HORTICULTURE. 563 



i cut of the application. The larger quantity somewhat reduced the yield, but a 

 small application of perchlorate vva.s rather favorable inasmuch as it produced early 

 blossoming and a more vigorous growth in the leaves and the roots. 



The addition of a small quantity of sand to a heavy Nishigahara soil caused rapid 

 growth and early blossoming and resulted in a good yield of leaf, with improved 

 burning quality. On lighter soils the burning quality was still better, but the yield 

 was very small. The use of clay instead of sand reduced the yield and the burning 

 capacity. The early development of the plants seemed to be favored by a somewhat 

 insufficient supply of moisture in the soil, but after blossoming the effect of this con- 

 dition was detrimental. The plants receiving greater quantities -of water gave higher 

 yields. A low moisture supply seemed to affect the growth of the stem and the roots 

 to a greater extent than it did the development of the leaves. The water content of 

 the leaves increased with the quantity of water given. 



HORTICULTURE. 



Heredity in bean hybrids (Phaseolus vulgaris), R. A. Emerson (Nebraska 

 Sta. Rpt. 1903, pp. 33-68). — Statistical data are given showing the numerical relation 

 between hybrids of different varieties of beans. A preliminary report on this subject 

 was published two years ago (E. S. R., 14, p. 249). The present paper presents the 

 results of the writer's work with bean hybrids in the light of Mendel's discoveries. 

 The characters discussed relate to the habits of the plants, stringiness of pods, 

 toughness of pods, color of pods, color of flowers, and color of seeds. 



In regard to plant habit, the author found that one of the characteristic distinctions 

 between hush beans and pole beans is that with pole beans the pod clusters are axial 

 and continue to develop as long as the plants grow. With bush beans, on the other 

 hand, many pod clusters are produced at about the same time on all of the usually 

 numerous and short branches, after which the axes seem to elongate and make the 

 pods appear as if borne terminally. 



Pole beans and bush beans crossed with reference to the position of the pods give 

 in the first-generation hybrids with axial pods. In second-generation hybrids plants 

 with terminal and axial pods appeared, in the author's experiments, in the ratio of 

 2.75 : 1. Nine second-generation hybrids produced 130 plants in the third generation, 

 all of which bore terminal pods. Of 19 plants exhibiting axial position of pods in 

 the second generation 9 produced in the third generation 225 plants, all of which 

 had axially disposed pods. Ten produced in the third generation plants showing 

 both axial and terminal pods in the ratio of 3.6 :1, which is somewhat in excess of 

 the Mendelian expectation. 



Some figures are given showing the results obtained as regards pod position in 

 multiple hybrids. In the case of the second-generation multiple hybrids part of the 

 plants behaved exactly like first-generation hybrids and part like second-generation 

 hybrids, a phenomenon explainable according to the .Mendelian principle of the 

 purity of garnets with respect to unit characters. 



Stringlessness in beans appeared to be a dominant character in some cases, while 

 in other cases true intermediates occurred in the first generation. " In the majority 

 of cases stringlessness has been dominant where the pistillate parent is stringless and 

 intermediates have occurred where the pistillate parent is stringy. But this has not 

 held in all cases." Where stringlessness was a dominant character in the first gen- 

 eration, only two forms, dominant and recessive, occurred in the second generation, 

 the ratio being 65 dominant to 33 recessive, or practically 2:1. As between tough- 

 podded and tender-podded races of beans, there was a strong tendency toward domi- 

 nance of tenderness, the first-generation hybrids being almost as tender as the tender- 

 podded parent. 



