228 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



structions for the iiroduction of alfalfa and sweet clover and gives results of 

 the application of lime to alfalfa. " From these yields it appears that an 

 application of 4 tons of limestone per acre gives larger yields than 2 tons per 

 acre, but that increasing the application to 6 tons per acre does not give a 

 further increase. . . . Sulphate of potash, used with 2 tons of limestone, gave 

 an increase for the first cutting, as compared with the yield of the corre- 

 s^ponding plats on which 2 tons of limestone were used without sulphate of 

 potash, but for the second cutting the reverse was true, with the exception of 

 two of the plats. ... 



"Another fact to be noted is that the difference between limed and unlimed 

 plats is not so great for the second as for the first cutting, the unlimed plats 

 all showing an increase for the second cutting, while the limed plats all show 

 a decrease. . . . The unlimed alfalfa contained only 2.06 per cent of nitrogen, 

 whereas the average for the limed alfalfa was 2.6 per cent. . . . The analyses 

 were made on the first cutting, and are calculated on the basis of 12 per cent 

 moisture content in the hay. As the best limed plats yielded 4 times as much 

 Lay as the unlimed plats it will be seen that the limed soil produced 5 times 

 as much protein as the unlimed soil." 



Some characteristics of barley kernels as variety constants, Opitz (Fiih- 

 ling's Landw. Ztg., 62 {1913), No. 24, pp. 866-875). — Conclusions are based upon 

 data collected on several varieties that were grown at numerous centers during 

 the period 1908-1912. It is noted that absolute weight was found to be a type 

 character, that protein content did not seem to be a type character, and that 

 percentage of glume was a type character of 2-row barley. 



Spineless cactus unsuited to Arizona, J. J. Thornber {Cal. Cult., 1^2 (1914), 

 No. 4, p. 104). — Notes are given showing the nonhardiness of the spineless cactus 

 under the temperature and moisture conditions of Arizona, and mention is 

 made of a Mexican variety that is much hardier than the Burbank varieties. 



A new forage plant, L. Misson {Criador Paulista, 8 (1913), No. 78, pp. 1694- 

 1700, figs. 8). — Descriptive and cultural notes are given for Chloris virgata, 

 and its value as a forage plant is discussed. 



On the application of veg'etative propagation in the breeding- of forage 

 plants, J. Vasters (Fiih ling's Landw. Ztg.. 62 {1913), No. 23, pp. 809-821, fig. 

 1). — ^After discussing the different methods of vegetative propagations, the 

 author gives results of experiments in the propagation of red clover by root, 

 stalk, and tip cuttings from which 26 per cent sent out rootlets. The root cut- 

 tings were the most propitious. 



On hard seed coats and fractured seed coats in the germination of clover 

 seeds, B. Steglich {Landw. Yers. Sta., 79-80 {1913), pp. 611-622).— Results are 

 given of a sudy of hard-coated red clover .seeds germinating under various 

 conditions, and of the effect on the seedling during germination in seeds that 

 fracture the seed coats during the germinating process. 



It is noted that germination in general took place in the field more slowly 

 and less energetically than in an artificial seed bed. The data show that up 

 to the fourteenth month after planting in the field 51 per cent of the hard- 

 coated seeds of a normal sample germinated, and that germination took place 

 more readily in clay and humus soils than in sand soils. When the hard-coated 

 seeds were separated and planted by themselves germination followed to only 

 30 per cent, due. it is maintained, to the lack of shading that was furnished in 

 the former case by the plants from the normally coated, early germinating seeds. 



Filter paper kept saturated at 40, 60, and 80 per cent proved a satisfactory 

 medium for the germination of hard-coated clover seeds for the purpose of 

 observing the fracture of the seed coat caused by much moisture. This, it is 

 claimed, produces an uneven turgidity resulting in a fracture which often 



