430 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOED, 



greater tlian the total yield from plats cut only tliree times. It is noted, Iiow- 

 ever, that the yields of the fourth crop were higher than can be expected in an 

 ordinary season, since the date of the first frost was nearly three weeks later 

 than usual. The determinations of shrinkage of alfalfa cut at different dates 

 " indicate that the amount of shrinkage in the second and third crops was slightly 

 more than in the first. There was no very consistent difiierence in the amount 

 of shrinkage in the first crop as the length of the growing period increased, 

 although the shrinkage was less in the pair of plats cut last than in those 

 which were harvested earlier. The average shrinkage for the three crops was 

 76.3 per cent, which is within 0.2 per cent of the average obtained on the same 

 plats in 1913." 



Methods of seed production are briefly noted. Of ten methods of eradicating 

 alfalfa, that of plowing from 4 to 5 in. deep when the third crop was about 

 2 in. high, and floating and reiJlowing from 8 to 10 in. deep six weeks later proved 

 the most successful, the eradication being practically complete, as only two 

 plants per square rod were found the following June, and none by November. 



A test of separate pasture grasses showed that " excellent stands of all of 

 the grasses were secured except timothy, Kentucky blue grass, redtop, and 

 western wheat grass. The grasses that produced the best growth and largest 

 quantities of hay during 1913 and 1914 were awnless brome grass, meadow 

 fescue, tall fescue, orchard grass, and tall oat grass." The results of pasturing 

 tests on mixtures of these grasses were very satisfactory. Two cows were 

 carried through the season on three-fourths of an acre. 



An experiment with sugar beets covering width-of-row and distance-of-thin- 

 ning tests showed the highest yields by planting the rows 24 in. apart and 

 thinning to 8 in. in the row, the average yield from this spacing being 18.68 

 tons per acre as against a general average of 16.89 tons. The control of the 

 sugar-beet root louse was secured to a considerable extent by keeping the soil 

 "wet" during the growing season by frequent irrigations, resulting in a sup- 

 pression of the insect to about 30 per cent of the plants at harvest time, while 

 on the area not so treated 63 per cent of the plants were infested. 



Variety tests of wheat, corn, soy beans, garden peas, irrigation of flax, tests 

 of orchard trees and small fruits, and fertilizer exxoeriments with oats are 

 briefly noted. 



It is noted that the methods of reclamation of a tract of very heavy im- 

 pervious clay and rather excessive alkali content, consisting of green manur- 

 ing, barnyard manuring, and cultivation, are proving effective. 



Breeding of Alpine forms of pasture grasses, T. von Weinziebl (Jahrl). 

 Weidew. u. Futterbaues, 2 (1914), Ergdnzungs'b., pp. 91-192, figs. 39). — This 

 gives results in the breeding and selection of grasses in adaptation and accli- 

 matization work in the Austrian Alps in continuation of work previously 

 noted (E. S. R., 14, p. 349; 30, p. 633). The general development of the work 

 is reviewed, and the methods employed in planting, cultivation, transplanting, 

 selection and breeding, harvesting, and storing are described. Every phase of 

 the work with each variety is fully recorded and a copy of the breeding record 

 sheet of each of the following-named grasses is presented : Festuca pratensis, 

 Dactylis glomerata, Arrhenatherum elatius, A. elatiiis var. hulhosum, Avcna 

 jmbescens, Poa firmula, P. serotina, Alopecurus laguriformis, F. psetidovina, 

 F. ruhra var. genuina, F. rubra var. fallax, F. arundinacea, Phleum medium, 

 P. michelii, P. alpinum, and Agropymm caninum. 



The effect of frequent clipping on total yield and composition of grasses, 

 W. B. Ellett and L. Carrier (Jour. Amer. Soc. Agron., 7 {1915), No. 2, pp. 

 85-87). — This gives results of work carried on at the Virginia Experiment Sta- 

 tion in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Data show the 



