FIELD ("ROPS. 533 



Single or continued selection in breeding- work with individuals of cereals 

 and leguminous crops, C. I'^ruwirth (Ztsclir. Lamia-. \'cr>iitclisic. Osterr., Id 

 {1901), .Yo. J, /J/J. .'pl-531, pi. 1). — This article consists of historical notes on 

 plant selection, describes the different methods practiced, and discusses the 

 possibility of substituting single selection for continued selection in plant 

 breeding work based on the selection of individuals. 



Tne classification of brewing barley from a technical and agricultural 

 standpoint, with special reference to its nitrogen content, M. Hubert (BuI. 

 Mens. Off. Ren.seig. Agr. [Paris], 6 (1907), No. 7, pp. 839-8J,.'f).— The discussion 

 of this subject as based on the results and obserA-ations of numerous iuvesti- 

 gators leads to the conclusion that the yield and the nitrogen content of barley, 

 as well as of other cereals, is largely dependent upon weather conditions pre- 

 vailing from the blossoming period until maturity, and that special methods 

 of fertilizing the soil can have no effect against the unfavorable influences 

 of the season. 



It is further pointed out that the cultivated varieties of barley, even those 

 regarded as selected strains, are frequently mixtures of different species and 

 that a chemical analysis of such a mixture, especially the determination of 

 nitrogen, gives only average results which may differ considerably from the 

 composition of the different individual species. Pure botanical varieties which 

 may be separated out by Nilsson's method show a much greater regularity in 

 chemical as well as in physiological characters than a mixture of different 

 species. 



The introduction of botanical purity is considered of advantage in the ex- 

 amination and classification of brewing barley and barley to be used for seed, 

 which should show a minimum coefficient of jiurity of 0.5 per cent. 



The valuation of brewing barley, E. Prior (Amer. Brewers' Rev., 21 (1907), 

 -Yo.s'. .'i, pp. 16.3, 16-'t; 0, pp. 22-'t-226). — The system of determining the value of 

 brewing barley used in Vienna is described in detail. 



It is pointed out that the determination of the impurities and the chaff of the 

 barley indicates the degree of cleaning it has received, together with the per- 

 centage of kernels worth malting it contains ; that the estimation of the degree 

 of dissolution leads to conclusions relative to the behavior of the barley in 

 the steep and, in conjunction with the protein content, also relative to the disso- 

 lution of the barley to be exi)ected on the floor, and of the dissolution of the 

 malt ; and that the hectoliter weight, the 1,0()0 kernel weight, and the quantity 

 of husk indicate the quantity of valuable substances the barley contains. By 

 the degree of dissolution is meant the sum of the percentage of mealy 

 kernels in the original barley and the percentage of steely kernels which become 

 mealy after steeping and drying. 



Imported low-grade clover and alfalfa seed, E. Brown and Mamie L. 

 Crosby (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. Ill, pt. 3, pp. 18 pi. 1. 

 fig. 1). — ^Analyses of 61 samples of imported low-grade red clover seed, 5 

 samples of high-grade red clover seed, and 10 samples of imported low-grade 

 alfalfa seed are reported and described. 



The analyses of the low-grade clover seed showed the following average 

 results : lied clover seed 74.00 ])er cent, other seeds 12.17 per cent, dirt and 

 broken seed 1.3.S.3 per cent, kinds of weed seeds 20.7, weight of 1,000 red clover 

 seeds 1,105.5 mg., germination of red clover seed 58.0.S per cent, price per 

 100 lbs. at which seed was imported $7.61, seed that germinated in sample 

 4.3.16 per cent, actual cost of 100 lbs. of red clover seed that germinated $20.30. 

 The 5 samples of high-grade red clover seed gave the following average results: 

 Red clover seed 07.73 per cent, other seeds 0.85 per cent, dirt and broken seed 



