744 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"The dust adhering to the seed of bur clover was an effective inoculating material 

 for alfalfa; the increase in the first cutting of alfalfa hay following this inoculation 

 was 336 per cent. 



"Inoculation for cowpeas and lespedeza was apparently unnecessary in the soils 

 used in these experiments. In or near all of these soils these 2 crops have heen 

 growing for years. Hence we may infer that these soils have been previously inocu- 

 lated by germ-laden dust or by some other natural agency. 



"In a soil which for many years had borne no leguminous plants tubercles devel- 

 oped without intentional inoculation on hairy vetch, Canada field peas, crimson 

 clover, and lupines, as well as on cowpeas and lespedeza. This soil was more nearly 

 independent of inoculation than any other soil tested, and yet even on this soil the 

 increase in the weight of inoculated plants over plants not inoculated was 38 per 

 cent with hairy vetch, 58 per cent with Canada field peas, and 79 per cent with 

 crimson clover. 



"Many soils are naturally inoculated as regards the most commonly grown legumi- 

 nous plants, and hence are not benefited by artificial inoculation." 



The color of rye grains, K Westermeier (Abs. in Jahresber. Agr. 

 Chem., 19 (1896), p. 338).— The grains of 27 heads of Heine improved 

 Zeeliinder rye were separated according to their color into the following 

 groups: 5.67 gm. or 6.4 per cent of grayish green grains; 10.068 gm. or 

 11.3 per cent intermediate between grayish green and light brown 

 grains; 58.68 gm. or 66.4 per cent of light brown grains; and 14.085 

 gm. or 15.9 per cent of dark brown grains. 



The weight per thousand grains is given as follows: The grayish 

 green, 47.25 gm.; intermediate, 45.97 gm. ; light brown, 41.07 gm. ; dark 

 brown, 38.69 gm. The grayish-green grains were the least in number, 

 but they were heavier than any of the others, while the dark brown 

 kernels were the lightest. The grayish-green color is said not to be 

 caused by the content of the gluten cells, but by the chlorophyll which 

 occurs in the outer cell layers of the seed coat. 



These different colored grains were planted in 1894, the plants being 

 allowed to stand about 9 by 9 in. The plants resulting from the gray- 

 ish-green kernels produced the heaviest grains and the heaviest and 

 largest number of heads, while the grains and heads of the plants from 

 the dark brown seed were smallest in number and least developed. 

 The influence of the color of the seed on the percentage by weight of 

 grains of different color in the resulting crop is shown in the following 

 table : 



Transmission of color of rye. grains. 



