 

 drained. 



California Station, Bulletin No. 90, January 23, 1891 (pp. 4). 



The production of ramie, E. W. Hilgaed, Ph. D. (pp. 1-3). — 

 This article was written in view of the revival of interest in the culture 

 of ramie in California, growing out of apparently successful trials of a 

 new form of decorticating machine. 



The great beauty of the fiber aucl the almost unlimited commercial demand for it 

 when brought into the market in available form ; its adaptation to a great variety 

 of soils and clim.ates ; the high production, the perennial nature of the plant that 

 renders its culture very inexpensive; the possibility of easily maintaining the pro- 

 ductiveness of the soil by a return of the trash, placing ramie near to cotton (when 

 the seed is returned), as bearing very lightly on the soil's native fertility ; and finally, 

 the relatively high value and light weight of the merchantable product wheu 

 shipped— all these advantages concur in rendering the culture of this fiber plant 

 especially desirable wherever it is feasible. 



The " wet" and "dry" processes for separating and cleaning the fiber 

 are brieliy described, and it is stated that the latter — 



Is best adapted to a dry climate, in which the stalks and gummy bark become so 

 brittle that the breaking and beating is effective to a degree which it would be 

 impossible to attain in moist climates like those of Louisiana or Guatemala except by 

 artificial heat, which, as stated, is therefore generally used in connection with the 

 " wet " process. Hence the dry mode of working promises exceptional advantages 

 where, as in the interior of this State, the dryness of the summer air is proverbial. 



