FIELD OKOPS. 129 



Hoivuty, an early variety, with very small 8talks, showed the larjrest increasi? in yield 

 due to tliick plantinu;, tlie average increase for '.i varieties l)eing 1.7 ]»u. per acre. 

 In another series of distance experiments, condncted in 189(5 and 1897, the results of 

 both sea,sons favor planting so that the distance in the drill nearly etjuals the dis- 

 tance between the rows. The results of cultivation exi)eriments indicated that the 

 first cultivation should l)e deep and that frequent cultivation should be continued 

 late into the season. Among the different methods of harvesting, the l)est yields of 

 grain and forage were ol>tained by cutting and shocking the entire plant, as com- 

 parer with harvesting the ears alone, the tops and ears, and the leaves and ears. 



The fertilizer experiments comprised tests with commercial fertilizers and a num- 

 Iter of leguminous crops. Lime was found useless on sandy upland poor in humus 

 and unprofitable on soil containing considerable vegetable matter. Cowi)ea and 

 velvet bean vines plowed under were effective fertilizers for corn. Beggar weed, as 

 a fertilizer, also increased the yield, but to a lesser extent than velvet beans. The 

 stul)ble of cowpeas and velvet beans did not produce a residual effect equal to that 

 of the vines. A comparison of hairy vetch, hairy vetch stubble, rye, and rye stubble 

 as manures for corn showed a yield of 8.4 bu. where the rye was plowed undfer and 

 17.5 bu. per acre where vetch was used as green manure. Vetch stubble also gave 

 better results than rye stubble. It was found more profitable to harvest vetch for 

 hay and turn under the stul^ble than to use the entire plant as a fertilizer. Applica- 

 tions of 200 lbs. of cotton-seed meal and 4.'54 lbs. of cotton seed i)er acre, furnishing eijual 

 amounts of nitrogen, were about etjually effective. Tests conducted for 2 and 3 years 

 with acid phosphate kainit and cotton-seed meal on sandy soil showed that the use 

 of these fertilizers was unprofitable. On "mulatto" land, cotton-seed meal increased 

 the yield of corn 7.9 1)u. while acid jihosphate and kainit were ineffective. 



Cooperative experiments with cotton in 1899 and 1900, J. F. Duggar 

 {AInhdma College Sta. Bui. 11.3, pp. oJ). — These experiments are in continuation of 

 work previously reported (E. S. R., 11, p. 139). pf the cooperative soil tests made 

 in 1S99 and 1900 in 37 different localities of the State, including the station, 23 gave 

 definite results and these are given in tables and discussed. The results of the rest of 

 thii experiments were inconclusive on account of certain vitiating conditions which 

 destroyed their value for comparison. The fertilizers em2)loyed were the same as 

 in previous experiments. The weather conditions for both seasons were very unfa- 

 vorable. The results ol)tained by each experiment are given, but no conclusions are 

 drawn. 



Linseed and flax {Queendand Agr. Jour., S {1901), No. 1, pp. 4~^)- — -An article on 

 the possilnlity of profitable flax growing in Queensland. 



Crop and forage notes, 1900, F. C. Burtis {Oklahoma Sta. Bvl. 4^, pp. 11). — 

 This bulletin contains a rejjortof the crops under test at the station in order to deter- 

 mine suita1)le varieties, the best adapted soils, and the most desiral)le methods of 

 cultivation. The grass garden at the station is described, and the results with the 

 different grasses and clovers in 1900 l)riefly noted. Alfalfa was sown in 1898 and 

 1899 on two fields, but the growth of the crop was not permanent and the second and 

 third year tluire was only a poor stand left. Kape drilled in rows 30 in. apart and 

 cultivat^'d yielded 23.5 tons of green forage per acre, and on plats where the rape was 

 drilled 6 in. apart or drilled with oats, the yields were 1 1 an<l 12.5 tons per acre 

 respectively. Field peas grown with oats yielded at the rat«^ of 15 tons of green 

 forage per acre. The sugar l)eets grown at the station were too low in quality for 

 factory purposes. For several years cowpeas grown at the station farm as a catch 

 cro]) after wheat and oats have given good results. A rotation and contiiuious crop- 

 ping experiment wa.M begun this season with corn, Kafir corn, and castor lieans and 

 the results obtained are noted. 



