228 EXPERIMENT STATION BECOKD. [Vol.35 



TransmissibiUty of characters acquired by plants grown in salt water, P. 

 Lesagk {Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris]. 161 (1915), Xo. 15. pp. 4^0--il2).—The 

 author, employing Lepidium sativum, has attempted to ascertain whether the 

 characters acquired by plants grown in salt water and persisting in their 

 descendants grown in the same medium for several generations, will persist 

 also when their progeny are grown in fresh water. One year's tests are said 

 to have given positive results and are considered to show the transmissibility 

 by plants of characters acquired in salt water. 



Pollen sterility in. relation to the geographical distribution of some Ona- 

 graceffi, C. C. Foksatth (Abs. in Science, n. ser.. ^3 (1916). Xo. llOJf. p. 291). — 

 Studies have been made of species of Epilobium and Zauschneria, which repre- 

 sent different subgenera of Onagracese, to determine further evidence of inter- 

 species crossing as found in GEnothera. The results are said to show that, 

 from a morphological standpoint, interspecies crossing is not an uncommon 

 occurrence in this family of plants. 



A remarkable new Eysenhardtia from the west coast of Mexico. W. E. Saf- 

 FOKD (Jour. Wash. Acad. Sei., 6 (1916). Xo. 6. pp. 133-135. fig. i).— The author 

 describes E. olivana n. sp., and suggests the advisability- of a critical study of 

 the entire genus. 



FIELD CROPS. 



[Work with field crops], L. R. Waujkon (Xorth Dakota Sta.. Rpt. Dickinson 

 Substa.. 1913, pp. 5-20, 22-31. figs. 5). — The results of work with different field 

 crops for a number of years are briefly reported. 



Alfalfa gave an average yield of two tons per acre for the five years be- 

 ginning with 1909, and in 1913 a seed production of 112.3 lbs. per acre was 

 recorded. For the five years beginning with 1909, alfalfa in cultivated rows 

 gave an average yield of 1.224 tons per acre and in 1909 a seed crop of 336 lbs. 

 per acre was produced. Disking alfalfa after the first cutting did not give 

 conclusive results, but indicated that with unfavorable moisture conditions 

 the practice tends to increase the yield. Grimm alfalfa from home-grown seed 

 proved to be more winter resistant than Chinook alfalfa from Montana-grown 

 seed. In cultural tests conducted in 1913 the greater amount of seed was 

 produced by the second growth and by thin stands in cultivated rows. Notes 

 on cooperative alfalfa growing and on the results of some breeding work are 

 given. 



Cultural tests with sweet clover and sunflowers and a variety test with 

 wheat are also recorded. Among other results with sweet clover a yield from 

 Iowa seed of 524 lbs. of hulled clean seed per acre is noted. Sunflowers made 

 a yield of field cured stalks and seeds of 4.3.56 tons per acre. This crop is 

 considered of doubtful economic value for that section of the State. In a test 

 of 24 varieties of wheat. Kubanka No. 8, descended from a single plant selected 

 at the station in 1906, ranked first with a yield of 31.6 bu. of grain per acre. 



Results of three trials with Girka wheat showed selected strains to be superior 

 in yielding capacity to the bulk lot from which the pure lines were derived. In 

 1913 Victory, Silvermine. and Golden Rain ranked highest among 11 varieties 

 of oats, with yields of 65.1, 64.5, and 6J3.4 bu. per acre, respectively. The same 

 year Primus and Swan Neck barley were the heaviest yielders of 8 varieties, 

 producing, respectively. 40.7 and 40.2 bu. per acre. The average yields of two 

 2-rowed and two 6-rowefl varieties of barley grown for five years were in favor 

 of the 2-rowed sorts by 45 per cent. A plat of Yaroslav emmer produced 53.8 

 bu. per acre and an adjoining plat of .spring rye 21.3 bu. Experiments with 

 wheat, oats, and barley in moisture conservation conducted from 1908 to 1913 



