FIELD CROPS. 941 



catch crops in 1897 are reported in tables and the value of legumes for 

 this purpose is pointed out in the discussion. The largest yields were 

 obtained from plats which had received a small application of super- 

 phosphates in 1896 and upon which vetch had been grown in 1893. 

 On a number of plats no vetches had been grown, but they had been 

 sown to clover in 1894, and upon these the yields were much better 

 than on plats which had not produced leguminous crops for a number 

 of years. The author states that the quantity of nitrogen in the crops 

 of the best-yielding plats approaches the quantity contained in 13 

 tons of meadow hay or 36 tons of barnyard manure, and calls attention 

 to the fact that when the necessary moisture conditions prevail autumn 

 catch crops are profitable as forage and green manures. 



Barley — variety tests, W. W. Cooke (Colorado Sta. Bui. 40, pp. 

 1-14). — The author discusses barley growing in Colorado and describes 

 the hulled and the hnllexs varieties. It is stated that ''Success" bar- 

 ley, a hulless variety, which ripens its grain at an altitude of 7,000 ft. 

 and is grown as a hay crop up to 8,500 ft., has been found profitable. 

 The results of variety tests conducted for 10 years, begun in 1887, are 

 given in tables. The author states that "White varieties of hulless 

 barley have usually produced better than the black or purple, although 

 some yields of the small plats of the purple have been very high." 

 Among the malting varieties Chevalier gave the best results. In 1895 

 this variety, although lodged flat, yielded over 83 bu. of good solid 

 grain per acre. 



Wheat and barley raising in Denmark, C. Sonne ( JJgesTcr. Land)))., 

 43 (1897), Xo. 43, pp. 571-576). — Of the arable land in Denmark fully 

 40 per cent is annually sown to the following cereals in the proportions 

 given: Wheat, 5 per cent; rye, 27 per cent; barley, 28 per cent, and 

 oats, 40 per cent. The author summarizes the results of trials with 

 wheat and barley conducted by the Danish State Agricultural Society 

 since 1882, during which about 12,000 plats have been sown to wheat 

 and about 15,000 to barley at trial stations located in different parts of 

 the country. As an average of 1,158 trials on heavy, medium, and 

 light wheat soils, the Squarehead wheat yielded at the rate of 46.3 

 bu. per acre. This variety, introduced into Denmark in 1874, is now 

 grown on at least 90 per cent of the wheat area of the country, and its 

 introduction is estimated to have increased the yield by at least 10 bu. 

 per acre. The following requirements for obtaining a maximum yield 

 of Squarehead wheat under Danish conditions are the conclusions 

 drawn from extensive culture tests : (1) A rich, clean, and well-drained, 

 preferably loam soil; (2) the sowing of seed wheat of a good quality; 

 (3) sowing in the middle of September; (4) the application of suffi- 

 cient seed, about 3.4 bu. per acre when sown in drills. 



The production of barley is largely for malting purposes. The varie- 

 ties generally grown are Chevalier, Prentice, and Gold Thorpe. None 

 of these combines in itself the qualities of a good malting barley, as in 



