I91«l FIELD CROPS. 829 



Experiments conducted with varieties of field peas indicated the Golden Vine 

 to be above the average in yielding capacity. Kaiser, Gray Winter, Wisconsin 

 Blue, Andes, and Blue Imperial made an excellent growth and appeared to be 

 well adapted to the conditions. 



Results obtained with flax in 1915 indicated that for conditions similar to 

 those at San Antonio northern-grown flax varieties, if sown in the winter, 

 may prove as promising as the imported winter types. C. I. No. 13, the only 

 northern strain grown in nursery rows, appeared most promising early in May. 

 Smyrna flax, C. I. No. 30, grown on a field plat yielded at the rate of 11.9 bu. 

 per acre. 



The results of an experiment on using oats for pasture indicated tliat pastur- 

 ing as late as March 10 had a detrimental effect upon the yield of both grain 

 and hay. A plat pastured from February 7 to February 20 gave tlie liigliest 

 yield of grain but a slightly lower yield of hay than plats wliicli were not 

 pastured. 



rarm crops work, A. C. Hartenbowek {Chiam Sta. Rpt. 11)15, pp. 16-21, 

 pis. 2). — A general description is given of work with cotton and forage crop.s. 

 The requirements of a successful variety of corn for Guam conditions are dis- 

 cussed, and the results of trials with types and varieties of cotton and with 

 grasses and other forage crops are reported. 



The highest yield of seed cotton, 1,641 lbs. per acre, was secured from 

 Egyptian Yuma. The Egj'ptian type, as indicated by station results, appears 

 superior to Sea Island under the prevailing soil and climatic conditions. Ob- 

 servations on late planting and on ratooning of cotton are noted. 



Among the grasses tested Para grass gave the best results. Under exception- 

 ally dry conditions it grew about 3 ft. high, although cut about every five weeks 

 from the latter part of April to the end of June. Feterita and Kafir corn were 

 planted November 12, 1914, and January 8, 1915. In the first test feterita 

 was ready for harvesting February 4, 1915, and Kafir corn about 8 days Inter, 

 while in the second test feterita reached maturity March 23, 1915, and Kafir 

 corn March 28. The first crop of feterita thus required 84 days to mature 

 and the second, which produced considerably less forage, only 74. Soil tests 

 with Paspalum dilatatum indicated that on the better soils this grass will sup- 

 port from two to three times as many cattle as the native grasses. On the 

 poorer soils it was found that heavy pasturing destroys the stand. The cost 

 of planting Paspalum, including plowing and otherwise preparing the soil 

 and hauling and setting the roots, was determined to be about ^16 per acre. 



[Breeding work with velvet beans and com], J. Belling {Florida Sta. Rpt. 

 1915, pp. CVII-CXXXI, figs. 3). — The plant breeding work pursued during the 

 year was confined largely to inheritance and selection studies with velvet 

 bean hybrids, including the fourth and fifth generations. Special attention 

 was given to the inheritance of mottling of the seed coat and the breeding of 

 selected lines to bring about constancy in this character. The behavior of the 

 character in the different generations of the various crosses is discussed at 

 some length. The different hybrids studied were: Florida X Yokohama, 

 Florida X Chinese, Florida X Lyon, and Lyon X Florida. 



It was found that the hybridized seeds on the parent Florida or Lyon plants 

 were indistinguishable in appearance from selfed seeds on the same plant, and 

 the author therefore regards seed mottling as a somatic character of the 

 plant which bears the seeds. The Florida-Lyon crosses showed remarkable 

 variation in dominance in the first generation and some of the second genera- 

 tion plants, but this variation seemed to occur solely with mottling. In the 

 third generation of the Lyon-Florida cross the mottled plants were often 



