436 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



MarcJi, in09, and not cut for hay during that year had made a growth of 2 ft. 

 by March 16, 3910, and of from 12 to 15 ft. by May 4. 



Report of assistant botanist, J. Belling {Florida Sta. Rpt. 1910, pp. 

 LXXIX-XCII, figs. 6). — These pages report the results of an attempt to secure 

 a hybrid that would combine the thin unopening liull of the velvet bean with the 

 Lyon bean's smooth pods which do not have the objectionable stiff irritating 

 bristles. 



In 1908 velvet bean flowers were fertilized with Lyon bean pollen. The pollen 

 parent is thought to have been grown from seed received from the Philippine 

 Islands. All pods borne by the hybrid plants grown in 1909 had so many loose 

 irritating hairs that there was trouble in harvesting them, and they could be 

 shelled comfortably by hand only after the bristles had been brushed off under 

 water. 



The author presents in parallel columns the principal characteristics of the 

 velvet, Lyon, and hybrid beans and in tables statistical data showing the stand- 

 ard deviation and coefficients of variation of the length, breadth, and thickness 

 of the bean, the length and breadth of the strophiole, and the coefficient of cor- 

 relation between (1) length and breadth. (2) breadth and thickness of seed, 

 and (3) between length of seed and length of strophiole. His conclusions fol- 

 lowing this data are briefly summed up as follows : 



" The hybrid plants seem to derive the color of their 3 upper petals, the 

 length of the bristles on the pod, and the thickness of the seeds from the velvet 

 bean ; while the stiffness of the bristles on the pod, the opening of the pods, the 

 length and stoutness of the pods, and the length and breadth of the seeds seem 

 to come from the Lyon bean. The mottling on the seeds of the hybrids varies 

 from thickly mottled, like the velvet, to unmottled with veins like the Lyon, but 

 the hue of the colored patches is a lighter brown than on the velvet bean. 

 Whether these characters are truly dominant can only be told when the next 

 generation shows whether they segregate or not. The coefficients of variation 

 in the hybrid seeds are no greater than those of the seeds of the 2 parent strains, 

 except as to the mottling. 



" The close agreement of the length and breadth of the hybrid seeds with 

 those of the Lyon bean, and of the thickness with that of the velvet, may 

 possibly be genetic, or may be due to special conditions of gi'owth." 



Progress reports are given of an investigation of the causes of the premature 

 falling of persinunons, the sugar content of the juice of West Indian cane, and 

 corn breeding work. Of tlie 5 cane varieties tested " B. 208 was the earliest 

 and ripest cane, and its juice gave 17.3 per cent of cane sugar by the polari- 

 scope " in October, 1909. Three kinds of field corn and 3 of sweet corn were 

 sown with the reddish yellow West Indian corn from Cuba in the hope of 

 selecting from the second and following generations types combining good ears 

 with the sturdier constitution of the Cuban corn, its supposed resistance to the 

 corn worm, and its considerably greater adaptability to the climate of southern 

 Florida. 



[New Jersey experiments with field crops], F. C. Minkler (Neio Jersey 

 Stas. Rpt. 1909, pp. 43-55, pis. 4)- — In a test of 3 varieties Silver King yielded 

 65.7 bu. of corn per acre, but in fodder yield was excelled by Boone County 

 White with 13.2 tons. The average cost per ton of growing and harvesting 

 alfalfa hay was $5.34 and of mixed hay $4.82. The cost of growing corn and 

 cowpeas for silage was $2.61 per ton, while that of cutting the crop and filling 

 the silo was $1.30 per ton. 



Brief statements are also given of work with rye, wheat, oats, and peas. 

 Japanese barnyard millet, cowpeas, flint corn, cabbages, and turnips, alfalfa, 

 and fertilizers for silage corn and other crops. 



