1916] FIELD CEOPa 641 



ing of families in which external conditions least affected the sugar content 

 unfavorably is considered to have resulted in the final exclusion of a series of 

 factors which under certain conditions cause a reduction of the sugar con- 

 tent, and this, in conjunction with the gi-adual fixation of the characters posi- 

 tively determining a higher percentage of sugar, has reduced in the course of 

 time the variability of the sugar content of the beet The author states that 

 it has been shown repeatedly that the sugar content increases with the in- 

 tensity of culture, and that for this reason the richest beets are still produced 

 in the long and well established beet-growing centers. He further states that 

 possibilities present themselves to increase the yield of beets as well as the 

 percentage of sugar without detriment to either the one or the other character. 

 Further conclusions based on the data in hand, but with reference only to 

 heritability, are drawn and presented by T. Roemer, who points out that ex- 

 ternal conditions have a marked influence on the growth of sugar beets in gen- 

 eral, but that the weight of the beet as compared with its sugar content is 

 affected to a greater extent and that its latitude of variation is also the greater. 

 For this reason the increase in weight is regarded as more difficult of achieve- 

 ment than the increase in sugar content, as selection based on weight is more 

 likely to include a higher percentage of nontransmissible characters than selec- 

 tion based on sugar content, and the distinction between heritable and non- 

 heritable variations presents greater difficulties. Attention is called to the 

 fact that the transmission of desirable characters is not the same in either 

 individual plants or in entire families, and that in selection for weight and sugar 

 content a certain influence of the mother beet asserts itself. This is largely 

 determined by the family type, so that the performance of the family is of much 

 greater importance in selection than the performance of the individual. It is 

 stated that weight and sugar content as heritable characters act independent of 

 each other, as inheritance of greater weight and higher sugar content may be 

 coincident with each other or undesirable inheritance of one character may be 

 coupled with desirable inheritance of the other. 



The relation between the sugar content and chemical characters in the 

 first generation of an individual mother beet, K. ANDULfK and J. Urban 

 (Ztschr. Zuckerindus. Bohmen, 40 (,1915), No 3, pp. 107-llS). — The results of 

 a study of this question indicated that individual beets of the first generation 

 with the same sugar content may vary within the limits of variation in the 

 weight of the root and leaves. The law of correlations appeared operative to 

 only a very small degi-ee with regard to the average sugar content of the roots 

 and their average weight, but seemed of greater significance in connection with 

 the weight of the leaves, as a higher average sugar content was associated with 

 a lower average weight of leaves. It was found that with the same sugar con- 

 tent in the root, the dry matter in the root and leaves varied within the limits 

 recognized for this factor, but that an average low sugar content was generally 

 accompanied by an average low dry matter content in the root and leaves. 

 The ash content of the root and leaves varied in roots of the same sugar con- 

 tent, but in general rose perceptibly in the leaves with a high average sugar 

 content in the root, and vice versa. The data also indicated that with the 

 increase in the average sugar content of the root, the nitrogen content of the 

 root and leaves increases although only to a limited degree. 



Tobacco, H. Semlee (0. Fumo. Rio de Janeiro: Min. Agr., Indus, e Com., 191^, 

 pp. 131, figs. 19). — A popular treatise on tobacco including discussions from the 

 historical, botanical, and cultural standpoints. Notes by A. Caire on the de- 

 velopment of tobacco culture, the total yields in different countries, and the 

 quantities exported by BrazU in different years are appended. 



