1918.1 FIELD CROPS. 827 



for forage and green manure are noted as conducted both at the demonstration 

 farm at Haiku and in cooperation with farmers. The crops used in these tests 

 included cowpeas, velvet beans, peanuts, soy beans, alfalfa, pigeon peas, jack 

 beans, Japanese cane. Sudan grass, Paspalum dilatatuin, and corn. 



Among the most promising cowpea varieties are the Brabham and Iron for 

 forage and green manure, the Groit and Taylor for seed, and the Whippoorwill 

 as a general-purpose sort. The Brazilian velvet bean, the Improved Valencia 

 peanut, the jack bean, and the pigeon pea are said to be well established. 

 Alfalfa did not thrive on the raw uplands, but of 10 varieties tested smooth 

 and hairy Peruvian gave the most promise. All varieties responded to liberal 

 manuring and fertilizing with phosphate, but liming and artificial inoculation 

 appeared to have no beneficial effect. Japanese cane and Paspalum are deemed 

 preferable to Sudan grass, due to the susceptibility of the latter to rust. 



Corn sown in 30-in. rows on a medium loam soil and receiving about 60 tons 

 of green manure in the course of three years and 500 lbs. of high-grade fertilizer 

 at seeding time produced at the rate of 100 bu. per acre, as compared with an 

 average yield of about 35 bu. per acre on virgin soil. Slightly less than one- 

 half of the yield of the 30-in. rows was obtained from coyn sown in 60-in. rows 

 with all other conditions identical. This difference in yield is thought to be 

 due to the added protection against strong winds afforded by the narrow spacing. 



Tests were made with grain sorghums, millets, buckwheat, and sunflower for 

 chicken feed and with wheat, oats, barley, and rye, the last proving totally 

 unsuited to local conditions. 



A strain of Bliss Triumph potato has been developed, and is said to be well 

 established in the Kula potato district. More than 50 per cent increase in yield 

 resulted from spraying with Bordeaux mixture. 



Report of [field crops work at] the Glen wood substation, J. B. Thompson 

 {Hawaii Sta. Rpt. 1917, pp. 4^-48, pis. 2). — Field tests with various crops to 

 obtain suitable forage for dairy cows are reported in continuation of work 

 previously noted (E. S. R., 37, p. 132), and additional work is described on lue 

 development of blight resistant strains of potatoes for the Glenwood section. 



The area planted to Paspalum dilatatum was extended at an estimated cost 

 of $11.25 per acre, the relatively high initial cost being deemed justified by the 

 permanent nature of the grass. The common bamboo grass {Panicum palmi- 

 folium or Chcetochloa palmifoUa) is said to possess considerable value as a 

 forage crop, being extremely jj|alatable to stock. It is a prolific seed bearer. 

 With clean cultivation and fairly liberal applications of stable manure, this 

 grass gives promise of very satisfactory yields during the cold season, one crop 

 harvested from a small area yielding at the rate of 23.5 tons per acre. Canada 

 field peas have proved to be of value when planted during the cool season 

 of the year on soil treated with heavy applications of stable manure. Improved 

 Swedish oats sown November 20, 1916, on soil which had received about 50 

 tons of stable manure per acre, produced approximately 24 tons of green feed 

 when cut on April 9, 1917. Subsequent plantings made on December 12 and 28, 

 1916, and on January 16, 1917, are said to have given excellent returns. Spelt 

 and spring rye produced yields of green feed of 15,687 and 17,430 lbs. per acre, 

 respectively, after a growing period of 4.5 months. Both crops were badly in- 

 fested with aphids, and are not deemed comparable to oats. Thousaud-headea 

 kale and Dwarf Essex rape drilled in rows on November 20, 1916, and trans- 

 plated on January 5, 1917, made a vigorous growth during the cold season 

 and yielded at the rate of 19.5 and 22 tons of green feed per acre, respec- 

 tively. A planting of Dwarf Essex rape made in April was totally destroyed 

 by cutworms. Seedings of different species of bur clover were made in Novem- 

 ber, 1916, and included Mcdicago smtcllata, M. orbicularis, M. arahica, M. 



