FIELD CROPS. 833 



The combined influence of the 2 units gave a more pronounced spread to the 

 whorls of the panicle than either of the units acting by itself. 



Manuring of oats and mangels, B. Dyer and E. Parke {Agr. Gaz. [London \, 

 75 (1912), No. IDSo, p. 55). — In a fertilizer test with oats on a heavy clay soil, 

 poor in phosphoric acid but sufficiently rich in available potash, the highest 

 9 years' average yield, 66^ bu. of grain per acre, followed the use of 3 cwt. of 

 superphosphate and 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda, as compared with 57* bu. after 

 3 cwt. of superphosphate and 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda, 49f bu. after 3 cwt. of 

 superphosphate alone, and 40i bu. on the check plant. On the same soil an 

 application of 4 cwt. of superphosphate and 6 cwt. of nitrate of soda was fol- 

 lowed by an 8 years' average yield of 43 tons, 11 cwt. of mangels as compared 

 with 37 tons, 2 cwt. after the use of 4 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 4 cwt. of 

 superphosphate; 32 tons, 1 cwt. after 2 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 4 cwt. of 

 superphosphate; 24 tons, 15 cwt. after 4 cwt. of superphosphate alone; and 

 17 tons, 15 cwt. of mangels on the check plat. 



Test of different rates of planting rye and potatoes, Bieler (Illus. LandiD. 

 7Ag., 31 {1911). No. 98, p. 905).— After 2 years' tests of sowing rye at rates 

 ranging from 40 to 70 lbs. per morgen (from 63 to 111 lbs. per acre), the 

 author concludes that the rate of seeding may safely be reduced to 40 lbs. per 

 morgen. In case of potatoes the use of small tubers required 500 kg. per 

 morgen (1.743 lbs. per acre), while the use of medium and large tubers required 

 900 and 1,500 kg., respectively. The crop produced by the large tubers was 

 somewhat greater in the case of 2 of the 3 varieties and somewhat higher in 

 starch content in each case. The experiments will be continued. 



Stack-building at Wagga Experiment Farm, A. P. Fuller {Agr. Gaz. N. ^. 

 Wales, 22 {1911). No. 9, pp. 741-747, pis. 2, figs, ii).— Directions are given for 

 stacking grain in accordance with the methods followed at the Wagga Experi- 

 ment Farm. 



Chou moellier {Jour. Neic Zeal. Dept. Agr., // {1912). No. 1, pp. 25, 26, 

 fig. 1). — Chou moellier stood rough and unfavorable weather better than corn, 

 millet, soy beans, mangels, carrots, or cowpeas planted in the same field. It 

 also did well " in a field where humus was practically nonexistent." 



Productive power of red clover from different sources, P. Liebau (Illus. 

 Land ID. Ztg., 31 (1911), Nos. 2//, pp. 233, 234; 25, pp. 246, 247).— A test of red- 

 clover seed grown in England, Fi-ance, Russia, Hungary, and various provinces 

 of Germany was conducted at the Agricultural High School at Dahlem in 

 1909-10. Seed from each source gave a much higher yield during the second 

 year it was grown in the new locality than during the first. 



Romance of a clover, D. McDonald (Gard. Chron., 3. ser., 49 (1911), No. 

 1262, p. 139). — The author notes that a plant of the strawberry clover (Trifolium 

 fragiferum) accidentally introduced into the colony of Victoria proved " much 

 more drought resisting than the ordinary species known to farmers." 



Crossbreeding of maize and the Mendelian theory, G. A. Pfister (Jour. 

 Nat. Hist, and Sci. 8oc. West Aust., 3 (1911), No. 2, pp. 98-101).— The author 

 reports the results of some experiments in crossing maize for the purpose of 

 securing a type adapted to ensilage purposes. Although he does not regard 

 maize as a suitable plant for Mendelian experiments, he states that the parent 

 plants in this case were from seed which had proved constant through many 

 generations, and that fertilization took place in separate rooms, where there 

 was no possibility of casual pollination through wind by other maize plants. 



The varieties used were White American Horsetooth (W. H.), Ninety Days 

 maize (N. D.), and Peruvian maize (P. M.). In the first crosses, W. H.XN. D. 

 and W. H.XP. M., W. H. proved dominant and the other varieties recessive. 

 The Fi generation of the W. H.XN. D. cross was an early ripening variety of 



