A 



FIELD CROPS. 431 



small and too lon.u before plantiiip. lack of care of the cut seed, and a dry 

 spring and cool weather after planting. The work is in cooperation with the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry of this Department. 



Results obtained from inoculating- soy beans with artificial cultures, E. B. 

 Frki) {]ir!/iiii<i Std. Rjit. niOS. itji. UiO, 131, JHj. 1). — The data presented here 

 show that inoculated soy beans after soy beans i)roduced 0.03 ton of hay and 

 3.34 bu. of seed more than wheu the crop was grown without inoculation under 

 the same conditions. After spring oats the corresponding figures were 1 ton 

 of hay and 6.67 bu. of seed. Oats on inoculated and uninoculated soil gave 

 practically the same yield of straw, but there was a difference of 2.81 bu. of 

 grain i)er acre in favor of inoculated soil. 



The role of the oxalates in the g-ermination of beet seeds, G. Doby {Landic. 

 Vers. Stut., 10 {1909), No. 1-2, pp. 15o-15S).— Work along this line by other 

 investigators is briefly reviewed, and the results secured by the author are 

 t^-eported. The data show that during the process of germination calcium 

 oxalate remained unchanged, while the basic water-soluble oxalates still remain- 

 ing in the seed after soaking entirely disappeared, no trace of them being found 

 In the new growth. 



The evaporation of water by sugar beets, P. Slezkin {Zhiir. Opuitn. Agron. 

 [Russ. Jour. Expt. Laiidw.]. 9 (1908), No. J,, pp. JilJt-J,S2). — In a culture test 

 at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute sugar beets were found to evaporate 337 gm. 

 of water per gram of dry substance produced. In a field experiment in which 

 a plat containing 59 sugar-beet plants was covered with cement, allowing only 

 the plants to project, a yield of 26.946 kg. of sugar beets was secured, while a 

 plat containing 78 plants cultivated in the ordinary way produced 16.144 kg. 



Progress of the beet-sugar industry in the United States in 1908, C. F. 

 Saylor {V. S. Dcpt. Agr. Rpt. 90, pp. Ui). — This twelfth annual report on the 

 beet-sugar industry in the United States discusses lines of future progress, 

 including the production of the largest tonnage, the growing of high quality 

 beets; increasing the use of by-products, the production of high quality beet 

 seed ; methods of cultivation and soil management, and the use of improved 

 implements and machinery ; reports on the disposal and use of by-products ; 

 presents field and factory results by States ; lists the beet-sugar factories of 

 the country ; presents statistics of the sugar industry ; points out the prospects 

 of the industry in the various States; and compares the merits of cane and 

 Ijeet sugars. 



The area planted to beets in 1908 exceeded that of 1907 by 20.000 acres, an 

 increase of over 5 i)er cent, but unfavorable weather conditions caused an area 

 of 56,389 acres or 13.4 per cent of that planted to be abandoned. The acreage 

 harvesteil amounted to 364,913 acres, or nearly 2 per cent less than the 

 harvested acreage in 1907 and about 3 per cent less than that of 1906. In 

 1908 there were in operation in the United States 62 factories, the average 

 yield of beets per acre was 9.36 tons, the beets worked amounted to 3,414,891 

 tons, the quantity of sugar manufactured 425,884 tons, the average extraction 

 of sugar based on the weight of beets was 12.47 per cent, the average sugar in 

 the beets 15.74 per cent, the average purity coefficient being 83.5 per cent, and 

 the average length of campaign 74 days. In addition to these data, statistics 

 on the world's production of sugar and the development of the German beet- 

 sugar industry from 1836 to 1906 are shown in tables. 



Varieties of cane, D. W. May (Porto Rico Hort. News, 2 (1909), No. 7, 

 pp. 1,.2). — This ai'ticle is a general discussion of varieties of cane in Porto 

 Rico and includes brief statements with reference to variety tests made at the 

 I'orto Kico Station. 



