FIELD CROPS. 643 



The loss of humus affected the physical qualities of the soil, espe- 

 cially the color and the weight. The soils from plats 2 and 3 were 

 darker than those from the other plats and lost in weight while the 

 other soils became heavier. 



A strip of laud was summer fallowed for 2 years. Before the sum- 

 mer fallowing the soil contained 0.221 per cent of nitrogen and after 2 

 years 0.201 per cent. The author states that in summer fallowing too 

 much of the nitrogen is changed to available forms and then, as the fol- 

 lowing crop can not use it all, a large percentage is lost. " While a loss 

 of 0.02 per cent of nitrogen does not appear to be a heavy one, it is in 

 the aggregate quite large, as it amounts to 590 lbs. of nitrogen per acre. 

 Two wheat crops would have removed less than 100 lbs. of nitrogen." 



Our grains and field flowers, B. Pluss (Unsere Getreidearten unci Feldblumen. 

 Freiburg i. B.: Herder, 1897, pp.204, figs. 200). — A description of the grains, the most 

 important forage plants, and the flowers commonly occurring in fields and meadows. 



Field trials -with artificial fertilizers, K. Hansex (Landmansblade, SO {1897), 

 Nos. 24, pp. S22-S27; 25, pp. S40-342). 



Cereal plants : Rye, mixed grain, barley, oats, buckwheat, millet, panicum, 

 and maize, G. Heuzh (Les plantes cer dales. II Seigle, meteil, orge, avoine, sarrasin, 

 millet, panis et mais. Paris: Maison Ruatique, 1897, 2. ed., pp. 376, figs. 84). 



The essential properties of good malting barley, P. Bolin (Landmannen, 8 

 (1897), No. 38, pp. 534-538). 



Canaigre ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Circ. 25, j>p. 4, fig. 1). — This 

 is a revision of Circular 25. A description of the plant is given, with notes on its 

 tannin content and directions for its culture and preparation for market. The 

 States in which it is grown are mentioned and its industrial importance pointed out. 



Broom corn (U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Circ. 28, pp.4). — This is 

 a revision of Circular 28 (E. S. R., 9, p. 241). The varieties of hrooni corn ; the cli- 

 mate, soil, and manuring requisite for its successful culture; and its feeding value 

 are discussed; and directions are given for planting, cultivating, harvesting, and 

 curing. 



Flax, its culture and use, -with suggestions for the improvement of the 

 industry, R. Kuhnert (Der Flacks, seine Kultur u. Verarbeitung, nebst Vorschlagen zur 

 Hebung des Flachsbanes. Berlin : Paul Farcy, 1S97, pp. 19S,figs. 40). 



Pasture and pasture plants, W. Toogood (New Tori: : The Macmillan Co.; Lon- 

 don : Macmillan, fy Co. Ltd., 1897, pp. 72, figs. 35). — In the compilation of this treatise 

 the chief aim of the author has heen to concisely summarize his own experiences in 

 pasture-making, hut the recorded experiences of great authorities on the subject 

 have also heen consulted and form, to some extent, the basis of the work. The hook 

 contains 9 chapters in which cultural preparations, selection of pasture plants, 

 buying, testing, and sowing of pasture seeds, and the care of new and of established 

 pastures are discussed, and 20 varieties of grasses and 9 varieties of legumes useful 

 as pasture plants are described. 



The renewing of worn-out native prairie pastures, T. A. Williams ( U. S. 

 Dept. Agr., Division of Agrostology Circ. 4, pp. 4, figs. 4). — A revision of Circular 4 

 (E. S. R., 8, p. 774). 



Comparative experiments with 190 varieties of potatoes to determine the 

 starch production, at the agricultural-botanical experiment station at Tabor 

 [Bohemia] in 1896, F. Sitensky (Casopis pro Prumysl Chemicly, 7 (1897), pp. 233, 

 279; abs. in Chem. Ztg., 21 (1897), No. 95, Bepert., p. 289).— According to the brief 

 abstract, the starch content varied from 9.6 to 19 per cent, and the yield of starch 

 per hectare from 1,282 to 6,380 kg. (1,141 to 5,684 lbs. per acre). 

 13039— No, 7 4 



