»18J FIELD CBOPS. 241 



One ton of the dried haulms was Found to Contain three times as much 

 oltrogea ami phosphoric add and nearly ten times as much potash as l ton 



of farmyard manure During the growing season the potato plant utilized 

 phosphoric add, nitrogen, and potash in the proportion of 1:4:0. It Is stated 

 that potatoes can be grown successfully on poor sandy soils, provided readily 

 available plant food and farmyard manure are judiciously applied. 



Analysis of a potato hybrid, Solanum fendleriXS. tuberosum, D. T. Mac- 

 Douqax (Carnegie Inst. Washington Year Book, 10 {1917), p. 98). — This briefly 

 reports the progress of hybridization work with acclimated cultures of the 

 wild potato of Arizona, 8. futdlvri, found at elevations of over 5,000 ft., and 

 a domestic variety at Carmel, Cal., begun in 1914. 



Raffia or bass: Its production, preparation, and utilization (Bui. Imp. Inst. 

 [So. K< n.sint/ton], 15 (1917), No. 3, pp. 484-4-bOY- — This is a general discussion 

 of raifia production and of the preparation of the liber for market, with special 

 reference to the development of the industry in East and West Africa. 



Rice in Indo-China, G. Capun {Arm. GCogr., 27 (WIS), No. 1^5, pp. 25-^2). — 

 An historic account of rice production in Indo-China, together with a rather 

 eoiuprehensive discussion of the possibilities of increased production through 

 seed selection and improved cultural methods. 



How sorghum crosses are made, T. E. Nafzigee (Jour. Heredity, 9 (1918), 

 No. 7, pp. 321, 322). — This briefly describes the technique and method of pro- 

 cedure employed by the author in breeding work with sorghum on the plant 

 breeding plats at the Kansas College during the summer of 1916. 



Studies in inheritance in sugar cane, H. B. Co wt. ill (Jour. Dcpt. Agr. P. R., 

 I (1918). No. 1, pp. 33-41). — Resemblances of seedling canes to the seed parent 

 and of seedlings to parents in canes from cross-pollinated tassels are briefly 

 described, as noted in plant-breeding work with certain sugar cane varieties 

 ( E. S. R., 39, p. 33) in Porto Rico. The 'following conclusions were reached: 



Seedling canes in the first generation showed a degree of resemblance to the 

 parent varieties, that of color being more marked than any other characteristic. 

 Seedlings showed wider variations than canes produced from cuttings of the 

 same variety. The greatest variation in seedlings produced from tassels of 

 a single variety was in the size and form of the plants and of their component 

 parts. Certain varieties produced better seedlings than others. Abnormalities 

 were common in seedling canes, but rare in canes produced from cuttings, some 

 varieties producing many more abnormal seedlings than others. 



New types of cane were obtained by crossing different varieties, variation 

 appearing to be increased by a single combination of two sorts. Crossing 

 seemed to produce a recombination of characters of the parents in some of the 

 progeny, this being due to the dominance of certain characters derived from 

 each parent. Only slight differences in the sugar content of the juice were 

 observed between groups of seedlings produced from different varieties. 



Cross-pollination of sugarcane, II. B. COWGHX (Jour. Aincr. Soc. Agron., 10 

 (1918), No. 7-8, pp. 302-306).— This briefly describes the methods employed, 

 and discusses some of the results obtained in breeding work with sugar cane 

 in Porto Rico already mentioned in the article noted above and elsewhere. It 

 is concluded that sugar cane can be cross-pollinated and protected from outside 

 pollen, that a considerable number of seedlings ran be obtained, and that char- 

 acters of the parent varieties are combined in the seedling. 



It is suggested editorially by L. 11. Smith that desirable combinations might 

 be perpetuated in hybrid condition by asexual propagation. 



[Fertilizer experiments with sugar cane in British Guiana], J. B. Hakki- 

 so.n, C. K. Banckoit, and R. Wabd (Jour. Bd. Agr. Brit, iiuiana, 11 (1918), No. 



