564 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



relative values of tlie different elements of the soil under test. In the field tests air- 

 glaked lime and bone meal were each applied at the rate of 320 lbs. per acre and 

 ]H)tassium sulphate at the rate of 160 lbs. After inoculation the lime increased the 

 yieltl of hay over no fertilizer by 1,020 lbs. per acre, and bone meal and lime together 

 bv 2,220 lbs. The total yields were 5,280 lbs. of air-dried hay from the unfertilized 

 soil, 7,740 lbs. from the limed soil, and 10,000 l))s. from the soil which had received 

 lime and bone meal. 



Tlie fixation of nitrogen by the Ijacteria was determined in both pot and field cul- 

 ture. The pot experiments indicated that on ordinary fertilized soil tlie alfalfa 

 bacteria were capable of fixing 46.42 lbs. of nitrogen j^er acre. The dry matter of 

 the crops from theuninoculated pots contained 2.59 per cent of nitrogen as compared 

 with 8.62 per cent from the inoculated pots. The results of the Held experiments 

 were in perfect agreement with these results. 



General directions for growing alfalfa are given and the present status of alfalfa 

 culture in Illinois (l('scril)ed. 



Growing alfalfa in Kansas, H. M. Cottkell {Kanms Sla. Bid. I14, jip. 51-83, 

 ph. 7). — This Inilletin is a treatise on alfalfa culture under Kansas conditions. The 

 requirements of the crop are discussed and full directions for the different cultural 

 steps are i)resented. Attention is also given to the curing and feeding of alfalfa. In 

 treating the different subjects the author draws upon results obtained at different 

 exjieriment stations. 



Fertilizer and culture experiments with hops, A. D. Hall {Bd. Agr. [Lon- 

 (lon'\, Mpt. Agr. Educatiun and Research, 1900-01, pp. 83-90). — Cooperative fertilizer 

 tests have been in progress for several years, and the detailed results of the work are 

 here tabulated and general conclusions presented. It is stated that since the hop is 

 an all-round feeder, the fertilizer aitiilication should contain all the elements of plant 

 food. Tlie results further point to the fact that the proljlem of manuring hops 

 resolves itself largely into a study of the soil in order to determine the deficient 

 elements. 



In the culture experiments different methods of cultivation were compared. A 

 plat of 24 hills, which for 7 years received no cultivation at all except the mere 

 destruction of weeds by the lightest hoeing, yielded 150 lbs. of green hops, while 2 

 other plats with the same number of hills, one deeply cultivated and the other uncul- 

 tivated, for one year gave each 146 lbs. The entire tract receiving no cultivation 

 averaged 2,400 lbs. of dry hops per acre. In this case the manures were simply put 

 on the surface of the soil. 



Experiments with hops, Remy {Deut. Landv. Pressc, 29 {1903), No. 88, pp. 716, 

 717). — Fertilizer experiments were conducted to test the relative efficiency of dif- 

 ferent potash salts. It was found that the concentrated potash salts obtained at 

 Stassfurt are equally effective with the higher priced martellin. The author arrives 

 at the conclusion that when the lower maturing leaves of the hop plant approach a 

 minimum content of phosphoric acid at the beginning of the blossoming period, the 

 soil is in need of that element. The nitrogen requirement of hops varied remark- 

 ably with the different varieties. The English varieties required much more nitro- 

 gen than the continental sorts. A report on the work of breeding hops is given, but 

 the exiieriments have not been in progress long enough to show results. 



Seed selection of oats, J. Huxtemann {Deut. Landw. Presse, 29 {1002), No. 92, 

 ])]>. 747, 748).— Seed oats were separated by means of a centrifugal machine into 3 

 grades and compared in a culture test with unselected seed. It was found that the 

 second-grade seed gave a better return than the first grade. In the variety under 

 test a large percentage of grains had attached to them secondary smaller grains, and 

 owing to the increased weight the centrifugal machine threw^ these combined grains 

 into the heavier seed, although they did not really belong to that grade. This fact 

 is given as explanatory of the small yield from the first-grade seed. The selection 



