336 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOBD. [Vol.35 



Minnesota No. 261, an early variety selected from the Kherson, outyielded the 

 medium early varieties of oats in the season's trials. In seeding tests with 

 wheat, 1.75 bu. of seed per acre yielded 2.2 bu. more than seeding 1.25 bu., the 

 common rate of drilling. 



The results of forage crop studies indicated that as good stands of alfalfa 

 were secured where nurse crops were used as where the crop was sown alone. 

 July seeding, when no nurse crop was used, resulted in the best stands and in 

 the best yields the following year, as compared with seeding in August after 

 potatoes or barley. Inoculation increased the yield and gave a product richer 

 in protein. The soil transfer method of inoculating gave somewhat better re- 

 sults than the use of commercial cultures, and the application of lime gave a 

 definite increase in yield. 



Sudan grass gave an average yield of 3.36 tons per acre, and where cut for 

 seed, 700 lbs. of seed were secured. The best yield of hay was obtained by 

 drilling 24 lbs. of seed per acre on June 15 and the best yield of seed by sowing 

 40 lbs. of seed with a grain drill on May 15. 



Experiments with sweet clover pointed out the value of inoculation and the 

 use of lime. Inoculation by transfer of sweet clover soil and the addition of 

 lime gave a much larger yield than inoculation with sweet clover soil without 

 lime or inoculation with alfalfa soil with lime. Where no treatment was given 

 the yield was comparatively small. 



Data accumulated in the continued selection of wheat for 14 years, with the 

 object of shortening the stem between the head and the upper leaf for the pur- 

 pose of decreasing the amount of surface exposed to rust, are reported as 

 showing no progressive effect. The results of corn-breeding work during the 

 year indicated little correlation between earliness of germination and time of 

 maturity and no appreciable correlation between the rapidity of germination of 

 seed of the same ears tested under different temperatures. 



[Work with, field crops], W. G. Taggart, A. P. Kerr, J. B. Garrett, and 

 F. C. Quereau {Louisiana Stas. Rpt. 1915, pp. 8-11, 15-17, 27, 28. 29, 30-32).— 

 At the Sugar Experiment Station a complete fertilizer containing 90 lbs. of 

 sulphate of potash per acre gave an increase over check plats fertilized with 

 equal amounts of nitrogen and phosphoric acid, but without potash, of 3.03, 

 3.55, and 1.73 tons of sugar cane per acre. A comparative test of nitrogenous 

 fertilizers showed that calcium cyanamid ranked close to nitrate of soda and 

 sulphate of ammonia. Calcium nitrate did not prove so satisfactory on sugar 

 cane as on corn. A mixture of 500 lbs. of cotton-seed meal and 250 lbs. of acid 

 phosphate per acre gave an increase of 2.7 tons of sugar cane, and a mixture 

 of 500 lbs. of cotton-seed meal and 500 lbs. of acid phosphate an increase of 8.9 

 tons, as compared with no fertilizer treatment. A similar experiment in 

 which tankage was used as the source of nitrogen gave an increase of 1.4 tons 

 in the first place and 8.4 tons in the second. These results represent the 

 average of four years. The use of 1.5 in. of water applied in irrigating sugar 

 cane on April 28, May 17, and May 26, produced an increase of 7.6 tons of cane 

 over an unirrigated check plat. 



The propagation of new varieties of sugar cane showed th.at seedling L 511 

 made a good growth and contained 14.9 per cent of sucrose in the juice, or 

 from 4.5 to 5 per cent more than the juice of cane grown generally. The next 

 seedling in order of value was L 231, and, in addition to this, there were six 

 others giving promising results. 



The development of a white flint corn similar to Yellow Creole, which was 

 found in variety tests to be the most suitable to local conditions as a general 

 field crop, is reported. Corn fertilized before planting yielded 49.85 bu., while 



