FIELD CROPS. 543 



is very short in cliaractor, whicli (>liixiinatos to a large degree the danger of 

 lodging. 8(inarehead Master, grown at Garforth for 10 years, shows practically 

 no sign of deterioration. Dulnth, tlie Canadian wheat now tested for 5 years, 

 has not given promising resnits. 



Experimental wheat fields, 1908-9, F. E. Lf:E (Jour. Dcpt. Agr. Victoria. 

 7 (1909), No. 3, pp. JSH-l-'iO, fig. i).— Conii)arative tests with varieties of wheat 

 for the term of 4 years have shown that Federation Is a better yielder than 

 Dart Imperial, the difference in its favor for this time being from 2 to 3 bu. 

 per acre. 



Experiments with small-celled wheat plants, V. Kolkunov {Reprinted 

 from Khozi/aistvo, 1908, No. 27-2S; ahs. in Zliur. Opuitn. Agron. [Russ Jour. 

 Expt. Lanilic], 10 (1909), No. 1, pp. 106, 107).— Vot experiments were made 

 with plants of varions varieties of wheat differing in the size of the cells. The 

 soil in the pots was kept low in humidity, the moisture being only 35 per cent 

 of the total water holding capacity. It was found that the plants having 

 larger cells, and which, therefore, evaporated more water, gave lower yields 

 than the more xerophilous or those with smaller cells. With sufficient humidity 

 the results were reversed. 



Wheat selection, E. A. Ma^jn (Jour. Dept. Agr. West. Aust., 16 (1908), No. 

 If, pp. 262-271, i)Is. 12). — The wheat improvement work in Australia is reviewed 

 and a number of varieties developed by two different breeders are described 

 and illustrated. The examinations made of these wheats showed that the 

 strength of the flour is not always in proportion to the percentage of gluten but 

 that it depends moi*e upon the quality. For instance, Alpha containing 13.45 

 per cent of gluten did not produce so strong a flour as Huguenot containing 

 only 9.48 per cent. 



Koernicke's key for the classification of varieties of cereal crops, C. 

 Flaxksbergek (Trudui Bijuro Prikl. Bot., 1 (1908), 3-.'f, pp. 95-137). 



The breeding of agricultural plants, C. Fruwirth (Die Zilchtung der 

 LandicirtschaftlicJicn Kulturpflanzen. Berlin, 1909, vol. 1, 3. ed. rev., pp. XX-\r 

 335, figs. 33).— This is the third revised edition of this volume (E. S. R., 19, 

 p. 427), and is devoted to a general discussion of plant breeding. 



The breeding of agricultural plants, C. Fruwirth (Die Ziiehtung der 

 Landivirtschaftlichen Kulturpflanzen. Berlin, 1909, vol. 2, 2. ed. rev., pp. XV-\- 

 228, figs. 39). — This second revised edition of this volume (E. S. R., 19, p. 427) 

 treats of the breeding of the following crops : Corn, fodder beets, rnta-bagas, 

 kale, carrots, chicory, rape, mustard, sunflowers, poppies, and a number of the 

 more important grasses. 



Agronomic habits of rootstock producing weeds, W. J. Spillman and J. S. 

 Gates (Proc. Soc. Prom. Agr. Sci., 29 (1908), pp. 57-66, figs. 9).— The studies 

 given in this article relate to Johnson grass, Bermuda grass, and quack grass. 



With reference to Johnson grass, it was found that rootstocks remaining in 

 the soil at the end of the season send growtli to the surface the next season, but 

 do not themselves branch and send out other underground bi'anches. When the 

 new growth arrives at the surface, a new rootstock forms a crown, develops a 

 new set of fibrous roots, and sends new rootstocks off into the ground. The 

 formation of new rootstocks begins about at tlie time of blossoming. 



It was also discovered that if the grass is cut back close to the ground, and 

 not allowed to blossom during the season, the rootstocks remain slender and 

 very near the surface of the ground, so that practically all of the underground 

 growth *can be turned up by a very shallow plowing. This method of treatment 

 ai)pli('d to quack grass and Bernnida grass will have similar results. The evi- 

 dence secured is taken as showing that these rootstock grasses, when weakened 



