630 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOKD. 



On sandy soil the quantity of water used to produce 1 gm. of dry substance in 

 the grains ranged from 440.5 gni. to 501.2 gui., while for potatoes the range was 

 from 58.4 to 61.4 gni. It is pointed out that the quantity of water transpired by 

 these i)lants stood in direct relation to the yield, and as the production of a crop 

 is largely dependent u])on the supply of available nitrogen in the soil, it is con- 

 cluded that the requirements for nitrogenous fertilizers and water Itear a rela- 

 tion to one another. 



The effect of injury to the spike and the stem of grains, C. Euerhart and 

 ri. iNlETZNEK {Fiililiinf'.s Laiidir. Zt</.. .jo (IHOU), Xo. .il. />/;. 109-~i25). — A previous 

 paper on this subject is reviewed and the results of later work are reported. 



It was found in worlc with barley that injury to the spike caused a decrease of 

 14 per cent in the yield of grain, the breaking of the stem in the first or upper 

 internode a reduction of 28 per cent, and a combination of the two injuries a loss 

 in yield of 38.5 per <?ent. The quality of the grain was also affected, an injury 

 to the spike, such as bending it out of shape, reducing the quality much more 

 than the breaking of the upper internode, although the combined action of these 

 two injuries reduced the quality to a greater extent than either one of them 

 a lone. 



The stems of spring rye were injured June 12 and 20 and July 17. The reduc- 

 tion in yield caused by these injuries varied from 21 to (!0 per cent. It was also 

 noticed in these tests that the breaking of the first or upper internode reduced 

 the yield nmch more than a similar injury to the second internode. 



Observations were also made on the effect of hail on crops of barley, oats, rye, 

 and wheat, and the reductions in yield due to injury to the spike and different 

 parts of the stem were determined and are reported in a table. 



Alfalfa seed testing, O. M. Ball (.Texas Sta. Bui. 81, pp. 15, pi. 1, figs. 3). — 

 Directions are given for testing the purity of alfalfa seed and the weed seeds 

 frequently found in it, together with seeds sometimes used as its adulterants, 

 such as bur clover and sweet clover, are described. 



In 1905 the station tested 32 samples of alfalfa seed obtained from the whole- 

 sale seed houses of the State. In these samples 30 different weed seeds were 

 found. The percentage of sand, trash, and broken seed varied from to 20 per 

 cent. Testing the vitality of the seed is also described. The results secured 

 with the 32 samples showed their vitality or germinating power to vary from 

 40.5 to 9(i.5 per cent, the greater number having a vitality of over 80 per cent. 

 The actual values of the seed samples in percentages varied from 39.0 to 96. 

 The results in detail are given in a table. 



Pirst report on the fertilizer experiments with brewing barley in 1906, 

 O. Reitmaib et al. {Ztschr. Landir. Vcr.s-uehsir. Osterr., 9 (1D<I6). No. 2, pp. 

 975-1002). — Cooperative fertilizer experiments are reported in which barley was 

 fertilized with super] ihosphate at the rate of 200 kg. per hectare for the pur- 

 pose of determining how the use of phosphate alone might influence the protein 

 content. 



The average protein content of the barley on the unmanured plats was 

 9.38 per cent, and on the manured plats 9.44 per cent, calculating the water 

 content of the barley at 14 per cent. Reductions in the protein content due to 

 the use of superphosphate were in most cases very unimportant. The protein 

 content of the barley grown on the plats was in most instances lower than that 

 of the seed used, the average for the crop being 9.53 per cent, while that of the 

 seed was 10.14 per cent. This is attributed to the favorable weather conditions 

 during the season of 1906, and it is believed that the weather conditions consti- 

 tute the greatest factor in determining the i)rotein content of barley. No rela- 

 tion of the protein content in the crop to the protein content of the seed used 

 was shown by the results secured. 



