130 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



rodite mutants of L. (lioica, and the obtaining' the following year the first 

 generation cross of these with females and normal males. In the present paper 

 data are presented of more than 100 families in which these hermaphrodites 

 were used, most of the families representing the second generation from the 

 originals. 



It is shown that the hermai)hrodite character is a modified male condition, 

 not due to the presence of an independent modifying character, but obviously 

 +0 a modified condition of the male-producing gene. This character is not 

 fransmitte<l by the egg, but only by the sperm. Among the offspring of these 

 hermaphrodites there have appeared a few^ normal males in such proportions 

 that they can only be considered as male mutants, since they also breed true 

 to their male character. The appearance of hermaphrodite mutants in families 

 produced from normal males and the appearance in turn of male mutants in 

 families produce<l by hermaphrodites suggest reversible modifications of a 

 single gene rather than the addition of one to those previously present, and a 

 subtraction of a gene from them. These results are held to have an important 

 bearing upon the " presence and absence " hypothesis. 



FIELD CROPS. 



The history of cultivated plants, L. Reinhardt (Kuliurgcschichtc der Nutz- 

 pflanzen. Munich, 1911, vol. 4, 1. half, pp. 738, pis. 90, figs. 51; 2. half, pp. 756, 

 pis. 76, figs. 35). — This volume forms part of a work published under the title 

 of Die Erde und die Kultur. 



The first part of the volume treats of the cereal grains, fruits, vegetables, oil 

 plants, sugar-producing crops, plants from which condiments are derived, plants 

 furnishing narcotic principles, and the organisms producing fermentation. The 

 second part is devoted to forage, fiber, dye, tannin, rubber, resin, perfume, drug, 

 and ornamental plants, and also treats of the species of trees serving as sources 

 of wood and lumber, the valuable desert plants, and the more important dis- 

 eases and insect enemies of cultivated crops. 



Theory and practice of plant breeding, H. Lang (Theorie und Praxis der 

 Pflanzenziwhtuitg. Stuttgart, 1910, pp. ¥111+169, figs. 7/7). —This book, in- 

 tended for practical farmers and students, discusses the following topics: The 

 technical equipment of plant breeders, propagation, variability, and inheritance, 

 selection, the breetling of special crops, including wheat, rye, barley, oats, fodder 

 beets, potatoes, maize, red clover, and tobacco, and the protection of the plant 

 breeder against illegitimate competition. 



Contribution to the history of wheat, the sugar beet, Jerusalem artichoke, 

 and potato, P. de Vilmorin {Rev. Gen. Agron., n. ser., 5 {1910), No. 8, pp. 

 289-305). — This address contains historical data on certain crops and citations 

 of French writings on the subject. 



Wyoming forage plants and their chemical composition, H. G. Knight, 

 F. E. Hepner, and A. Nelson {Wyoming Sta. Bid. 87, pp. 3-152, figs. J/'i)- — In 

 continuation of work previously noted (E. S. R., 20, p. 135), tables are given 

 stating the analyses of various grasses, sedges, rushes, and other plants col- 

 lected at different altitudes (4,100 to 11,000 ft.) in recent years, and miscel- 

 laneous analyses of barley, corn, emmer, and native hay. 



Analyses are reported for the following plants and descriptions given of many 

 of them: Bearded wheat grass (A^ro/)2/roji canrnttm), western wheat grass (A. 

 ocoidentale) , western couch grass {A. pseudorepens) , Scribner wheat grass (A. 

 scribneri), slender wheat grass {A. tcncrum), red top {Agrostis aiha), rough 

 hair grass (A. hyemalis). tufted bent grass {A. Iiuniilis), Colorado sand grass 

 {Andropogon hallii), little blue joint {A. scoparius), long awned aristida 



