226 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



determinations were made of the salt content it was found that cotton grew 

 on a field containing more alkali in the surface three feet of soil than the 

 adjacent field in which alfalfa seed had failed to grow. Experiments in volun- 

 teering cotton have been continued. A plat of Egyptian cotton was volun- 

 teered through the past winter to a stand of 91 per cent. Different planting 

 methods have been practiced to ascertain the effect of volunteering for the fol- 

 lowing season." 



Of seven varieties of grain sorghum tested in 1913 feterita gave the highest 

 yield, 73 bu. per acre, followed by Dwarf milo maize with 41 bu. For forage 

 or silage Red Kafir corn is noted as being superior. 



Brief notes upon the successful trials of broom corn and hemp are given. 

 Tunis grass produced the best hay yield when planted in 3-ft. rows and culti- 

 vated, while Sudan grass produced best when seeded broadcast as against 3-ft. 

 row plantings. The former yielded at the rate of 4.2 tons per acre in three 

 cuttings, and the latter 8 tons. 



In experiments in regard to the water requirements of different crops it 

 was observed that almost twice as much was used on light soils as on a medium 

 soil by alfalfa, cotton, grain, sorghums, broom corn, hemp, and cowpeas for 

 green manure. 



[Field crops work at the Texas Station], 1913, B. Youngblood {Texas 8ta. 

 Rpt. 1913, pp. 2If-2y, 28-30, 31-35, 35-55, 60-72).— These pages contain reports 

 of the work for the year 1913 at the various substations of the State and 

 include brief cultural notes with corn, cowpeas, sorghum, oats, rape, wheat, 

 thousand-headed kale, rice, Chinese bean, Yokohama bean, beggar weed, 

 kulthi bean, moth bean, tepaiy bean, Sudan grass, teosiute, Dolkhos lahlad, 

 Japanese cane, guar, befri, Ciccr arietmum, Medicago obicularis, jack bean, 

 Kafir corn, milo maize, and peanuts, variety tests with vetches, cotton, wheat, 

 corn, rice, soy beans, cowpeas, peanuts, and millet, and fertilizer tests with cot- 

 ton and corn. 



In studying the effect of source of seed corn it was found that for the three 

 highest yielding varieties Texas seed gave 17.12 ; Virginia, 14.5 ; Louisiana, 12.7 ; 

 and Georgia, 11.5 bu. per acre. In a similar test with cottons Georgia seed 

 gave 971.6; Texas, 925.6; Tennessee, 612.3; and South Carolina, 566 lbs. per 

 acre. 



Experiments in crop production on fallow land at San Antonio, C. R. 

 Letteeb (U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 151 (1914), pp. 10, figs. 4)- — From experiments 

 conducted in 1911, 1912, and 1913 on one-quarter acre plats with corn, cotton, 

 and winter oats, the author concludes that " the yields of com and cotton have 

 been less on biennially cropped land than on annually cropped land. The yields 

 of winter oats have been somewhat larger on the biennially cropped land. 



" Soil-moisture studies made in connection with these tests do not show any 

 important differences in the amount of soil moisture present in fallowed land 

 and in continuously cropped land at planting and harvest time for corn and 

 cotton. In the plats used for oats there was more moisture present at planting 

 and less at harvest time on the biennially cropped land than on the annually 

 cropped land. In other words, the oats grown biennially used more water and 

 made less vegetative growth, but gave larger yields. Observations made after 

 heavy rains show that in most cases the proportion of run-off from hea^-y 

 rains was greater on land which had been fallow for several months than on 

 land which had been fallow for a comparatively short time. The run-off from 

 an oat plat was less than from any of the fallow plats. 



" Considering both crop yields and cost of production, the results of these 

 experiments indicate that biennial cropping, at least for corn, cotton, and 

 oats, is not to be recommended for the San Antonio region." 



