830 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



while on other plats the crop was injured by rust aud yielded a lighter 

 grain. 



Plats of wheat, oats, and barley sown May 15 and 23 produced better 

 yields than those sown earlier and later: oats and barley when drilled 

 produced a greater yield than when broadcasted. The results of 

 experiments with remedies for smut in oats and barley are tabulated. 

 In every case the treated seed gave the largest yield. 



Flax was grown to determine the fitness of the fiber. Sowing 80 

 lbs. of seed to the acre yielded the largest total crop. 



Awnless brome grass (Bromus inermis) is discussed at some length 

 and methods of culture are recommended. 



Field experiments with small grain and root crops, W. 

 Saunders (Canada Expt. Farms Rpts. 1896, pp. 5-60, figs. 8, pi. 1). — 

 The experiments conducted in 1896 comprised variety tests of peas and 

 sugar beets and variety and fertilizer tests with wheat, barley, oats, 

 corn, mangel-wurzels, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. Crops of horse 

 beans, sunflowers, and buckwheat were grown experimentally. The 

 best results from sowing oats, barley, wheat, and peas at different dates 

 were obtained from the sowings made April 27 in each case. 



Flax was sown on different dates and at the rate of 40 and 80 lbs. of 

 seed per acre. In 3 out of 4 cases the plats which received 80 lbs. of seed 

 per acre gave the largest quantity of straw, while those which received 

 40 lbs. yielded the largest crop of seed. The plats sown May 7 pro- 

 duced the greatest weight of straw, and those sown May 14 the largest 

 yield of seed. 



The method of originating varieties of crossbred and hybrid grain 

 is discussed, and a table showing the results of vitality tests of grain 

 and other seed is given. 



The profitable amount of seed per acre for corn, J. M. Babt- 

 lett (Maine Sta. Bpt. 1896, pp. 30, 31). — This is in continuation of 

 work described in the Annual Keport of the Station for 1895 (E. S. E., 

 8, p. 773). The plan of the experiment and the size of the plats were the 

 same as in the previous year. An acre of land was divided into 12 

 equal plats, which were grouped into 4 sets with 3 plats in a set. The 

 fertilizer applied per acre consisted of 15 two-horse loads of barnyard 

 manure, 250 lbs. of acid South Carolina rock, 100 lbs. nitrate of soda, 

 and 75 lbs. of muriate of potash. Tables show the composition of the 

 crop of 1896 and the yields for each year of the experiment. The 

 results for this season have not changed the relation between the 

 average results for the first 2 years and for the whole period of 3 years. 

 u The average yield per acre of dry matter for the 3 seasons at the 

 several rates of seeding are as follows: Kernels <> in. apart, 5,699 lbs.; 

 at 9 in., 5,827 lbs.; at 12 in., 5,432 lbs." 



The Irish potato, K. H. Price (Texas Sta. Bui. /?, pp. 913-923, 

 fig. 1).— The work reported here consisted of variety and fertilizer tests 

 and experiments in storing the tubers. Notes on second crop potatoes 



