FIELD CROPS. 637 



about 15 bu. each. In a test of 14 other wheat varieties Gluyas produced the 

 highest yield, 28 bu. per acre. 



Report of Hedemarken county experiment station, 1910, W. Christie 

 (Ber. Hedemarkens Amis Forsoksstat. Virks., 6 {1910), pp. 58, pis. 3, figs. 5). — 

 The author reports the results of tests conducted during 1907-1910 of different 

 dates for planting potatoes, of work conducted in 1910 on the starch content of 

 potatoes, of storing potatoes, and of work with oats in 1909 and 1910. 



In the potato storage tests 2 piles of the General Cronje variety were made 

 1* meters wide by 3 meters long and as high as they would lie, none being 

 placed beneath the soil surface. Two other piles were placed in trenches 

 i meter deep, * meter wide, and 3 meters long, and piled as high above the 

 ground as they would lie. All were covered with 2 layers of straw alternating 

 with 2 layers of dirt. In the 2 large piles were stored 1,352 and 1,293 kg. of 

 potatoes, respectively, and in the smaller ones 632 and 611 kg. The larger piles 

 were ventilated at the surface of the ground and at the top of the pile, the 

 smaller ones being ventilated only at the top. The storage period extended 

 from November 1, 1908, to April 20, 1909. The temperature readings presented 

 for 10-day intervals showed a minimum for the period of — 23.9° C. 



On opening the piles only a few potatoes in the top layer were frozen, but 

 bacterial rot had spoiled considerable quantities, apparently because of the 

 moist condition of the potatoes when stored. In the large piles 43 per cent of 

 the tubers were sound as compared with 54 per cent in the small piles. In view 

 of the difBculty of getting the potatoes into storage sufficientlj' dry in the fall, 

 the author does not recommend the method tested but prefers the use of potato 

 cellars, the average expense of which he estimates at 1 krone per 100 kg. of 

 potatoes (12.2 cts. per 100 lbs). 



A comparison of strains of pure-bred Norwegian gray oats, white oats, and 

 Probsteier oats showed that the 3-kernel characteristic increases with the num- 

 ber of whorls, but comparisons of different strains of the same variety failed 

 to show that these characteristics stand in either a direct or an indirect rela- 

 tion to one another. The 3-kernel characteristic likewise increased with the 

 kernel weight per plant when comparison was made within the same pure-bred 

 strains, but no regularity was traceable between different strains of the same 

 variety. The author, therefore, considers the 3-keruel characteristic one that 

 gives information concerning the luxuriance of the individual plant only, and 

 not of the productiveness of the strain, so that he regards the characteristic 

 as of no value in making comparisons between strains within the same variety. 

 The kernel weight per plant gives much more certain information as to the yield 

 of the strains and may furthermore be determined considerably more easily and 

 more rapidly. 



Alfalfa in northwest Texas, A. B. Conner (Texas 8ta. Bui. 137, pp. 17, pi. 

 1, fig. 1). — These directions for producing alfalfa in northwest Texas and util- 

 izing it for hay, seed, and forage are based on farm experience in that region 

 and 5 years' experimental work by this Department and the Texas Station in 

 cooperation. 



The improvement of the Proskowetz-Original-Pedigree barley, E. von 

 TscHERMAK (Wiener Landw. Ztg., 60 (1910), No. 11, pp. 98, 99; abs. m Jour. 

 Landw., 58 (1910), No. 2, p. i37).— Since 1904 the author has grown Hanna 

 barley, a local variety, the value of which was first recognized by von Pros- 

 kowetz. An increase in tillering power, fineness of hull, and early maturity by 

 selection, spontaneous crossing, and by open blossom was observed. 



Red clover, J. M. Westgate and F. H. Hillman (U. S. Dept. Agr., Fanners' 

 Bui. Iioo. pp. Ii8, figs. 25). — It is thought that the data here summarized "will 



