242 EXPERIMENT STATION KEOORD. 



the longest ears were sown, those in No. 4 being from plants with the shortest inter- 

 nodes and those in No. 5 from plants with the longest internodes. Seeds from heads 

 midway between the shortest and the average were planted in bed No. 6, while bed 

 No. 7 was planted with seeds from heads intermediate between the longest and the 

 average. The seeds were planted separately and at convenient distances. The 

 results from these plants and those from the mother plants are compared in a table. 

 In 1897 the results showed great variations in the length of the upper internode, but 

 in the progeny of these plants there was no great difference in the lengths of the 

 first internodes and the heads. The characteristics, therefore, which distinguishe<l 

 the mother plant had entirely disappeared. This result is attributed to unusually 

 favorable conditions of growth which overcame the influence of heredity. The cor- 

 relation in the length of the upper internodes and of the heads is expressed as 1: 1.5 

 for the experiments in 1897 and as 1 : 1 for the results obtained in beds 3, 4, and 5 in 1898. 

 No general conclusions are drawn from these results, but the author states that when 

 rye plants are grown under favorable conditions heredity has no apparent influence 

 on the length of the first internodes, the culm, and the head, nor on the correlation 

 between the lengths of the first internode and the head. — h. m. pieters. 



Sorghum in 1899 and 1900, C. L. Penny {Delaware Sta. Rpt. 1900, pp. 77-83).— 

 The work of selective propagation hitherto reported (E. S. R., 11, p. 141) was con- 

 tinued in 1899, while in 1900 the possible increase in yield of sugar per acre was 

 studied. This work has been previously discussed from a different standpoint 

 (E. S. R., 13, p. 42). Tables are given presenting the results in detail and giving a 

 summary of the crops for 1898 to 1900, inclusive. The experiments were conducted 

 in 3 different localities of the State. The results from one locality show that cane 

 grown in rows 40 in. apart on one plat and 34^ in. apart on another, containing 

 about 20,500 and 62,000 stalks per acre, respectively, had practically the same per- 

 centage of sugar in the juice, while the purity of the thinly planted cane was 78.5 and 

 of the thickly planted, 81.4. Thick planting increased the available sugar per ton of 

 cane from 219 to 222 lbs. and almost doubled the yield of cane. The available sugar 

 per acre was increased in this case from 2,416 to 4,866 lbs. Very rich caneexceeding 18 

 per cent of sugar in the juice did not give a high yield of cane per acre. An apparent 

 falling off in the richness of the cane in the crops of recent years compared with those 

 obtained in 1897 (E. S. R., 10, p. 345) is reported, but the author states that in the 

 locality which produced the above-mentioned high yield of sugar the cane has never 

 been notably richer. The conclusion is that close planting decreases the size of the 

 stalks, but it is believed that so far in this work a limit of crowding which would 

 result in a loss in the yield of sugar has not yet been reached. 



Soy beans in Kansas in 1900, H. M. Cottrell, D. H. Otis, and J. G. Haney 

 {Kansaii ,Sla. Bui. 100, pp. 57-115, pin. 5, map 1). — This bulletin reports the results of 

 cultural tests with soy beans at the station and throughout the State. Reports were 

 received from 292 farmers representing 75 of the 105 counties of the State, and the 

 individual reports are here presented in condensed form and reviewed. At the 

 station .59.5 acres of Early Yellow soy beans were grown, and 16 varieties of soybeans 

 were tested on a 22-acre field, but owing to drought the yields were not satisfactory. 

 Experiments made at the station during 12 years show that the Early Yellow is the 

 best of the varieties tested for Kansas conditions. Suggestions on soil inoculation for 

 soy beans and cultural directions are given. The majority of the farmers connected 

 with the cooperative test considered soy beans a profitable crop. 



Variety tests with sugar beets {Bl. Zuekerrubenbau, S {1901), No. 3, pp. 

 38-40). — A report on variety tests of sugar beets m Sicily. 



The world's exhibit of leaf tobacco at the Paris Exposition of 1900, 

 M. L. Floyd {V. S. Dcpt. Agr. Yearbook 1900, jyp. 157-166, jiJi^. ;?).— This article 

 briefly describes by countries the leaf tobacco exhibits worthy of note at the Paris 

 Exposition of 1900. The collective exhibit made by this Department and the 



