FIELD CROPS. 135 



both oats and barley at the rate of 18U lbs. per acre. The fertilized plat of oats 

 yielded 24.17 bu. of grain and 1,637 lbs. of straw, and the check plat 26.27 bu. 

 of fjrain and 1.G02 lbs. of straw per acre, while the fertilized barley plat pro- 

 duced 35.21 bu. of grain and 1.5!>4 lbs. of straw, and the unfertilized plat 17.69 

 bu. of grain and Sll) lbs. of straw per acre. In another series of experiments 

 with commercial fertilizers a combination of the fertilizei's gave practically no 

 better results than the application of each on separate plats. A crop of cow- 

 peas 1 receding the oat crop but not plowed under for green manure was much 

 more effective in increasing the yield than the use of counnercial fertilizers. 

 Applying commercial fertilizers at different rates on poor upland soil proved of 

 very little effect in increasing the crops of grain, whether applied in small or 

 large quantities. 



Spring emmer was tested for 3 years, one variety received from a Kansas 

 seed firm giving an average yield for the 3 seasons of 28.46 bu. per acre, while 

 another received from the North Dakota Experiment Station produced 31.35 bu. 

 per acre. Fall seeding of emmer with the purpose of producing a winter variety 

 proved unsuccessful. Seeding emmer at the rate of 1.S7 bu. per acre through the 

 use of an ordinary grain drill set to sow 2^ bu. of barley per acre produced the 

 lax'gest yield as compared with other quantities. A yield of 2,571 lbs. of spelt 

 per acre is also recorded. 



The varieties of flax producing the largest average yields in 1905 and 1906 

 were as follows: Conmion flax No. 14, 11.58 bu. ; U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture No. 9982, 10.82 bu. ; North Dakota No. 155. 9.78 bu. ; North Dakota No. 

 709, 9.15 bu. per acre. The best average yield of grain was secured by seeding 

 at the rate of 3 pk. per acre. The thickest sown flax, 5 pk. of seed per acre, 

 produced the largest quantity of straw, 4,723 lbs. per acre. The next largest 

 yield, 4.633 lbs., being obtained from the plats seeded with 3 pk. per acre. A 

 brief note on flax culture in Kansas is also given. 



A preliminary progress report of cereal investigation, 1905-1907, G. W. 

 Shaw {CaJifoniia Sta. Circ. 28, pp. Ji). — The object of this work is to discover or 

 produce such wheat as will yield the largest profit per acre and supply grain of 

 superior milling (piality. to conduct similar experiments with oats, barley, and 

 other cereals, and to determine the effects of various methods of culture and of 

 changes of environment upou the growth of cereals and particularly the wheat 

 kernels. 



The act passed by the State legislature to provide for the improvement of the 

 cereal crops of California is given, and the arrangements for the work and the 

 plan of operation are discussed. The grains introduced into California in con- 

 nection with this work and not before grown in the State are listed. With the 

 exception of corn and a very few varieties of other grains the entire list of varie- 

 ties was planted at Modesto and Yuba City, the 2 field stations established for 

 these investigations. 



Cowpeas and soy beans, L. A. Moorehouse (Oklalioma Sta. Bui. 7'/. pp. 22, 

 flux. 5).- — General descrii)tious of the cowpea and the soy bean are given and 

 their value, especially in crop rotations, is pointed out. 



Rotation experiments with these crops have been in progress at the station 

 for several years. One rotation included corn, oats, and wheat and cowpeas, 

 covering a period of 3 years, wheat and cowpeas being taken from the land in 

 one season. In this test the plats receiving barnyard manure at varying 

 intervals gave an average yield of 3.23 bu. of grain and 0.35 ton of straw 

 per acre, while the inimanured ground gave 2.88 bu. of grain and 0.29 ton 

 of straw as an average yield. This low yield of the cowpea crop v/as due to a 

 poor stand resulting from the seed not giving a good germination. The second 

 rotation included castor beans, Kafir corn, cotton, oats, and wheat and soy beans. 



