1019] FIELD CROPS. 029 



The waste pulp from New Zealand hemp {Bill, Imp. fust. {8o. Kensington], 

 it; (1918), \". .'. pp. /■■'/ tS8). An examination <>f the pnlp remaining after 

 the preparation of the fiber from New Zealand hemp {Phormium tentut) Indi- 

 cated thai it was of little value as a paper-making material hut had consider- 

 able rnaiiuii.ii value. As compared with fresh, stable manure, the pulp con- 

 talned about twice as much nitrogen, approximately the same amount of phos- 

 phoric acid, and from live to six times as much potash. Tin- water Soluble ash 

 is said to compare favorably with commercial potash except for the presence 

 of relatively large amounts of sodium carbonate. 



Some methods suitable for the study of root development, A. and G. I. C. 

 HOWARD {Agr. .lour. India, Indian St-i. Cong. No., 1918, pp. 86-S9). — In con- 

 tinuation of work previously noted (K. s. K., 89, p. 230), the authors describe 

 further observations on the root development of Java Indigo and on methods 

 for Studying root growth. In order to observe root development In soil aeration 

 experiments, the use of pits from 3 to 6 ft. square and from 2 to 2.5 ft. deep is 

 recommended In preference to ordinary pot cultures. 



At i'usa heavy pruning of the first crop of indigo, leaving a few leaves, is said 

 to have resulted in far less damage to the roots and nodules and in a much 

 more rapid development of the second crop than completely cutting back the 

 first growth as is the universal practice in the cultivation of indigo in Bihar. 



Origin and early habitat of common and of bearded oats (Avena diffusa 

 and A. orientalis), A. Schulz (Ber. Deut. Bot. Gesell., 86 (1918), No. 4, PP- 

 ..'.'." .'!.!). — Assuming that the cultivated forms of oats were derived from 

 .1. fatua, the author briefly discusses the probability of the latter form having 

 nccin red in western Europe at the beginning of the iron age either in limited 

 cultivation or as a weed. .1. orientalis is regarded as representing a distinct 

 group, originating In eastern Europe or central Asia and only recently intro- 

 duced Into western Europe. 



The inheritance of tight and loose palese in Avena nuda crosses, A. St. C. 

 Caporn (.lour. Genetics, 7 (1918), No. 4, pp. 229-246, figs. 6). — Crosses of A. 

 inula, with different varieties of ordinary oats, including Thousand Dollar, 

 Ligowo, and Nublscher Schwarzer, in a study of the inheritance of tight and 

 loose palese led to the following conclusions, based largely on observations of 

 the F 3 and F 3 generations: 



Complete sclerosis of all the outer palese was found In the "pure tight" or 



« mion varieties with spikelets from two to four flowered. In A. nuda all, or 



nearly all, of the palese were membranous, a few tight grains occurring up to 

 a proportion of over 40 per cent, although "pure tight" forms were never 

 observed. The spikelets were from 6 to 10 flowered. 



The range of variation in the Fi plants was quite marked, pure tight, pure 

 loose, and several intermediate kinds of palese being noted. Segregation in the 

 Fi generation indicated that the inheritance of the pure tight character de- 

 pended upon a single factor. The number of the Fi type appearing in the Fi 

 generation appeared to exceed expectation, owing to the fact that they em- 

 braced tight-containing nuda forms which separated out only with further 

 breeding, such forms never giving pure tights. Much diversity existed among 

 the F a individuals incapable of yielding any pure tights. These nuda forms 

 appeared to result from secondary factors, for according to their type and the 

 manner of their breeding empirical groupings could be made among them. 

 They are said to require more extensive study. In extracted pure tights the 

 number of grains per splkelet never exceeded four, no cross-over of the large 

 nuda number being observed. There was no evidence of repulsion betweeu 

 grey or brown color and pure tight palese. 



