1919] 



FIELD CROPS. 639 



345-554 ).— Cultural tests with cotton and plant-selection work with rice and 

 other important crops during 1916 are described as heretofore (E. S. R., 38, 

 p. 527). 



[Beport of field crops work in Java, 1916-17], C. van Rossem {Dept. 

 Landb., Nijv. en Handel [Dutch East Indies], Meded. Agr. Chem. Lab., No. 19 

 {1918), pp. 123). — This describes the continuation of work previously noted 

 (E. S. R., 38, p. 735). 



Harvest report [Roseworthy Agricultural College], 1917-18 and 1918-19, 

 W. J. CoLEBATCH (JouT. Dcpt. Agv. So. Aust., 21 (1918), Nos. 8, pp. 623-634; 

 9, pp. 686-691; 10, pp. 759-766; 22 (1919), Nos. 8, pp. 610-627; 9, pp. 709-718).— 

 In continuation of work along the same general lines as previously noted (B. 

 S. R., 38, p. 133), crop data relating to wheat, barley, oats, rye, and forage 

 crops are presented for the seasons Indicated. 



Sisal and henequen as binder-twine fibers, H. T. Edwards (U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Yearbook 1918, pp. 357-366, pis. 4). — The importance of the binder-twine in- 

 dustry in relation to the national food supply is indicated, and the possibilities 

 of production in United States territory of sisal and henequen, said to furnish 

 approximately 90 per cent of the raw material now used in the manufacture 

 of binder twine, are discussed. It is stated that henequen has been grown 

 successfully in Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands, while it is deemed prac- 

 ticable to develop the sisal industry in the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, 

 and possibly Florida. 



The vitality of alfalfa seed as affected by age, W. P. Headden (Proo. Colo. 

 Sci. Sac., 11 (1919), pp. 239-2^9). — The author describes observations on the 

 viability of various grades of alfalfa seed held over a long period of years 

 without any effort to preserve the seed under definite temperature and moisture 

 conditions. 



It is concluded that good, sound, clean alfalfa seed, kept under fair but not 

 Ideal conditions, will retain its vitality for 23.5 years without any perceptible 

 abatement. Good, commercial seed, preserved under rather disadvantageous 

 conditions, retained a fair degree of vitality, 46 per cent, for 27.5 years, while 

 very inferior seed, third quality screenings, kept under rather indifferent condi- 

 tions, contained 16.5 per cent of viable seeds when 22.5 years old. 



The vitality of alfalfa roots, H. G. MacMuxan (Proc. Colo. Sci. Soc, 11 

 (1919), pp. 251, 252, pis. 4). — The author records observations on volunteer 

 alfalfa appearing in tilled fields in northern Colorado during the spring of 1918. 

 Mention is made particularly of a plant found to have grown from an adven- 

 titious bud on an old root, three shoots having been sent out although only one 

 survived. The root lacked a crown and both ends were shattered and decayed, 

 no growth having occurred during the summer of 1917. Rootlets also developed. 

 Many plants were found where the new growth had arisen from the old cro\vn. 



A factor analysis of barley, G. von Ubisch (Ztschr. Induktive Abstain, u. 

 Vererbungslehre, 17 (1916), No. 1-2, pp. 120-152, figs. 15; abs. in Genetica [The 

 Hague], 1 (1919), No. 3, p. 301). — The author describes observations on the 

 behavior of certain characters in barley crosses, including the density of the 

 spike, the number of rows of spikelets, the length of the grain, the nature of the 

 hood, and the toothing of the first lateral nerve of the outer flowering glume. 

 The results may be summarized as follows : 



The density of the spike is said to be determined by a factor pair designated 

 as LI, looseness dominating and corresponding to an internodal length of the 

 rachis of more than 3.5 mm. Two-rowedness as compared with slx-rowedness 

 depended upon two factor pairs, ZzWw, of which Z must be present either in the 

 homozygous or heterozygous condition in order that the plant is not six-rowed. 

 149803°— 20 4 



