534 EXPERIMENT STATION liECORD. 



root tubercles. Only three of tlie crops were gathered; their yields of 

 seed in pounds j)er acre was as rollows: 



Yield of peas on marled and limed soils. 



Garden peas (inociilnted) 



FieJd peas (inoculated) 



Leutils 



The other crops were not gathered, bnt tlieir appearance also indi- 

 cated injury from the use of quicklime. 



The author's conclusion is that the failure to form root tubercles was 

 tlie cause of the decrease on the limed plats, and that this was due to 

 the destructive effect of the quicklime on the organism concerned in the 

 fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. 



In previous experiments with field peas and horse beans on sandy 

 soil and " high moor," marl gave better results than quicklime, but the 

 difference in their effects was never so great as in the above experi- 

 ment. If for sandy soil poor in lime, marl can not be had, the author 

 advises that quicklime be applied to the grain crop preceding the legu- 

 minous crop and not directly to the latter. 



Soil inoculation for lupines, Salfeld {I)eut landw. Presse, 21 

 {1894), ^o. 78, p. 745). — On an old field where lupines had never before 

 grown, lupine seed was sown in standing rye June 3, 1891. In the 

 preceding February about 3,200 lbs. per acre of soil from a lupine field 

 had been carefully and evenly scattered over the growing rye. About 

 the middle of September it was noticed that about half the plants 

 were dark green and well developed, while the remainder were reddish 

 and small, presenting the same appearance as plants on virgin soil 

 not inoculated. The weak plants grew among the strong and close to 

 them. The strong plants had numerous root tubercles, Mie weak plants 

 none. The author draws the lesson that earth for inoculation purposes 

 should not only be ev^enly spread on the surface but should be mixed 

 with the soil by the plow or harrow, in order that it may be so diffused 

 as to influence every individual plant. 



A chemical-botanical investigation of different varieties of oats 

 at Mustiala, 1892, G. Grotenfelt {Mustiala A(/L College Bpt. 1892, 

 pp. 07-103). — Forty-eight samples of oats, 1*8 of domestic (Finnish) and 

 20 of foreign origin, were grown at the college exi)erimental grounds 

 during 1892. The foreign samples came from the Scandinavian coun- 

 tries, from Germany, England, Scotland, and the United States. They 

 included varieties of Welcome, N^ew Zealand, Canada, Triumph, White 

 Danish, Duppauer, Probsteier oats, etc. A part of the seed was sub- 

 jected to chemical analysis, and examined as to germination, purity, 

 etc. During the growing period notes were taken at least every other 

 day concerning the stand of the different varieties. The influence of 

 the climate on the varieties was thus carefully studied. 



