750 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. [Vol.38 



Of twelve varieties tested, the variety Plentiful gave the highest average 

 yield of 6.4 oz. of green beans per hill for the three seasons, followed by 

 Canadian Wonder with 5.9 oz. and Sunrise with 5.1 oz. per hill. The author 

 points out that at present most of the varieties suited to greenhouse culture 

 are of English origin, and that suitable varieties must be bred in America be- 

 fore the fullest returns can be expected from this crop. 



In these experiments, the beans were planted in March and April. The 

 average variety matured the crop in 70 days. There was no great difference 

 between the yield of beans planted in hills and those planted in rows. Hills 

 planted 12 by 18 in. apart with 2 plants per hill gave better average results 

 than hills spaced 12 by 12 in. with either 2 or 4 plants per hill. With rows 

 planted 16 in. apart, a 1-in. space between the beans gave somewhat better 

 results than a 2-in. space. It is pointed out that planting distances must be 

 determined for specific soil and other conditions. 



A test of various soils indicated that nearly all greenhouse soils are suitable 

 for forcing beans without more attention than is given tomato and cucumber 

 soils, but that the bean crop should be watered more sparingly than the tomato 

 or cucumber crop in order to keep the soil in good physical condition and to 

 prevent the rapid spread of fungus diseases. An excess of water may also in- 

 terfere with proper pollination of the flowers. Methods of controlling insects 

 and diseases are briefly discussed. 



Heredity studies in the morning-glory (Ipomosa purpurea), E. E. Barker 

 {New York Cornell Sta. Bui. 392 (1917), pp. 5-38, pis. S).— This bulletin pre- 

 sents the results of experiments with morning-glory plants which were studied 

 in pedigree cultures. Germinal analyses of them were made by means of cross- 

 ing and subsequent selflng, supplemented by collateral breeding tests from the 

 parents used in the crosses. The data secured are presented in a series of tables 

 and fully discussed. A bibliogi-aphy of cited literature is given. 



The important results and deductions from the study are summarized as fol- 

 lows : " Several characters were studied which in heredity behaved in an 

 alternative and Mendelian manner. These were color of the seed coat, feather- 

 ing of the corolla, color of the corolla, and flaking of the corolla. 



"The seed coat is either black or yellowish bi'own (tan). Black is the 

 dominant color. Black, being the dominant color in the maternal somatic 

 tissues, may lend character to the seed coat without giving any indication 

 whatever of the nature of the embryo within it. A black seed coat may con- 

 tain a homozygous or a heterozygous black embryo, or a homozygous tan 

 embryo. A tan seed coat may contain a heterozygous black embryo, but never 

 a homozygous black embryo. It may contain a homozygous tan embryo. 



" Feathering of the corolla is a Mendelian character dominant over its 

 absence. The color of the corolla differed in the several types in the series 

 here studied. The types were progressively epistatic one to another from 

 white through pink, magenta, and blue to dark purple. 



" Anthocyanic colors are due to the action of enzyms upon colorless chromo- 

 gens, producing thereby colored pigments. The color types studied in the 

 morning-glory were in complete accord with the enzym theory. Each epistatic 

 type is due to the addition of one or more genes probably enzymatic in nature 

 which are not present in the hypostatic type. Flaking is a dominant character 

 in the moi'ning-glory material here studied. It is explained by a hypothesis 

 supposing the character to be due to an enzym which is locally distributed in 

 the corolla and which reacts with a colorless chromogen to produce the colored 

 flakes. Where it is present without the gene for producing solid color, flaked 

 whites result ; when present together with this gene, flaked solids are pro- 

 duced." 



