FIELD CROPS. 41 



It is shown that in most cases the seed sent in by farmers who had cnndneted the 

 work was inferior to the original seed and in some cases the samples fell niucth below 

 the standard. They contained more impurities, had a smaller hectoliter weight and 

 a smaller weight per 1,000 seeds and a greater percentage of hull than the original 

 seed. 



The year 1899 was, however, a poor year for oats, many of the flowers were not 

 fertilized and many seeds were shrunken. 



The author further compares the standard seed and the seed produced in 1899 in 

 regard to the character of the seed. He recognizes 5 classes, 3 of which are based 

 upon the position of the seed in the spikelet and called, respectively, lower middle, 

 and upper seeds, besides single and double seeds. A single seed is one developed in 

 the lowest flower of the spikelet when the other flowers are abortive; the double 

 seed is formed by the middle seed becoming enclosed in the glume of the lower seed 

 of the same spikelet. The lower seeds are the heaviest and best developed, being 

 even larger than the single seeds. 



A careful analysis of the original seed and that of the 1899 crops of all varieties 

 showed that the former contained a larger proportion of lower and single seeds than 

 did the new crop as sent in by the farmers. This crop could, however, be made 

 equal to the standard by selecting the heaviest seeds with a fanning mill. This is 

 the secret of maintaining a variety constantly up to its original quality and is the 

 means of improving it. 



This is the first year of the exi:)eriment. — ii. m. pieters. 



Commercial fertilizers for potatoes, W. H. Jordan {Nev! York State Sta. Bui. 

 187, pp. 215-2S2) . — This bulletin is a report on experiments made in 1899 and 1900 

 in continuation of work previously reported (E. S. R., 11, p. 235). The plan and 

 purpose of the experiments have been heretofore described. The results of the 

 yields for the 2 years are given in detail in tabular form. The author summarizes 

 the results as follows: " Experiments in potato growing conducted for 4 years on 4 

 Long Island farms with fertilizers varying in quantity from 500 lbs. to 2,000 lbs. per 

 acre show that on the average the largest profit was realized from the use of 1,000 

 lbs." 



The so-called Long Island formula, containing 4 per cent of nitrogen, 8 of available 

 phosphoric acid, and 10 of potash, proved to be superior to a potato formula con- 

 taining 7, 4, and 10 per cent, respectively, of these different elements. 



"Experiments with varying quantities of potash gave results which do not justify 

 the use of such large quantities of this ingredient as are now being ai^plied in potato 

 growing by many Long Island farmers whose conditions are similar to those under 

 "which these tests were made. 



"It is clearly evident that a large supply of available plant food does not neces- 

 sarily insure a satisfactory crop. Other conditions which largely pertain to culture, 

 such as texture, humus, and water supply, exercise a controlling influence, and when 

 these conditions are unfavorable their effect is not overcome by heavy applications 

 of fertilize'-." 



Profitable potato fertilizing, III, F. H. Hall and W. H. Jordan {New York 

 State Sta. Bui. 187, popular ed.,pp. 5). — This is a popular summary of the above 

 bulletin. 



The influence of selecting' seed potatoes from plants with well-developed 

 stems and large tubers, C. von Seelhorst {Jour. Landiv., 4S {1900), No. ;?, pj). 

 07-103). — A report is here given of experiments made in 1898 and 1899 with seed 

 potatoes from large and from small plants. In some of the tests the seed had been 

 selected from large or small plants since 1892. The results in nearly every case 

 indicated that the productivity of the parent plant is transmitted, the seed tubers 

 selected from the larger jilants giving the best yields. 



231Ui— No. 1— 01 4 



