322 EXPERIMENT STATIO:!^ EECORD. 



imports of superphosphate, Thomas slag, sodium nitrate, ammonium sulphate, 

 and potash salts in Austria-Hungary for the year 1907 to 1912, inclusive, are 

 reported. 



AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 



studies on variation and selection, A. L. and Mes. A. C. Hagedoorn {Ztschr. 

 Induktive Abstam. u. Vercrbitngslehre, 11 {1914), No. 3, pp. 145-183, figs. 4; 

 abs. in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome], Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 5 

 (1914), No. 4, p. 411). — This is a survey of the progress that has been made in 

 the Mendelian interpretation of variation and selection. The diflaculties of the 

 present terminology are pointed out and a plea is made for a more precise 

 definition and use of terms. Some criticisms by zoologists are discussed in con- 

 nection with facts previously cited by the authors (E. S. R., 31, p. 130), who 

 claim that genes can not be modified by any selection. 



Graphic representation of Mendelian inheritance, P. Wagner {Jahresber. 

 Ver. Angetc. Bot., 11 {1913), No. 2, pp. 137-141, fig. 1). — A device is described 

 which is intended to present concretely to students of heredity and breeders 

 the manner and practical results of the combination, in breeding practice, of 

 one, two, or three pairs of characters as carried through several generations. 

 Examples of the results obtained from its use are discussed. 



Inheritance of the capacity for production, T. Roemee {Filhling's Landw. 

 Ztg., 63 {1914), No. 8, pp. 2ot-268; abs. in Internat. Inst. Ag?'. [Rome], Mo. Bui, 

 Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 5 {1914), -ZVo- 8, pp. 1010, 1011). — Investigations 

 cited are held to show that there is no essential difference as regards mode of 

 inheritance between morphological and biological characters. But since bio- 

 logical characters are apparently the expression of a number of units, the in- 

 vestigation of the Mendelian inheritance of capacity for production is very 

 difficult on account of the numerous .slight variations arising in the second 

 generation. Although (on account of the difficulty or impossibility of analyzing 

 the hybrids according to their capacity for production) agricultural breeding 

 work can not utilize Mendelian laws with as much certainty and fullness as can 

 some branches of horticultural work, it is held that in the crossing of two 

 races all the possible combinations of the unit characters borne by each will 

 appear, that the further possibilities of crossing will become evident, and that 

 the only true test of hereditary disposition and hence of breeding value in a 

 strain is not its outward appearance but its actual progeny. 



These points hold for all types of breeding, and the possibility of obtaining 

 thereby forms more productive or otherwise more valuable than either parent 

 is regarded as highly important. It obviates the necessity of using individuals 

 having extreme development in greatly desired lines, perhaps combined with 

 deficiency in less desirable ones, so that by the third generation the breeder 

 may reach a definite result without any fear of valuable material having been 

 imwittingly discarded. 



Morphology as a factor in determining' relationships, J. M. Greeniian 

 {Amer. Jour. Bot., 2 {1915), No. 3, pp. 111-115). — Discussing some investiga- 

 tions and views on morpliology and relationship as recently published, the 

 author calls attention to the necessity for cooperation by the larger botanical 

 institutions throughout the world. This is held to be an essential condition for 

 the numerous specialized and intensive studies necessary to development of the 

 life histories of plants and other exact and detailed study of problems bearing 

 upon the main phases of phylogeny and the chief lines of evolution of the 

 higher plants. 



The experimental study of genetic relationships, H. H. Baetlett {Amcr. 

 Jour. Bot., 2 {1915), No. 3, pp. 132-155) .—The author holds that the immediate 



