336 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 37 



the cotton crop render it well adapted for use in a practical cropping system of 

 diversified agriculture. 



It is urged that any undertaking to establish the cotton industry in these 

 regions be a community undertaking with a strongly centralized organization, 

 similar to that existing among the fruit growers, for the control of the gins and 

 oil mills, marketing of the crop, and dissemination of information relative to 

 the production of the crop. 



Cotton species indigenous to Italian Somaliland, G. E. Mattei (Bol. R. Giard. 

 Colon. Palermo, 2 {1916), No. 4, pp. 221-224, fig. 1; abs. in Intemat. Inst. Agr. 

 [Rome'[, Intei-nat. Rev. Sci. and Pract. Agr., 7 {1916), No. 5, p. 683).— Two 

 varieties of cotton said to be indigenous to Italian Somaliland are described by 

 the author. The varieties are Gossypium paolii and G. bcnadirense. A brief 

 summary of other species of Gossypium previously described as native to this 

 region is given. 



Tests and selections of mungo beans, L. A. San Miguel {Philippine Agr. 

 and Forester, 5 {1916), No. 5, pp. 164-119). — Variety tests of mungo beans, 

 Phaseolus sp., in the Philippines are reported, and the species found there are 

 classified and described. Fertilizer tests were also conducted indicating that 

 this crop thrives best with no fertilization, or with the addition of ashes alone. 



Experiments with the overhead electrical discharge in 1915, I. Jobgensen 

 {Joxir. Bd. Agr. [London^, 23 {1916), No. 7, pp. 671, 672).— Tiiis is a brief note 

 on the effect of overhead electrical discharges on a crop of oats in 1915. 

 The experiments were conducted by Miss E, C. Dudgeon, and are a continuation 

 of work previously noted (E. S. R., 30, p. 827). The crop was grown on two 

 1.5-acre plats lying side by side, one plat receiving the electrical discharge and 

 the other serving as a " control." The two plats were separated by a well- 

 earthed wire screen which reached to a height of 3 ft. above the level of the 

 charged network. The screen greatly reduced the amount of discharge reach- 

 ing the nonelectrified area, but did not do away with leakage altogether. The 

 discharge occurred for 557 hours during 108 days, or an average of about 5 

 hours per day. 



The season was droughty and the soil light, but from the early stages the 

 growth of tlio crop on the electrified area showed a superiority to that on the 

 " control " area. An increase of 30 per cent in grain and 58 per cent in straw 

 over the nonelectrified crop was obtained. 



Contribution to the study of Panicum miliaceum, S. A. Belov {Bezetichuk. 

 Selsk. Khoz. Opytn. Sta., No. 73 {1916), pp. 333-352, figs. 5).— This is a further 

 contribution to botanical studies of the group Panicoidefe, with particular refer- 

 ence to flowering phenomena (E. S. R., 32, p. 727). 



Observations are reported which indicate a close connection between the 

 opening of the flowers and the meteorological conditions. The flower glumes 

 were not observed to open on cloudy days having a high humidity. With high 

 temperatures and low humidity on bright days flowering began at about 8 

 a. ni., the flowers remaining open from 15 to 20 minutes. On days with similar 

 temperature and moisture conditions, but with clouded skies, the flowers re- 

 mained open about 25 minutes. Moderate heating of the flower with the sun's 

 rays by means of a lens caused flowering to occur at 7 a. ra. An excessive use 

 of the lens, however, did not cause flowering, and after 11 a. m. acted nega- 

 tively on flowers ready to open. Maximum flowering was observed from 10 to 

 11 a. m., diminishing rapidly from 12 to 12.30 p. ra. Under intermediate con- 

 ditions, even in the mean phase of flowering, flowering has been much more 

 rarely observed than on bright warm days. 



The anthers are reported as being even more sensible to changes in the ex- 

 ternal conditions. 



