1917] FIELD CROPS. 437 



Three varieties of spring rye were tested, with Irkutsk maturing the earliest 

 of the three. None was so early as the earliest winter rye, nor were the 

 heads so well filled. Ten varieties of vnnter rye were tested, and all were 

 hardy provided they were protected by a covering of snow, but there was a 

 difference of 12 days in the ripening, Irkutsk, Giant French, Amber, No. 959, 

 Monster, and Station No. 195 all ripened by August 12. 



A number of oat varieties are being tested, with Finnish Black, Norwegian, 

 and South Dakota No. 637 ripening the earliest (95 days). Hybrids of Cop- 

 perfield and Toholampi have come true and were a day earlier than the above- 

 named varieties. 



Pamir Jaarley ripened earliest, in 79 days. Three new varieties were tested. 



Notes are also given on variety tests with buckwheat, flax, and broad beans, 

 and cultural notes on hemp. 



Twenty-nine new potatoe varieties from the Sitka Station were tested for 

 the first time. Tests were also made to determine the value of seed pieces cut 

 to a single eye, but contradictory results were obtained. 



[Field crop] notes at Sitka Station, J. P. Andkeson (Alaska Stas. Rpt. 

 1915, pp. 32, 33, fig. 1). — Seventy-seven varieties of potatoes tested at the Sitka 

 Station are listed, giving the yields for 1914 and 1915. Owing to the dying 

 of the tops of some early varieties in August and the differences in the fertility 

 of the soil, results for the two years are not comparable. The quality is re- 

 ported as good in all but a few varieties. Four additional varieties were grown 

 for the first time in 1915. 



Results of experiments, 1915, A. E. V. Richabdson {.Jour. Dept. Agr. Vic- 

 toria, U (1916), Nos. 5, pp. 11,1-152; 5, pp. 2S8-295, figs. 5).— In rotation tests, 

 the most profitable increases were obtained in a rotation of wheat and hay with 

 forage crops, such as peas and barley, thus eliminating fallowing. 



In fertilizer tests the best results were obtained from the use of 1 cwt. of 

 acid phosphate per acre. Lime and nitrogenous fertilizers have not been profit- 

 able. High yields were obtained from all manurial treatments. Manure with 

 acid phosphate gave the highest yields. 



Wheat sown at the rate of 60 lbs. per acre the first week in May gave the 

 best results, and Yandilla King and Dart Imperial proved to be the highest 

 yielding wheat varieties. In green manuring tests wheat gave higher yields 

 after fallowing than after green manure crops, either when the latter were 

 plowed under or fed off to sheep. 



Pasture crops in the prairie provinces, T. J. Habbison and J. Bbacken 

 (Agr. Gaz. Canada, 3 (1916), No. 5, pp. 419-450, figs. 8).— Pasture conditions 

 in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are discussed in some detail. 

 Vaijious mixtures of grasses and other forage crops are recommended for peren- 

 nial, biennial, or annual pastures for each section. 



Germination experiments with grasses and legumes, A. Bubgebstein, 

 (Ztschr. Landw. Yersuchsw. Osterr., 18 (1915), No. 8-9, pp. 559-570) .—The 

 results of studies to determine the relative growth values of different grasses 

 and legumes, when the seeds are planted at different depths, are discussed, and 

 work of a similar nature conducted as pot and field experiments by the author 

 is described. 



In the pot experiments maize seeds, as determined by the depth of planting 

 from which the coleoptile reached the surface of the soil, showed the greatest 

 vigor of gi'owth, being followed in decreasing order by oats, barley, wheat, and 

 rye. Among the leguminous seeds studied peas and lentils showed a marked 

 vigor of growth, as in a loose, humus, or sandy soil, at a seed depth of 40 cm. 

 (about 15.6 in.), 40 per cent of the peas and 50 per cent of the lentils were 

 capable of reaching the soil surface. 



