38 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



Saving hay crops, H. L. Blanchard {Washington 8ta., West. Wash. Sta. 

 Mo. Bui, 2 {19 U), No. 3, pp. 6-8).— This gives directions for curing and liar- 

 vesting a hay crop under western Wasliingtou conditions. 



The importance of thick seeding- in the production of milo in the San 

 Antonio region, S. H. Hastings {U. 8. Dept. Agr. Bui. 188 {1915), pp. 21, figs. 

 9). — This bulletin reports and discusses experiments conducted to determine 

 the effect of planting milo maize in rows at different distances apart and of 

 thinning the plants to different distances within the rows on the tillering, 

 branching, uniformity, date of ripening, and yield of grain. 



The results obtained in 1913 and 1914 show that " no marked differences re- 

 BuUed in the number of tillers or the number of heads per plant from varying 

 the distance between rows. In the plats where the rows were uniformly 4 ft. 

 apart, but where the plants were thinned to different distances within the rows, 

 the number of heads per plant decreased and the yield increased as the plants 

 were crowded, the thiclier stands produ(;ing the higher yields. Counts made of 

 the number of tillers per plant on May 15 and of the number of mature heads 

 per plant at harvest shoT\^ed that a large number of tillers on the wide- spaced 

 plants failed to produce heads. 



" The close-spaced plants ripened their grain in 1913 about one week earlier 

 than the wide-spaced plants. This early maturity is particularly important 

 in that it permits the crop to escape the sorghum midge. Increasing the number 

 of plants per row does not necessarily mean a proportionate increase in the 

 total number of heads or stalks per row. The weather conditions influence very 

 markedly the number of tillers and branches produced, although the total num- 

 ber of branches and tillers produced in 1914 about equaled the total number of 

 tillers alone in 1913, when there were but few branches. 



** In practice, the stand is controlled by varying the rate of seeding rather 

 than by thinning the plants ; thick stands are secured by thick seeding. Thicker 

 seeding than is ordinarily practiced appears to be desirable, in that it' results 

 in smaller and more easily handled plant stumps, gives better stands, insures 

 earlier and more uniform maturity, and produces better yields. A rate of 5 to 

 6 lbs. per acre, where the rows are 4 ft. apart, is recommended. It would 

 appear that the close spacing of the plants can be practiced in sections of low 

 rainfall. To offset this increase in the number of plants per row it is neces- 

 sary only to increase the distance between the rows. The time the plants are 

 thinned does not seem to be an important factor in suppressing tillers and 

 branches. If the thinning is delayed sufficiently to reduce tillering, there seems 

 to be a tendency for the plants to increase the number of branches." 



Studies on oat breeding. — II, Selection within pure lines, F. M. Sukface 

 and R. Pearl {Maine Sta. Bui. 235 {1915), pp. J,0, figs. 2).— This gives results 

 of work with oats, the varieties having been previously described (E. S. R., 

 31, p. 832). 



" The present study attempts to analyze the results of three successive years 

 of selection within pure lines of oats. Twenty-eight pure lines representing 13 

 varieties have been used in this work. In the four years 621 garden rows have 

 been grown, involving over 12,500 plants. The characters studied were weight 

 of grain, weight of plant and of straw, height of plant, and the number of 

 culms. Only two characters, yield of grain and height of plant, are analyzed 

 in detail in this paper. The remaining characters show essentially the same 

 things. 



" It is pointed out that the oat flower is practically always self-fertilized. 

 It is shown that if this is true every oat plant must be regarded as homozygous 

 for all of its characters. Consequently the oat plant fulfills all the requirements 

 In the original definition of a pure line. 



