1136 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



other crops the frrentest yield was produced whei-e it was grown with tall oat 

 grass. 



Alfalfa breeding: Materials and methods, H. F. Roberts and G. F. Freeman 

 (Kaitsas ySta. Bui. 151, pp. 79-10!), figs. 15). — The range of variation in alfalfa 

 plants and the opi)ortnnities for plant improvement are pointed out in discus- 

 sions on the general hal)it, the leaf characters, the variation in the color of the 

 flowers, and the differences in physiological characters. These discussions are 

 based on observations made on selected individual plants with which breeding 

 work was begun in the spring of 1906. 



A severe freeze on March 23 affected plants of Turkestan and American 

 alfalfa very differently. The American was badly injured and the whole field 

 took on a brown appearance after the frost-killed stems had commenced to dry, 

 while the Turkestan alfalfa on an adjoining plat at the same elevation was little 

 or not at all injured. In both plats, however, exceptions were found, the 

 Turkestan plat containing plants which were killed completely to the ground 

 and others which were partially killed, and the American alfalfa plat some 

 individuals that escaped injury entirely. 



The authors point out the desirability of searching the more richly-producing 

 races for individuals of a high specific drought resistance as foundation stock 

 for strains combining this characteristic with succulence and high forage yield. 

 The results of transpiration experiments reported show that of 2 plants 1 

 transpired about twice as much per square centimeter of leaf surface as the 

 other, thus indicating that it had the lower drought-resisting ability. The re- 

 sults of these experiments are also taken as showing that the relative drought 

 resistance of different pure I'aces of alfalfa plants can be determined to a high 

 degree of probability. 



In studying the apparent seeding ability of the plant it was determined that 

 from the number of iilants investigated the total number of seeds per plant varied 

 from 1 to 257, the average numl)er of seeds per pod from 1 to 1.G4, and the 

 number of seeds i>er 10 gm. weight of plant from 0.14 to 21.24. Among selected 

 plants ciose-fertilized for seed production there appeared to exist no constant 

 relation between the number of flowers polllnatetl and the number of seeds 

 produced. In one instance the stems of the jilant were separated as they stood 

 into two portions, on one of which the flowers were hand-pollinated while on 

 the other they were not. The hand-pollinated portion produced (jO per cent 

 more seed than the other, while its ])roductivity jier gram weight of green plant 

 amounted to 457 per cent. In another experiment, taking the gi'een weight of 

 the plant as a basis, the insect-pollinated halves of the plants gave 20.7 seeds 

 per each 10 gm. of plant weight, while the hand-pollinated halves produced 25.0 

 seeds per 10 gm. of plant weight. While there is little difference in seed pro- 

 duction here attention is called to the value of the pure lineage and known 

 origin resulting from hand pollination. 



Buckwheat crops of the United States, 1866-1906, C. C. Clark (U. *S'. Dcpt. 

 Agr., Bur. Siatis. Bui. 61, pp. 24). — -This bulletin presents in tabular form the 

 average acreage, production, and value of buckwheat in the United States by 

 States and by years for the period 1866-1906. 



Clover farming on the sandy jack-pine lands of the North, C. B. Smith 

 {TJ. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 323, pp. 2.'f, fig. 1). — This bulletin describes the 

 extent and character of the jack-pine lands of the North, and contains informa- 

 tion of value to settlers on these lands. 



General farming is not a success on the sandy jack-pine lauds, and thus far 

 the crop best adapted to the soil and climate and also most profitable is clover 

 grown for seed. Mammoth clover grows best and gives the largest yield of 

 seed. To succeed with the clover crop it is recommended that the new ground 



