46 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



tlie severe winter, the stand in tlie spring was good, but tlie spring and 

 summer drought shortened the harvest. The following are the yields 

 of grain per hectare: Mold Eed Prolific 2,737 kg., lleliable 2,478 kg., 

 Tusitan Island 2,004: kg., Fulcaster 1,901 kg., Valley 1,811 kg., and 

 Carman ^o. 1 1,573 kg. 



The ch-ange in <iuality of the grain is striking, as shown in the follow- 

 ing table, iu wliich the weiglit of 100 kernels of the original seed is 

 compared with the same grown at Poppelsdorf. 



Wciijht per 100 kernels and per hevtoliter of American, wheat as sown and as harrested. 



Variety of wheat. 



Mold llod Prolific 



Keliiible 



Cariiiau No. 1 



Tuscan Islaud . .. 



Valley 



Fulcaster 



Weight 

 per hecto- 

 liter. 



Kg. 

 74.6 

 75.8 

 71.8 

 74.0 

 70.8 

 74.6 



With the exception of the Tuscan Island, the size of the kernel was 

 increased, and this was coincident with an improvement in quality; 

 this was especially true of Reliable, as shown by the high weight of a 

 hectoliter. 



Report on agriculture and the culture of coffee in Mexico, Schoenfeld ( Bui. 

 Min.Agr. France, 60 {1S9C), No. 2, pp. 311-317). — The part of this report referring to 

 coft'ee is of especial interest. This crop has been grown successfully for many years 

 and the area devoted to it has been tripled in the last 5 years. It succeeds best 

 between the 18th and 22d parallels at altitudes varying from 3,500 to 4,500 ft. above 

 the sea, (. e., as near the frost line as it is safe to approach. The soil and culture are 

 described at some length. The cost of production varies from 4 to 6 cts. per pound. 

 The prireis at present 14 to 16 cts. per pound. The plants commence to bear when 

 i. years old and live on an average 20 years. 



Forage plants for South Dakota, T. A. Williams {South Dakota Bui. 45, pp. 19, 

 /f/s. .5).— Descriptive and cultural notes, including results of experience at the sta- 

 tion, are given on smooth brome grass, sheep fescue, hard fescue, red fescue, timothy, 

 red clover, alsike clover, and white clover. Three mixtures of grass seed for sowing 

 •without nurse crops are suggested. 



Variety test with sugar beets, mangel- wurzels, and potatoes, E. von Pros- 

 KOWETZ, Jr. {Die Sortenpriifung bei Zuckerriiben, FuUerriihen and Kurtoffeln. Vienna: 

 TV. Frick, 1S95).— It is stated that variety tests are more satisfactory than fertilizer 

 tests and that the two should never be combined. Variety tests should be made on 

 plats containing 100 to 200 square meters. To bring out only varietal characteris- 

 tics the plats should be unmanured and have a homogeneous soil. A test should be 

 repeated two, or better, several years. Corrections should be made for blank spaces. 



Experimental results bearing on variety tests with sugar beets, mangels, and 

 potatoes are given and discus.sed. 



The conclusions are that there is no variety suited to all conditions; that every 

 place makes its peculiar demands with respect to the variety; that the acceptance 

 of foreign experience without investigation is a doubtful procedure; that for a par- 

 ticular farm results that shall be as free as possible from objection can be obtained 



