354 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The most profitable application for potatoes consisted of 15 tons of barnyard 

 manure, 1 cut. of sulphate of ammonia, 4 cwt. of superphosphate, and 1 cut. of 

 muriate of potash. Without the muriate of potash the profit was reduced about £1 

 per acre, and the omission of superphosphate caused a further reduction of 34 shil- 

 lings. In a variety test, Up-to-Date and Beauty of Bute led in yield and produced 5 

 tons per acre more than Reliance, which ranked last among the 10 varieties grown. 



Fodder beets, treated the same as the year before, produced good yields with the 

 use of 15* tons of barnyard manure per acre, but the addition of a complete applica- 

 tion of commercial fertilizers to the manure again proved profitable. Four cwt. of 

 salt substituted fori' cut. of kainit in this application increased the yield by 24 cut. 



Kainit used alone as a fertilizer for oats has given poor results for 3 successive 

 years. The best result was obtained from the use of 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia, 

 3 cwt. of superphosphate, and 3 cwt. of kainit, The variety test resulted in favor of 

 Goldfinder, Canadian Banner, and Waverley, the 3 varieties being practically equal 

 in their yields. 



A complete application of commercial fertilizers for turnips proved better than an 

 incomplete mixture. The results with barnyard manure were similar to those of the 

 previous year. 



Report of investigations at the Highmore Station for 1903, W. A. Wheeler 

 (South Dakota Sin. Bui. 84, pp. 3-8). — An account of the growth at the station of a 

 number of varieties of grasses, alfalfa, millets, sorghums, corn, rape, and kale. Of 

 3 varieties of alfalfa the heaviest yield, 3,642 lbs. of hay per acre, was afforded by 

 Samarkand sown in 1900. Siberian millet gave the best yield of 5 varieties tested, 

 namely, 5,410 lbs. per acre. Of the sorghums, Amber Cane and Wisconsin Early 

 Amber yielded over 5 tons each of cured cane per acre. Branching Doura yielded 

 5,370 lbs.; Jerusalem corn, 2,197 lbs.; Earliest Katir corn, 4,430 lbs.; milo maize, 

 5,650 lbs.; and teosinte, 4,340 lbs. per acre. 



Early Huron Dent corn yielded at the rate of 18J bu. per acre; Yellow Dent corn, 

 21 bu. per acre; Squaw corn, 23i bu. per acre; Queen of the North, King of the 

 Earliest, and Reid Yellow Dent ripened from one-fourth to one-third of a crops 

 Iowa Gold Mine, Early Giant White, Wisconsin White Dent, and Riley Favorite 

 corn did not ripen. Superior fodder corn yielded at the rate of about 23J tons of 

 green fodder, or 7§ tons of cured fodder per acre. Rape yielded from 3| to 4f ton, 

 per acre, and kale at the rate of 6J tons of green fodder per acre. 



References to recent work on plant breeding, C. Fhuwirth (Jour. Landir.. 

 Fr2 (1904), No. 3, pp. 269-290). — References are given to 31 recent articles on plant 

 breeding in connection with different crops. Each reference is accompanied by a 

 brief abstract of the particular article. A previous list of similar references is noted 

 in E. S. R,, 15, p. 770. 



Reports on the third and fourth years' breeding experiments with root crops 

 at Danish plant experiment stations, 1902-3, L. Helweg (Tidsskr. Landbr. 

 Planteavl, 11 (1904), pp. 1-20, 324-364).— The reports contain the usual accounts of 

 the plant-breeding experiments with Elvetham and Eckendorfer mangolds, and with 

 Yellow Tankard, Funen Bortfelder, Bulloch, and New Bronze turnips during the 

 years 1902 and 190,°,. A paper on Breeding Centers for Fodder Beets, by the author, 

 and the discussion of the same is also given. 



The yields of roots and of dry matter per tondeland were determined in the crops 

 produced from the different varieties, and these were scored for uniformity of shape 

 in the roots grown therefrom. The seed produced from the various strains was sepa- 

 rated into three classes, according to its quality. The improvement in the quality of 

 the seed of root crops placed on the Danish market is illustrated by the fact that in 

 the spring of 1900, at the beginning of these experiments, only 35,770 lbs. of seed of 

 first-class strains were on the market, against about 350,000 lbs. in the spring of 

 1904. — f. w. WOLL. 



