FIELD CROPS. 139 



i'lo\fr (7'. ;>;Yfte»,.s/^') , liiisi^ian red clover ( 7'. pralense pallida), Kweet clover [Meli- 

 lotus alba), white clover {TrifoUumrepeiis), cowpea {Vigna catjang), field pea, gram 

 or chick pea {Cicer arietinum) , Metcalf bean {Phastolus relusiin), soy bean {Glycine 

 hispida), sulla {Hedysarmn coronarium.), velvet bean {Mucuna utilis), spring vetch 

 {Vicia saliva), hairy vetch ( I^. rillosa), sainfoin {Onobrychis sativa) , and peanuts 

 {Arachis liypogaxi). 



Rape, saltbushes, sweet potatoes, ami tallow weed are reported as having given 

 more or less satisfactory results. 



Grasses and leguminous crops for the Arkansas "Valley, H. H. Griffin 

 {Colorado Sla. Bui. 6S, pp. l-ll). — Brief notes are given, with cultural directions, on 

 a number of grasses and leguminous crops adapted to the Arkansas Valley. The 

 plants discussed are orchard grass, tall meadow fescue, tall meadow oat grass, Ken- 

 tucky blue grass, redtop, timothy, serradella, red clover, cowpea, field jiea, soy bean, 

 and liairy vetch. Notes on when to sow grass seed and on fall seeding of alfalfa are 

 also given. 



Grass seeding on irrigated land, W. Jonks {Ama-. Ayr. {mid. ed.), fJD {W02), 

 No. 3, p. 82). — A brief note on -methods of sowing alfalfa, timothy, redtoji, and 

 broom grass seed on irrigated lands in Wyoming. 



Awnless brome grass, J. Fletcher {Canada Expt. Farms llj)ls. 1001, pp. 261, 

 262). — The value of the awnless brome grass (Bromiis iriermis) for the more or less 

 arid regions of the Northwest is shown, and the results of an experiment with this 

 grass in the Calgary district are given. In this experiment 8 acres were seeded with 

 this grass in 1897, and in 1900 the hay and seed sold from this area amounted to 

 $413.50. 



Notes on summer forage crops, J. B. Lindsey { Massaciiusells Sta. Ilpt. 1901, pp. 

 169, 170). — Brief notes are given on wheat and winter vetch, corn and cowpeas, and 

 barnyard millet as forage croi)s. Pearlier observations along this line were i")ublished 

 in Bulletin 72 of the station (K. 8. 11., 13, p. 170). 



Tlie improvement of cereals during the last ten years, N. H. Nilsson 

 (yv'. Landt. Aka<l. ILnidl. Tidskr., 40 {1901), Xo. S, pp. 149-162).— A historical sketch 

 of methods of seed improvement of cereals, with special reference to the work done 

 in this line by the author at the Svali)f Seed Improvement Station at Svalof, Sweden 

 I ]•>. S. R., 13, p. 814). Since 1892 the author has followed pedigree culture, i. e., 

 selection for propagation of individual parent plants possessing especially desirable 

 characteristics. Each year the finest and most typically and harmonically developed 

 j)lant is selected from the pedigree plat for the mother plant to be grown the follow- 

 ing year. The seed of the other plants in the pedigree plats is sown in the so-called 

 control plats, where the variety is examined qualitatively and its cultural value 

 determined in a preliminary manner. If the variety proves promising, it is grown 

 in such quantities as to permit of careful comparative tests on a large scale, and if 

 these also give good results, it is handed over to a private company for a more 

 extended culture and its consequent disposal to farmers. In these culture tests the 

 variety is watched closely, so that only fixed and really superior varieties are sent out. 

 In the years that have passed since this method of seed improvement was adopted 

 by the Svalof station the following 17 new varieties of cereals and legumes have been 

 bred by the station and given to the seed trade: Svalof Top Squarehead wheat, Svalof 

 Grenadier wheat, Svalof- Princess barley, Svalof Swan Neck barley, Svalof Extra 

 Sijuarehead wheat, Svalof Black Bell oats, Svalof Black Grand Mogul oats, Svalof 

 Whiting oats, Svalof Improved Sweet vetch, Svalof Improved Gray vetch, Svalof 

 White Round vetch, Svalof Spring Pearl wheat, Svalof "Gute" barley, Svalof Giant 

 Six-rowed barley, Svalof Hannchen barley, Svalof "Ris" wheat, and Svalof "Bore" 

 wheat. These are all fixed and characteristic varieties, and several of them have 

 found general distribution among Swedish farmers and have proved as valuable as 

 expected. In addition, several hundred new varieties bred at Svalof are still under 

 trial, and many of them are very promising. 



