336 KXPKHTMKNT STATION RECORD. 



(•liciiiit;il cuiiiiHisitioii. Its cliiiiiilc and soil requirements jire stated, together 

 with the fertilizers best juhxpled to its growth. Clioice of varieties, seed sele<-- 

 tion, and cotton brwding are discussed in full. Other topics treated are prepa- 

 ration of the soil, diseases, harvesting, ginning, baling, marketing, the i)rincipal 

 cotton markets of the world, and the extraction of oil from the seeds. The 

 food value of the various cotton-seed i)roducts ai*e stated in full. 



An extensive bibliography is appended. 



The production and commerce of the feather grass of Algeria ( If ill. Off. 

 Goiirt. <lrn. Ah/rric. UK)!). .Yo, ,?/, i^u/)., pi). I.il-I'iii). — This grass is iirincipally 

 used in the manufacture of paper of various grades and for various purposes. 

 Its natural geographical distribution is given, together with a list of the prin- 

 cipal countries to which it is exported. 



Report on variety tests of oats, R. P. Wright and A. N. M'Alpine ( West of 

 Scot. Agr. Col. Arm. Rpt., 9 {1909), pp. 37-77, 127-161, 167-193, 199-220).^ 

 Kxperinients were conducted with uniform station-grown seed on twentieth-acre 

 plats on 147 different farms, during the G-year period ended with the season of 

 lOOCt. The average yields of the 3 typical varieties tested were Banner, G6 bu. 

 of dressed grain per acre. Potato, 57 bu., and Sandy, 53 bu. 



In a test of 27 varieties conducted on 3.'J different farms, 429 iron frames 

 were used, these frames being bottomless and each enclosing a part of the field 

 in which 82 seed oats were sown at uniform distances and under uniform con- 

 ditions. "The produce of this miniature acre is intended to show the links of 

 connection between the variety of the oat and the acre yield of the crop." 

 The characters studied were the mortality of the varieties, their tillering power, 

 proportion of mature straws to barren shoots, straw length, straw bore, ear 

 length, and number of spikelets per ear. 



Studies based on about 2(X) samples of oats representing 20 varieties and 

 grown on 17 different farms, indicated that marks of good seed are (1) proper 

 weight per thousand seeds, and (2) assurance that the seeds have come from 

 jirolific ears or heads. A study of maximum and minimum weiglits per thousand 

 kernels of various varieties show^ed that among those designated as small oats, 

 the average weiglit per thousand kernels ranged from 21.8 gm. to 23.6 gm. 

 Among the large oats the range was from 25.4 gm. to 31.5 gm. Even for the 

 same variety of oat, however, higher bushel weight was found to be no guide 

 to higlier kernel weight, and manurial applications Iiad little effect on the 

 kernel weight. Data are also presented on the proportion of kernel to husk 

 and its relation to milling power. 



Potato breeding questions and observations, Arnim-Sciilagisnthin {Jahrcn- 

 hrr. Ver. Angew. Bot., 6 [1908), pp. 118-130).— The author discusses the be- 

 havior of the potato on crossing and observes that bud variations involving 

 morphological and accompanying variations result. Variable and fluctuating 

 characters and those which appear as a result of local influences may become 

 constant. A variety having red tubers produced, from cuttings, variants with 

 white tubers. Among other tendencies w^hich seemed to be transmitted was 

 that to a fixed form of leaf and to correlation between the colors of the blossom 

 and the tuber, the stem and the leaf, and the habit of growth of the plant and 

 its inner characters. Seedlings of the same cross showed a varying suscepti- 

 bility to disease. 



Potatoes: Cultivation, manuring, varieties, storing, and seed supply 

 in Bengal, F. SiiixH {Drpt. Agr. Bengal. Quart. Jour., 3 (IDOD), No. 1, pp. 

 1-12). — This article outlines experiments conducted since 1890, including fer- 

 tility, variety, planting and rotation tests, and experiments with storage 

 methods and on the use of potatoes of various sizes as seed. 



The influence of water content upon the value of beet seed, D. Hegyi 

 {Osterr. Ungar. Zt.schr. Zuckerindus. u. Landw., 87 {1908), No. 6; Zentbl. Agr. 



