732 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



farms on which the plan Avas followed. " Where the plan was strictly adhered 

 to the yield was double or more than double that secured from nearby fields 

 of equal soil characters and where the usual methods of corn culture were 

 practiced." 



Three different varieties of corn were found to have been used on these fields. 

 One variety, called Williamson corn, was gi'own on all fields except two, one 

 of which was planted to Marlboro Prolific and the other to a variety similar 

 to the Williamson corn. It was noticed that with the Marlboro Prolific the size 

 of ears and their number per stalk were apparently uninfluenced by the method 

 of culture. 



The peculiar or essential features of the Williamson plan are summarized 

 as follows : Deep and thorough preparsTtion of seed bed, deep planting, infre- 

 quent and partial cultivation in early stages of growth, an increase of 200 per 

 cent or more in the number of stalks per acre, postponing application of ferti- 

 lizers until coi'n is given its second cultivation, intentional retardation of early 

 growth of the stalk until its size is reduced i or i its normal development, 

 and following this augmented development of the ear by cultivation and 

 heavy application of fertilizers made at appropriate intervals. The corn 

 is planted 4 to in. below the soil surface and laid by 4 to G in. above the 

 leA'el, leaving the lower 8 to 12 in. of the stalk l)elow ground. It is suggested 

 that the brace roots iinder these conditions are probably better able to perform 

 their nutritive functions than when partly exposed. 



Tillering of the corn plant, E. G. Montgomery {Lincoln: Nebr. Acad. Sri.. 

 pp. 35-.'i2, pis. .'/). — The tillering of corn from a botanical viewpoint is dis- 

 cussed and the results of experiments previously noted (E. S. R., 17. p. 657) are 

 reported. This article includes the report of a study on the tillering capacity 

 of six different types of kernels. From 1,600 to 2,000 kernels of each type were 

 planted and it was found that of the kernels having large germs from 85 to 90 

 per cent produced tillers, while of the kernels with small germs only from 55 to 

 70 per cent tillered. 



The production of a new variety of maize, Zea mays var. pseudo- 

 androgyna, by traumatism and fixation, L. Blaringhem {Compt. Rend. Acad. 

 »S'ci. [Paris], l.'i3 (1906). Xo. 27, pp. 1252-125^). — In a teratological study on 

 maize the author found female flowers with the gyneceum surrounded Avith 

 abortive stamens, and he reports having isolated a stable variety with this 

 abnormal characteristic, which he named psevido-androgyna. The hermaph- 

 roditic character is considered purely morphological. 



The new variety was derived from a plant of which the stem was cut at the 

 base in July, 1902. The new sprout, which subsequently developed, produced a 

 tassel with the branches covered with fertile grains. Of the 28 plants grown 

 from this seed in 190.3, 20 showed the transmission of the abnormal character of 

 the tassel. These plants grown by themselves and protected from foreign pollen 

 gave rise to numerous forms, among them Zea mays pnrcox. Zea maifs 

 'psevdo-androgyna did not appear until 1904, when the hermaphrodism was dis- 

 covered. In 1905, 113 individuals from seed of this form transmitted this 

 character to 97 plants, and in 1906 the results led to the conclusion that this 

 variation was completely fixed. 



The author believes that the plant mutilated in 1902 is the origin of a family 

 marking a period in the progress of mutation and he concludes that violent 

 mutilations at the proper time are a very effective means of causing abrupt, 

 hereditary, and progressive variation. 



The Red Texas oats question: A statistical study, PI. F. Roberts (Indus- 

 trialist, 33 (1907), No. 16, pp. 2^3-253, figs. 5). — After Red Texas oats has been 



