236 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



extremely weak in the straw. Of the varieties having a 5-year record, Ten- 

 nessee White Fultz, Winter King, Red Cross, Gluten B 86, Beechwood Hybrid, 

 and Buda Pesth ranked first in the order given and their yields exceeded the 

 yield of the standard variety by 27 bu. for Tennessee White Fultz and by 9.4 

 bu. for Buda Pesth. 



Notes on winter-wheat culture ai-e given, the value of crop rotation, and the 

 relative effects of fertilization in good and poor wheat seasons are pointed out. 

 In rotation experiments, which have been in progress on the university farm 

 for 18 years, the continuous grain-growing plats in 1906 gave an average of 20.6 

 bu. per acre, as compared with 26.6 bu. per acre for rotations with clover. A 

 rotation of corn, oats, wheat, and clover gave an average return for the 3 last 

 wheat crops of 21.1 bu. per acre, while a rotation of corn and wheat gave but 

 16.9 bu. In the fertilizer experiments it was observed that the beneficial effects 

 were very much greater in the poor seasons than in the good seasons, and that 

 the average gains produced were 5 bu., or 116 per cent greater. 



The flinty condition of wheat, F. R. Ferle {FiihUng's Landio. Ztg., 55 

 (1906), No. 14, pp. 402-Jf9.'f) .—Two samples of flinty wheat which had been 

 brought from the vicinity of Algiers in 1898 and kept in ordinary glass bottles 

 were sown in the spring of 1905. These samples showed a germination of about 

 30 per cent. In the crop produced by one of the samples the normally devel- 

 oped grains were all flinty, and in the other sample the degree of flintiness was 

 even greater than in the original seed. The author points out that while a 

 reduction of the vegetative period through the lack of moisture and with an ex- 

 cess of light and heat wheat has a tendency to become flinty, the greatest and 

 most important factor in the production of flinty kernels is inherent in the va- 

 riety and is transmitted. He further states that a variety of a flinty character 

 will retain its flintiness for a long time, even if grown under conditions unfavor- 

 fPble for the production of flinty grain. 



HORTICULTURE. 



[Horticultural investigations in Alaska], C. C. Georgeson (U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 Office Expt. 8tas.,BuL 169, pp. 27-39; 51-54; 58-60; 63-65; 66-91, i)ls. 2).— 

 Notes are given on the results secured at the Alaska experiment stations lo- 

 cated at Sitka, Copper Center, Rampart, and Kenai, in the culture of various 

 vegetables, orchard and small fruits, and flowers. Large quantities of seed 

 were distributed to all parts of the Territory, and the reports of many persons 

 who planted these are incorporated. 



Report of the horticulturist, H. C. Henricksen (Z7. 8. Dept. Agr., Office 

 Expt. Stas. Bid. Ill, pp. 23-41, pis. 2). — This is the I'eport of the horticulturist 

 of the Porto Rico Experiment Station for the year 1905. It gives a general 

 outline of the work done at the station during the year with citrus fruits, pine- 

 apples, mangoes, rubber, vegetables, and about 50 miscellaneous tropical plants. 



Beport of the horticulturist, F. A. Waugh (Massachusetts Sta. Rpt. 1905, 

 pp. 4'ii~49). — Further notes are given by the author on the behavior of the 

 winter-injured peach trees receiving (1) no pruning; (2) moderate pruning; 

 (3) severe heading back, and (4) cutting back to stubs or dehorning (E. S. R., 

 17, p. 248). 



The general conclusion of the preceding year, that moderate pruning is to be 

 preferred for winter-injured peach trees, still stands, " though the severely 

 pruned trees made a relatively better showing under the stress of a good crop 

 of fruit." The results of the experiment, as a whole, indicate that when the 

 wood has been injured by freezing peach trees should be moderately pruned, 

 removing not more than one-third to one-half the previous year's growth. 



