528 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOBD. 



alfalfa, peas, wheat, oats, barley, emmer, rye, sugar beets, potatoes, flax, and 

 sweet clover. A chapter is devoted to the injuries to crops caused by the 

 depredations of rodents. 



Breeding millet and sorgo for drought adaptation, A. C. Dillman {U. S. 

 Dcpt. A(/r. Bui. 291 (1916), pp. 19, pis. 2).— This bulletin discusses the place of 

 millet and the saccharine sorghums ("sorgos") in the agriculture of the 

 Great Plains, and gives results of recent breeding work (E. S. R., 24, p. 436) 

 in an effort to produce varieties that would be more drought-resistant than 

 those grown at present. 



*' The drought adaptation of millet is due largely to its early maturity and 

 low-water requirements, while sorgo has, in addition to these two valuable 

 characteristics, a remarkable ability to endure drought. Even though its 

 growth is severely checked during a period of drought, it will resume growth 

 upon the return of favorable conditions. It has been shown that millet and 

 sorgo require less water for the production of a ton of hay than any other 

 crops that have been tested in the central Great Plains. The Kursk and 

 Siberian varieties of millet have given larger yields of hay than other varieties 

 of this crop tested in the northern Great Plains. In each of these varieties a 

 strain has been selected which is believed to be much superior to the parent 

 stock. . . . 



"A strain of sorgo has been developed by selection which is especially 

 promising for this region and for higher altitudes farther south in the Great 

 Plains. In favorable seasons the larger growing sorgos produce a larger ton- 

 nage than this dwarf type, but in dry seasons the latter will yield at least as 

 heavily as the larger varieties. This type is very early, maturing seed in a 

 period of about 90 days, and can often be used as a catch crop where other 

 crops have failed. It produces seed freely, and the farmer can easily raise 

 his own supply of seed for forage planting. On account of the smaller size of 

 the plants this dwarf sorgo can very well be planted thicker than the larger 

 growing varieties. This new variety has In^n named Dakota Amber sorgo. 



" Sorgo will probably produce a larger tonnage of fodder than any other 

 annual forage crop of this region. At Akron. Colo., .sorgo has producetl 40 

 per cent greater yields than millet. At Newell and Ardmore, S. Dak., also the 

 results have been in favor of sorgo. In a 7-year test at Newell sorgo has pro- 

 duced 51 per cent more fodder than corn. Dakota Amber sorgo has produced 

 on the average 40 per cent more forage per acre than Sudan grass in tests at 

 Newell, Akron, Ardmore, and Mandan. It is believed that Dakota Kursk 

 millet and Dakota Amber sorgo will prove valuable additions to the li.st of 

 forage crops adapted to the northern and central Great Plains." 



Grades of hay and straw (Cedar Point, Ohio: National Hay As.<<ociation, 

 Inc., 1915, pp. 12). — A pamphlet giving the grades of hay, Johnson grass, Ber- 

 muda hay, Lespedeza hay, alfalfa hay, and straw, and rules for inspection and 

 weighing. 



Farming, with alfalfa bacteria culture, E. W. Philo ([Elmira, N. T.]: 

 Author, 1916, pp. 78, figs. 29). — A pamphlet in which the author gives his 

 experiences in improving worn-out soils, chiefly by the use of alfalfa and sweet 

 clover. Methods are given for testing the soil, growing bacteria for inocula- 

 tion, applying bacteria and material to the soil, and pasturing alfalfa with 

 dairy cows, beef cattle, swine, and poultry. Some general topics are discu.ssed. 

 including the production of poultry and potatoes. 



Treatment of bean seeds with a solution of iron sulphate. L. E. M. Vargas 



(Estac. Agr. Cent. [Mexico] Circ. 50 (191^), pp. 3). — A treatment of several 



•varieties of beans with a 1 per cent solution of iron sulphate for five hours 



