FIELD CROPS. 239 



apijaralup desijrnecl to (letorniiiie the menu crusliins? point of the wheat kernel. 

 It is ho[)e(l to ascertain the eorrehition existinijc between hardness of the Icernel 

 and the chemical and physical characters of the glnten. 



A thorough investigation of 2 pure strains of wheat, one hard, the other soft, 

 indicated that a sufficiently correct average mean crushing point for a given 

 pure strain or variety could be refTched by taking the mean of the crushing 

 points of oHO kernels. "Soft" wheats generally crushed under a pressure of 

 0,000 gm. or less (lo lbs.), "semihard" wheats under about 9,000 gm., and 

 *' hard " wheats at 12.000 gm. or over. 



Fertilizers for wheat soils, M. Whitney {U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Soils Bui. 

 66, pp. .'fS, fiys. .^8). — This bulletin gives a compilation of the yields of wheat 

 on unfertilized soils and on soils fertilized with various materials in 3,227 

 individual plat tests reported by the state agricultural experiment stations for 

 the years 1800-1907. 



The yields of check plats are compared with those of the fertilizetl plats 

 and valuations and results given for the 4.5 different materials tested singly 

 and in various combinations. The applications of these different classes of 

 fertilizers resulted in average losses ranging from $1.43 to $4.58 per acre except 

 in the case of applications of manure and compost where the average gain per 

 acre was 17 cts. Though the duplicate cheek plats showed such wide variations 

 that considerable latitude is necessary in the interpretation of all results, the 

 chances for an increase in the yield of wheat are deemed greater with two or 

 three fertilizers mixed than with single fertilizers. Small applications of single 

 fertilizers gave in general no less an increase than the larger amounts, and an 

 equal increase in crop was Indicated for the same fertilizers on good soils as 

 on unproductive soils. 



Brief accounts of fertilizer plat tests on the same soil for a long period of 

 years at the Ohio and Pennsylvania stations, and at the Rothamsted Station 

 in England are also given and discussed, considerable yearly variation being 

 pointed out. 



Beport of the test of chemical fertilizers in Greece, T. N. Melindonas 

 (Deltioii Ifclhinikas (Jeonjikas Hetanvins. I {190'.)), No. 12, pp. 3Jf4-3Ji7, fig. 

 1). — The application of fertilizer containing from 3 to 3^ per cent of nitrogen, 

 10 to 11 per cent of phosphoric acid and 11 to 12 per cent of potassium nitrate 

 was followed by a yield of wheat worth 128 drachmas per stremma ($100 per 

 acre) as compared with a yield valued at 58 drachmas per stremma on the 

 check plat. 



Experiments on tillering and thick against thin sowing of Ked Fife wheat, 

 R. N. DowLiNG (Jour. Southeast. Agr. Col. Wi/e, 1908, No. 17, pp. .',9-56).^ 

 Plats of Red Fife wheat drilled in rows G in. apai't and at the rates of 1, 2, 

 3. and 4 bu. per acre showed a tendency to tiller and to rust decreasing as the 

 rate of sowing increased, but a plat sowed at the rate of 2| bu. per acre in 

 rows 12 in. apart excelled all others in tendency to tiller and gave a yield of 

 grain and straw slightly loss than that sowed at the rate of 3 bu. per acre. 

 The maximum yield was produced on the plat sowed at the rate of 4 bu. per 

 acre. From a similar weight of seed Red Fife produced more stems than 

 Essex Conqueror, but the English wheat had a higher percentage of tillering 

 and yielded 18 bu. more grain per acre. 



[On seed analysis, inoculation of leguminous crops, spraying experiments, 

 and grain breeding], F. (}. Stebler {Laiulw. Jaltrb. Sehivciz-, 2Ji {1910), No. 1, 

 pp. 2.'i). — The results of purity and germination tests of seeds of varieties of 

 clover, alfalfa, grass, forest trees, and forage and fodder crops at the Seed 

 Control Station at Zurich are reported. Mechanical analyses of the soils 

 52005°— No. 3—10 -4 



