982 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Cooperative soil tests with corn, A. J. Bondurant {Alahama 

 College Sta. Bui. 59, pp. 23). — This is a report of co()])erative tests in 23 

 localities. A fertilizer consisting of equal parts of cotton-seed meal 

 and superphosphate, applied to corn at the rate of 1,000 lbs. per acre, 

 resulted in a financial loss of $2.29 j)er acre. The author assumes that 

 peas planted between the corn rows would have yielded in the same 

 proportion as the corn, and on this basis calculates a profit of 71 cts. 

 per acre in favor of fertilizers. 



The loss of corn fodder in drying, W. W. Cooke and F. L. Wat- 

 ROUS {Colorado Sta. Bui. 30, pp. 33, 24). — In 1893 the loss of dry matter 

 in field curing corn was fully one third. In 1894 corn was cured in 

 shocks, each containing about 500 lbs. of green fodder, in small shocks, 

 and in a thin layer on the ground. 



" So far as could be told by the eye there had been no loss. The fodder had cured 

 in nice shape, and the stalks on the inside of the bundles retained their green color, 

 with no sign of molding or heating. And yet the large shocks had lost 31 per cent 

 of their dry matter, or feeding value, the small shocks 43 per cent, and the corn 

 spread on the ground 55 per cent. 



"On breaking or cutting the stalks these losses were explained. The juice was 

 acid, and there was a very strong acid odor, showing that an active fermentation 

 was taking place in this seemingly dry fodder." 



Flax for seed and fiber, 0. K. Dodge ( V. 8. Dept. Agr., Farmers^ 

 Bui. 27, pp. 16). — The author shows that good seed and salable fiber can 

 be produced from the same plant. He points out the need of scutch 

 mills, and advises a threefold division of labor in establishing an Amer- 

 ican flax fiber industry, viz, the growing of the crop by the farmer, the 

 retting and scutching by the purchaser or factor, and the spinning and 

 weaving by the manufacturer. 



Other topics treated are soil selection and preparation, fertilizing, 

 rotation, kind and amount of seed, meteorological considerations, and 

 harvesting seed and fiber. 



Experiments with foreign seeds, P. H. Mbll {Alabama College 

 Sta. Bui. 60, pp. 27-32). — Analyses are given of Eleusine corocana and 

 Paspalum scorhiculatum, two foreign i^lants which proved satisfactory 

 for forage. Japanese buckwheat, fiat i^ea, and sqja beans succeeded on 

 the station farm. Sugar beets, damaged by nematodes, contained 8.5 to 

 11.4 per cent of sugar. Chick-pea, sesame, and green gram {Phaseolus 

 mungo) were grown, and the last-named plant matured earlier than the 

 garden pea. 



A contribution to the study of hops, A. Leplae {Contribution 

 a Vetude du houhlon. Bruxelles: 1895, pp. 81, figs. 72). — This publication 

 is chiefly devoted to the methods of drying hops and to the construction 

 of hop kilns. Chemical and mechanical analyses of dried hops, quali- 

 ties desired in hops, and methods of harvesting also receive attention. 



Although the cones bearing seeds do not contain less lupulin than 

 the unfertilized flowers, they are not favorably regarded by brewers in 



