FIELD CROPS. 543 



Seeding down to grass in New South Wales, P. Quirk (A/jr. Caz. Xeir South 

 Wales. IJ (1901), Xo. S, pp. ,161-363). — A popular discussion on tlu' |iri'])aration of the 

 land for wrass and the kinds of <^rasses to sow. 



Seeding down pastures and meadows, V. GuAxn.iKAN (SciiKthic .{(jr., .,'1 (1901), 

 ' No. 10S9, j>. 117). 



Nitrogenous fertilizers for meadows, Kihxeki' (Landir. Wclni/il. Sclih'xir'uj- 

 Ifo'sfrlii, r,l [1901), Xo. 1?, i>. IS.l). 



Experiments in the improvement of pasture and range grasses, J. T. Wil- 

 LARD {Indiisirialist, 27 {1901), Xo. 30, pp. 369-37 £).—Th\s artirle is a discussion of 

 experiments with grasses on cultivated land and on native sod injured by exces- 

 sive pasturing, which were conducted by the Kansas Station in c-oopei'ation with 

 the Division of Agrostology of this Department, in the extreme southern part of 

 Kansas. 



Agaves in Algeria, Traiu't (/>«/. Agr. Algerie et Tuvime, 7 {1901), Xo. 6, pj> 121- 

 130, figs. 7). — This article discusses the culture of the agave in .Mgeria, with special 

 reference to .1. luiirittnfa. 



Fall seeding of alfalfa, H. M. Cottrell {Kamas Sta. Bui. 104, PP- 4, pl»- ^)- — 

 A brief popular bulletin giving directions for seeding alfalfa in the fall. Notes are 

 given on the preparation of the land, time and method of sowing, and the soils 

 adapte<l to alfalfa culture. 



Alfalfa culture {(/ucemliinrl Agr. Jour., 8 {1901), Xo. 3, pp. 163, Z';-^).— Popular 

 directions for growing alfalfa. 



Increasing the food value and dry matter of forage beets, P. Assarson 

 {Landu: Wchnhl. Srhlesvig-Hohtein, 51 {1901), Xo. 14, pp. 210,211).— A brief report 

 on the progress made in the imiirovement of several varieties of fodder beets since 

 1897. The results for 3 years show an average increase of 1.22 per cent in the dry 

 matter. 



Beet culture in Algeria, G. Cureyras {Bid. Agr. Algerie et Tuninie, 7 {1901), Xo. 

 4, pp. 82-87). — An article on the favorable conditions for beet culture in Algeria 

 •where the beet occurs in a wild state. 



Chemical study of seed beets, M. Gerbidon {Ana. Agron., 27 {1901), Xo. 3, pp. 

 135-144). — The results (^f a chemical investigation on forage beets for the purpose of 

 determining the amounts of plant food these plants remove from the soil, what fer- 

 tilizing value their residues represent, and whether the roots after the grains have 

 been harvested have any feeding value, are presented in tabular form and discussed 

 at some length. 



The chlorin requirement of the buckwheat plant, A. Mayer {Jour. Dindw. 

 49 {1901), Xo. 1, pp. 41-60, p>l. 1). 



Prussic acid in sweet cassava, P. Carmody ( Trinidad Bot. Dept. Bid. Misc. 

 Inform., 1901, Xo. 27, pp. .3i.9-.:?.a',?).— The author's results, although somewhat lower, 

 fully confirm those of his predecessor, Francis, as to the presence of hydrocyanic 

 acid in sweet cassava. Francis found that the so-called sweet or harmless cassava, 

 not only yielded prussic acid, but the quantity obtained from it was nearly equal to 

 that from the bitter, so that no line of distinction could be drawn between them. 

 While the author's analytical results were very similar, he found that in sweet cas- 

 sava the prussic acid is largely in the skin and outer cortical layer. The hydrocyanic 

 acid content of sweet cassava ranged from 0.005 to 0.019 per cent, and averaged 

 0.010. The author draws the general conclusions that in sweet cassava the prussic 

 acid is not uniformly distributed throughout the tuber, while in bitter cassava its 

 distribution is uniform, or nearly so; and that this affords an analytical means of dis- 

 tinguishing between sweet and bitter ca.ssava. Attention is called to the methods of 

 preparing cassava for food, and especially to the fact that with local methods cas- 

 sava is prepared by removing the skin of the sweet kind before cooking, the iimer 

 portion alone being eaten. There appears to be no ground for the connuon belief 

 that the hydrocyanic acid in sweet cassava increases with age, nor that the locally 



