834 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 38 



conditions, and the control of insect and other enemies. The utilization of the 

 crop for human and stock food and as a raw material for the manufacture of 

 numerous products is noted. 



Method of sale of war emergency seed corn to farmers in certain States by 

 the United States Department of Agriculture (U. S. Depi. Agr., Office Sec. 

 Circ. 105 (1918), pp. 3). — Directions are given for filing applications for seed 

 corn by farmers in those sections of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, 

 Minnesota, Nebraska, Missoiu'i, and Wisconsin where a shortage of viable seed 

 is known to exist. 



The seed-corn situation for 1918, W. L. Buklison and G. H. Dungan {Illi- 

 nois Sta. Circ. 211 (1918), pp. 8, figs. 5). — This describes the preparation and 

 manipulation of the so-called rag-doll tester for seed corn, together with brief 

 notes on the sawdust and sand box tester. Summarized data show that yields 

 of corn from seed produced near Urbana (central .Illinois) and grown at 

 Urbana and at DeKalb (northern Illinois) have varied but little over a period 

 of several years. 



The agricultural situation for 1918. — V, Cotton. — Maintaining the supply 

 of cotton {U. S. Dcpt. Agr., Office Sec. Circ. 8S (1918), pp. 3^/).— The present 

 status of cotton production throughout the world is reviewed, and the demands 

 placed upon the United States for cotton and its by-products are noted. 



Increased production per acre by employing superior varieties, including the 

 substitution of long-stiiple upland strains wherever possible, and by adopting 

 improved methods of culture is deemed more desirable than increased acreage. 

 The relation of disease and insect enemies to cotton growing is discussed with 

 special reference to the appearance and measures for control of the pink boll- 

 worm. 



Factors entering into the marketing of cotton with regard to a proper grad- 

 ing and handling of the product are outlined, and the advantages of coopera- 

 tion among producers to obtain uniform lots of cotton, to build gins and oil 

 mills, and to employ expert graders are indicated. 



Gin compression of bale cotton to a density of 33 lbs. per cubic foot, or com- 

 pression to a density of from 35 to 37 lbs. by high-density compression, at 

 terminal points, is recommended as a means of materially reducing the number 

 of freight cars required to carry the crop. It is estimated that a car holding 

 30 bales of uncompressed cotton would hold 65 bales of ordinary railroad- 

 compressed cotton or 115 bales of high density compressed cotton. Further- 

 more, by selling cotton in the bale by net weight it is claimed that the custom 

 of adding surplus tare to bring the tare up to the full amount allowed would 

 be eliminated, and that 2,200 less freight cars would be required to move a 

 12,000,000-bale crop. 



The agricultural situation for 1918. — IX, Potatoes. — An ample supply of 

 potatoes needed (U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Sec. Circ. 92 {1918), pp. 39, fig. 1).— 

 The potato is said to contribute about 13 per cent of our food material in 

 normal times and to serve as a bread grain supplement or substitute, and for 

 these reasons an adequate production at the present time is deemed most im- 

 portant. The crop of 1917, amounting to 442,536,000 bu., was the largest in 

 the history of the country, while during the four years 1914 to 1917 the average 

 acre yield ranged from 80.5 to 110.5 bu. 



Field practices and cultural methods employed in the early-trucking regions 

 of the South and Southwest, in the late or main crop region of the North and 

 West, and in the irrigated regions of the West are described in considerable 

 detail. The more important potato diseases and insect pests are noted, and 

 appropriate control measures are outlined. The subjects of grading and 

 marketing potatoes are also discussed. 



