526 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



described, and their origin as mutations from tlie Egyptian variety Mit Afifi 

 is noted. 



riant breeding worli in Arizona, whicli began 12 years ago with importeil 

 seed of the ^lit Afifi variety, has through " persistent selection of the best 

 plants caused some improvement in earliness and productiveness and in the 

 quality of the fiber, but the progress was not very substantial prior to 1908, 

 in which year two tyi^es very different from the Mit Afifi were recognized and 

 isolated." 



" If the tendency to produce mutants is a result of remote or complex 

 hybridization, the mutability of Egyptian cotton might be accounted for 

 upon either of the following grounds: (1) The supposed hybrid origin of the 

 type as a whole, or (2) later crossing with other types of cotton. Ever since 

 mutation became recognized as a factor in the breeding of Egyptian cotton the 

 following methods have been followed in Arizona : (1) Recognition and isolation 

 of desirable mutants; (2) selection and comparison on the progeny-row basis 

 of those individuals among their progeny which express most fully the desir- 

 able characters of the new type; (3) elimination from the seed-increase fields, 

 preferably before blossoming begins, of the aberrant and otherwise undesirable 

 individuals." 



A bibliograi)hy of 21 titles is appended. 



The deterioration of Eg'yptian cotton, K. Snell (Jahresher. Yer. Angew. 

 Bot., 11 {1913), pt. 1, pp. 9-13). — Methods of cultivation and crossing with the 

 Hindu cotton are given as causes for the deterioration noted. 



Studies in Indian cottons. — I, The vegetative characters, H. M. Leake 

 and R. Prasad (Mem. Dept. Agr. India, Bot. Ser., 6 {1914), A"o. 4, PP- 115-141, 

 pis. 22). — This discusses studies on the vegetative characters of Indian cotton, 

 and includes nionopodial and sympodial types, pollination, color of the corolla, 

 eye of the petal, red coloring matter in the stip, leaf factor, type of branching, 

 and length of vegetative period in their relation to field culture and commercial 

 value of the crop. Many of the data are reported in tabular form. 



Fibers from various sources {Bui. Imp. Inst. [So. Kensington], 12 {1914), 

 No. 1, pp. 32-45). — Results of tests are reported of fibers of jute, Malachra 

 capitata, Urena lobata, Sida, Rama, sisal, aloe, and "Crowa" from India, 

 Nigeria, Federated Malay States, Bechuanaland, and British Guiana, and of 

 paper-making material made from the Nipa palm and Scilla rigidifolia from 

 the Federated Malay States and South Africa. 



Experiments in Hungary with, hemp seed from Asia Minor and from 

 Italy, K. Gaszner (Koztclelc [Budapest], 24 {1914), ^o. 4, p. 84; ahs. in Inter- 

 nat. Inst. Agr. [Rome], Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 5 {1914), ^o. 

 3, p. 360). — This notes the superiority of Asiatic hemp over Italian in yield 

 and length in a 3-year test. 



Sexual inequality in hemp, O. F. Cook {Jour. Heredity, 5 {1914), No. 5, pp. 

 203-206, figs. 2). — This notes the appearance at the Virginia Truck Station 

 near Norfolk of a great inequality in oil-seed hemp plants. The male plants die 

 while the females grow vigorously under the same conditions. 



"Another peculiarity of the oil-seed hemp is that the lateral fruit-bearing 

 branches have extremely short internodes. analogous to those of the so-called 

 cluster varieties of cotton. The shortening of the fruiting branches may also 

 be connected with the earliness and productiveness of the crop, from which high 

 yields of seed are obtained." 



Investigations on hops, J. Schmidt {Compt. Rend. Lah. Carlsherg, 10 {1913), 

 Nos. 2, pp. 233-25J, figs. 4; 3, pp. 267-283, pis. 2, figs. 2; abs. in Nature [London], 

 93 {1914), ^0. 2321, pp. 199, 200).— This paper consists of two parts. 



