iyi7] 



FIELD CROPS. 29 



instead of under It. In testing the amount of fertilizer to apply to com, 

 1,000-lb. applications resulted in the highest yield, 27.9 bu. per acre, as com- 

 pared with 18.9 bu. on the check plat and from 20.5 to 25.5 bu. from 200- to 

 1,200-lb. applications. A yield of only slightly more than 8 bu. per acre of corn 

 was realized from a field in which velvet beans were sown with the corn. In a 

 comparison of basic slag with acid phosphate the yield with tlie latter was 

 23.2 bu., with the former 22.5 bu., and the check 20 bu. per acre. 



Fertilizer experiments with cotton showed a gradual increase in the yields 

 of seed cotton with increasing amounts of fertilizers, the increase over the 

 check varying from about 22 per cent with a 200-lb. to 50 per cent with a 

 1,200-lb. application. There was no material difference in yields of cotton when 

 fertilized with either basic slag or acid phosphate. A comparison of early with 

 late thinning of cotton gave increased yields in favor of the latter method of 

 26 lbs. of seed cotton per acre for the Trice variety and 28 lbs. for the Sunbeam 

 variety. 



Top-dressing small grains with nitrate of soda gave slightly better results 

 than the use of sulphate of ammonia, both being superior to cottonseed meal. 

 The latter, however, doubled the yield of oats. In preparing for oats after peas 

 double disking was followed by a yield of 44 bu., deep plowing by one of 53 bu., 

 and shallow plowing by one of 55 bu. per acre. 



Brief notes are given on Sudan, para, teff, Giant Bermuda, rescue, redtop, 

 and Kikuyu grasses. Rescue grass is reported as the best winter grass. 



In experiments with leguminous plants, seeding tests with alfalfa showed no 

 difference In stand by different times or depths of plowing, manured or un- 

 manured, with lime plowed under or left on top of plowed land, or with different 

 rates of seeding. There was a difference with different amounts of limestone 

 applied per acre, 1 ton proving insufficient to overcome the soil acidity while 

 slight difference was realized between 2- and 3-ton applications. Analyses of 

 roots and stubble of crimson clover showed a nitrogen residue of 46 lbs. per 

 acre. 



Studies of the water requirement of cotton have been continued. An ap- 

 parent regularity in the blooming of the cotton plant has been observed in that 

 the time between horizontal blooms was double that between vertical blooms, 

 a given bloom opening on the same day as the one on the second branch 

 above but one node nearer the central stalk of the plant. The period of 

 greatest moisture requirement was found to be from the middle of July to 

 late August. 



Observations on the germination of cotton seed sown after turning under a 

 gi'een manure crop are reported for purposes of comparing field conditions 

 with those observed by Fred (E. S. R., 35, p. 24) under greenhouse conditions. 

 It was concluded that there is some injury to germination (from 0.7 to 5.1 per 

 cent) from the use of a green manure crop, but that the difference in field 

 plantings is not sufficient to militate against the use of such a crop. The 

 observations indirectly showed a benefit from the early planting of the green 

 manure crop in the fall to afford sufficient growth to make early spring 

 plowing permissible. 



[Report of field crop work], G. S. Ray, C. M. Eklof, P. P. Peterson, and 

 G. W. Graves {Idaho Sta. Bui. 92 (1916), pp. 19-22, 30-34, fiffs. 4).— This re- 

 ports the continuation of field crop work previously noted (E. S. R., 34, 

 p. 734). 



Variety tests are noted with winter and spring varieties of wheat, oats, 

 barley, rye, field peas, and corn. The leading varieties and their respective 

 yields were as follows : Red Russian winter wheat 59.7, Jenkins Club spring 

 wheat 72, Tennessee Winter barley 47.9, with the 4-year average for 



