FIELD CROPS. 831 



effectiveness of Irish find Bels^ian mills and Irish ami Belgian workers. A 

 heavier yield of sculclied flax was prothiced in the Irish mill, but the jirodnet 

 was of iinicli jiDorer (|iialily than liie llax woi'l^cd on a modified lielj^ian niill. 

 The test further indicated that better results could be produced hy Irish worlcers 

 in mills of a somewhat lighter type than those generally used in Ireland. It is 

 believed that for well retted straw a mill with a large number of light blades, 

 even as many as 12 on the round, is tlic most satisfactory. 



liilil>led straw gave u slightly better yield of scutched flax than unrippl(>d 

 straw. l{i|)pling gave a financial lialance of (is. !)d. i)(>r ton of green straw in its 

 favor. The practice is recommended iiarticnlai-ly for crops which have i)roduced 

 a large (luantity of seed. 



Half a ton <if Irish grown and dried straw was retted by each of the ^ Belgian 

 systems and by the Irish system for comparison. The; home system proved the 

 best as. while the (inality of the flax yielded by the straw retted twice in the 

 River Lys was highest, the increase in cost rendered the net returns lower than 

 those from straw steeped in Ulster. 



Investigation on correlation in fodder beets, II. Maas {Landiv. Jahrb., 

 .].'} (IHOd). \(). '/, PI). S'i-113). — The metliod of carrying on this investigation Is 

 described and the data secured are given in tables. 



The results show that the percentage of sugar witliin the varii'ty decreased 

 as the weight of the beet increased, but the rate of increase was not the same 

 so that the total quantity of sugar was more dependent upon the quantity than 

 upon the quality of the beet. Dry matter and sugar content increased regularly 

 together in different varieties as well as within the same variety, hut this cor- 

 relation is not regarded as a reliable measure of either the dry matter or the 

 «ugar content in individual beets, or of the average of these substances in a 

 number (if them. The percentage of sugar in the beet increased with the per- 

 centage of siigar in the dry matter. The sugar content of the dry matter was 

 found to be about 50 per cent when the fresh beet contained from 4.8 to 5 per 

 cent. 



Beets low in leaf area were characterized hy a high content of dextrose. No 

 correlation was api)arent between the content of ash, nitrogen, crude fiber, and 

 fat and the dry matter or the sugar content of the beet. In comparing vari- 

 eties it was found that these substances in connection with an increase in sugar 

 decrease in the dry matter, while they increase in the fresh beet. The quantity 

 of foliage increased with the quantity of the roots. It is stated that the per- 

 centage relation of foliage and roots is determined largely by the season, the 

 jiercentage weight of foliage decreasing with the weight of the root in dry sea- 

 sons and increasing 'With the same in years of greater rainfall. The aiithor 

 considers the leaf area as a regulator of transpiration of high importance in the 

 fodder beet. While leaf area and leaf quantity are connected, there is no close 

 correlation between these 2 factors. Close planting produced a thinner leaf but 

 a stronger leaf stem than wide i)lanting. No connection between leaf thickness 

 and sugar content could be determined. 



Native forage plants and their chemical composition, N. E. Wilson, S. C. 

 DiNsiioKE, and I*. B. Kennedy {A'er«(7« t)ta. Bill. O'i, pp. .'/l, pis. 13, fi(js. 9). — 

 This bulletin presents the results^ of a chemical study of 12 species of grasses 

 and 14 species of h(»rhaceous plants, conducted with a view to determine^ the 

 quality of the various plants for forage. Each species is described and its analy- 

 sis given in a tal)le. 



Farm practice with forage crops in western Oregon and western Wash- 

 ington, P.. IIiNTER (Orcfjoii Hill. Hill. HI. pp. .'lO. fii/s. .',). — This bulletin is 

 identical with bulletin !)4 of the Bureau of IMant Industry (E. S. R., 18, p. 221)). 



