534 , EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. [Vol. 43 



lbs. less, and Halliday 209 lbs. less. Of the IS strains harvested on the stalk, 

 Ohio Hybrid was first with a yield of 2,280 lbs. i)er acre and Slaughter second 

 with 1,904 lbs. The gain in cured weight by primed crops is considered to be due 

 to greater average maturity and tlie smaller decomposition and loss in the curing 

 of tJie primed leaf and is usually small. When judged for quality by cigar- 

 burning tests, Halliday Hybrid was first with 70.3, followed by Cuban with 68 

 and Connecticut Broadleaf with 66.3 points. The wrapper quality of these 

 tobaccos grown in the field was far inferior to that of shade-grown Sumatra and 

 Connecticut Havana leaf, on whose characters tlie scoring was based. 



The continuation of spacing and topping exi)eriments with two Broadleaf 

 and two Havana strains was noted. The close-spaced plants were in rows 36 in. 

 apart as contrasted with 42 in. as the normal. The high topping left about 

 four more leaves on the plant than the low topping. Tlie close-planted rows 

 made average acre yields of 1,200 lbs. of cured stripped tobacco, including 

 primed leaves, for the high topped, and 939 lbs. for low topped. In the normal- 

 planted rows the high-topped plants produced 1,888 lbs. and the low topped 

 901 lbs. Although high topping and normal spacing resulted in the largest 

 yields in every case, the effect of the difference in topping was much greater 

 than that of the distance between rows. 



Steam sterilization of the seed beds was omitted in 1915. The profuse weed 

 development and the large insect infestation led the experimenter to conclude 

 that annual sterilization is necessary. 



Further study of tobacco burning quality. — The grain of the tobacco 

 leaf, C. S. lliDGWAY {Pennsijlvania Sta. Rpt. 1916, pp. 481-485). — "Grain" is 

 defined as the small pimply projections found on the upper or outer surface of 

 fully cured and sweated cigar tobacco of good quality. These grains are not 

 visible on the green leaf, but first appear a few days after curing has begun and 

 the leaves have turned from yellow to brown. They do not appear in fire-cured 

 tobacco. Grains occur chiefly in the palisade cells of the upper epidermis in 

 the web of the leaf and near the small veins, revealing themselves under the 

 microscope as crystalline aggregates associated with a large portion of the leaf 

 coloring matter. 



The grains which can be mechanically separated from the cured leaf by the 

 use of a rubber pestle, sieve, and other means are composed of a mixture of 

 salts, chiefly of lime and magnesia, with organic acids, largely citric and malic. 



Burn tests of Red Lion tobacco in 1914 showed good burning tobacco to score 

 an average of 18 points for burn and 10.4 for grain. Poor burning tobacco gave 

 an average burn score of 13 with 5 for grain. This data is considered as 

 showing distinct relationship between grain development and burning quality. 

 The author explains the good burning quality of leaf with well developed grain 

 by assuming the substances retarding the burn to be gathered into the grain 

 from surrounding tissue, whicli is left in condition to burn freely. 



Speltlike bud-sports in common wheat, A. Akekman {Hereditas, 1 (1920), 

 No. 1, pp. 116-127, figs. 6). — This is a preliminary account of the behavior of a 

 number of speltoid chimseras found in the trial wheat plats at Svalof. 



Speltoids are regarded as " loss-mutants " arising spontaneously both in old 

 pedigrees and among cross descendants. They are generally heterozygotic, and 

 are characterized by short outer glumes abruptly cut off at the top as in 

 Triticum spelta, with longer straws, longer and more lax spikes, and a later • 

 maturity than the mother variet.v. The chimjeras were plants in which part of • 

 a spike had the character of a speltoid heterozygote, while the other part had 

 the normal type. Concerning the origin of chimseras, the author assumes " that 

 the plants originally were of normal type, and that the speltoid component arose 



