514 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



is now in progress. He believed the success of the undertaking 

 depended upon grouping the stations with reference to the problems 

 to be solved in different sections of the country, and devising a work- 

 ing plan for each group, with one of the stations as a central agency, 

 for the distribution of seeds and other assistance. As examples of 

 what might be done in this direction he cited the range improvement 

 work in the Southwest in cooperation with the Arizona Station, and 

 the grass and forage plant investigations in the Northwest, with the 

 Minnesota Station as a central agency. The following lines of work 

 were suggested: (1) The introduction of crops from foreign countries, 

 (2) the growth and dissemination of introduced crops after they have 

 become in a measure established, (3) the dissemination of native crops 

 of local value, (4) breeding crops for certain conditions, and (5) increas- 

 ing production by improved culture methods. 



K. H. Forbes described the grass and forage crop conditions of 

 Arizona, and dwelt upon the ways and means of solving existing 

 problems. For the improvement of the worn-out range the exclusion 

 of grazing in connection with sowing and harrowing in seeds of native 

 plants, the construction of small embankments for holding storm water, 

 and the introduction of desert forage plants were recommended. Range 

 reclamation conducted b}- the Arizona Station for two years along the 

 lines mentioned, on a reserve of 350 acres, has given promising results. 

 Lippia rejyens^ an Egyptian lawn plant, was reported as having made 

 a veiy good growth during the dry summer. 



F. Lamson-Scribner, of this Department, described the arrangement 

 and plans of cooperative work wnth the stations, the method of keep- 

 ing records, and the work done by voluntary experimenters. 



In a paper on Quantitative studies in the transmission of parental 

 characteristics in hybrid offspring, W. J. Spillman presented the 

 results obtained in breeding wheat with a view to originating a non- 

 shattering winter variety for the Palouse country of Washington, the 

 range of variation as observed in the first and second generations of 

 hybrid plants being illustrated by specimen heads. The hybrids pro- 

 duced were the progeny of a variety of club wheat {Triticum compactuvi) 

 and a variety of T. vulgare. In the first generation the hybrid plants 

 of the same breeding showed little variation, but in the second gener- 

 ation the}^ split up into many types, representing on nearly every 

 plat the characters of the two parents and intermediate combinations. 

 These t3'pes were classified into groups and the proportion of the dif- 

 ferent groups on each plat was presented graphically. W. M. Haj'S 

 also presented a paper on wheat breeding, discussing the results 

 obtained at the Minnesota Station. In the experience of the author, 

 the distribution of seeds of new varieties on a commercial basis, rather 

 than bv sending out small packages, has given the best results. 



Following a paper by B. W. Kilgore on the methods for determining 



