PUBLICATIONS ON AGRICULTURAL BOTANY IN FRANCE. 945 



Soinethiiiji: like a dozen articles havti been published in France dur- 

 ing the year relating- to the culture of beets, which in Fraiu;e represents 

 an annual product valued at about .toO,0(>0,OOU and employs more than 

 200,000 laborers. One of the most im[)ortant contributions to this sub- 

 ject is that of Larbalctrier and Malpeaux,' who give a detailed account of 

 the present state of beet culture and discuss the varieties best adapted 

 to forage, sugar, and distilling uses, and rei)ort U])on seed, fertilizers, 

 soil, culture, diseases, harvesting, yield, cost of culture, etc. Mvien^ 

 has experimented with a view to producing a large yield of beets of a 

 high sugar content. This he concliules does not depend entirely u[)on 

 the choice of seed, but is also intiueuced by the fertilizer. The employ- 

 nieut of slightly less than the usual amount of nitrogenous fertilizer 

 decreases the cost of production and increases the net return. This con- 

 forms with results recently obtained in Germany. Sugnier ^ has studied 

 seed selection of beets by physical and chemical methods. The effect of 

 stripping the leaves from beets has been investigated by Chassant.' 

 Tests of varieties of sugar beets have been made at the experiment 

 station of Cappelle.'' Deherain" has studied forage beets, and Lepinez'^ ' 

 has investigated beet culture without irrigation. Denaiffe'' iuvesti- 

 gated the fertilizer requirements of forage beets, and ascertained the 

 effect of phosphoric acid upon this crop. He applies on soils of average 

 fertility equal amounts of phosphoric acid and nitrogen. This supplies 

 an amount of phosphoric acid only half that recommended by many 

 agriculturists. 



In the study of the culture of potatoes the experiments of A. Girard'' 

 are of special value. He has shown that the starch content of the seed 

 tuber does not influence the yield of the crop. He has proven that the 

 entire reserve material in a tuber is not needed for the perfect develop- 

 ment of a plant, and that in planting a given variety it is useless to 

 seek for those tubers having the highest starch content. It is in the 

 intensity of hereditary traits of tubers obtained from vigorous hills 

 that we must seek the influence which will increase the amount and 

 quality of the yield. The same author'" has published articles on the 

 improvement of potato culture, as well as on the disputed subject of the 

 proper size of cuttings of tubers for planting, his conclusions being 



' Rev. gen. sci. pur. et appl., 1896, p. 633. 



« Jour. Agr. Prat.. 1(1896), p. 168; Riipport Com. Agr. ,St. Qu.iutiu, 1S96. 



3 Jour. Agr., 2 (1896), p. 665. 



■* Ibid., p. 311. 



'^Ibid. 



•* Bui. Agr. Alger, et Tunis, 1896, No. 20, p. 459. 



7 Ibid., No. 21, 1). 483. 



» Jour. Agr., 1 (1896), ]i. 6.58. 



'•'Bui. Soc. Nat. Agr. France, 1896, No. 4, p. 215; Ann. Sci. Agroii., 8or. 2, aim. 2, 

 1 (1896), p. 440. 



'"Bui. Soc. Nat. Agr. France, 1896, No. 4, p. 250; Ann. Sci. Agron., »cr. 2, ami. 2, 1 

 (1896), p. 453. 



