19191 FIELD CEOPS. 81 



Kentucky blue grass (P. pratensis), and wild barley (Hordeum horeale) also 

 make good hay. Chemical analyses of tlie principal grasses used for hay and 

 silage at Kodiak, previously noted (E. S. R., 17, p. 349), are compared with 

 similar analyses of blue grass, redtop, and timothy. Feeding trials at the 

 station are held to indicate that the native grasses have approximately the 

 same digestion coefficients as similar grasses in the United States. 



Report of [field crops] work at Rampart Station, 0. C. Georgeson and 

 G. W. Gasser (Alaska Sias. Rpt. 1911, pp. 21-21, S5-5Jf, 55, pis. 3).— This de- 

 scribes work conducted during 3917 similar to that previously noted (E. S. R., 

 39, p. 125). The season is described as generally unfavorable for crop pro- 

 duction, having been excessively cool, cloudy, and windy, although the frost- 

 free period, 117 days, was 20 days longer than the 10-year average. 



Although Medicago falcata and Grimm alfalfa made a vigorous growth, 

 practically no seed ripened. It is stated that the number of bees was markedly 

 reduced this season, and that butterflies, fairly numerous during June, disap- 

 peared almost entirely for the rest of the summer. Grimm wintered quite satis- 

 factorily, while Hardy Grimm and Disco have been discarded as lacking in 

 vigor. Obb and Omsk made a rank growth, but their procumbent habit renders 

 them unsatisfactory for hay production. An attempt to inoculate 2-year-old 

 plants with a liquid culture mixed with soil failed to give any results, no 

 nodules being found either on treated or untreated plants. 



Vicia cracca again gave excellent results, ripening from 50 to 75 per cent of 

 its seed. Well-developed root nodules were observed on both old and new 

 seedings, although no culture had been applied at any time. 



A strain of Alaska garden peas grown at the station for 11 years produced at 

 the rate of 27.93 bu. per acre. Root nodules were fairly abundant although no 

 culture had been applied. Irkutsk field peas, sprouted before planting and 

 seeded in rows 20 in. apart, produced at the rate of 15.32 bu. Tests of two 

 varieties of field peas received from the Tulun Experiment Station, Russia, 

 and of several strains of chick peas (Cicer arietimim) received from the Office 

 of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction, U. S. Department of Agriculture, are 

 noted. The field peas ripened some seed, while the chick peas were still greea 

 when killed by frost. 



Red clover planted as a soiling crop produced an excellent stand, although 

 growing slowly and in spots. Only a few plants were found having root 

 nodules, TrifoUum lupinaster again proved to be perfectly hardy and produced 

 seed, but its lack of vigor is said to render it almost valueless as a hay plant. 



Variety testing and hybridization work with winter wheat and rye, and 

 spring wheat, rye, barley, and oats is noted, and the results secured with each 

 sort briefly outlined. Japanese buckwheat and a strain designated as No. 60-2 

 produced at the rate of 81.3 and 68.3 bu. per acre, respectively. Millet failed to 

 produce any seed. 



A small seeding of hemp resulted in plants ranging from 12 to 40 in. in 

 height, about 75 per cent of the crop ripening seed. Flax attained a height of 

 about 28 in. and ripened about 40 per cent of its seed. 



Potatoes grown in the field gave poor results, thought to be due chiefly to the 

 low fertility of the soil, while plantings made on good garden soil proved to be 

 more satisfactory. Irish Cobbler, Early Six Weeks, Netted Gem, and Gold Coin 

 are said to be superior in quality to Burpee Superior, Lake Puritan, and 

 Knowles Big Cropper. 



Cotton and corn: Cultural tests, and variety tests of 1917 and 1918, C. K. 

 McClelland (Georgia Sta. Bui. 128 (1919), pp. 6^-78).— Variety, cultural, and 

 fertilizer tests with corn and cotton are described in a continuation of work 



