334 



EXPEEIMEliT STATION EECOED. 



The removal of mineral miatter from, unfertilized soil by different varieties 

 of plants, I, A. Strigel (Landw. Jahrb., 43 {1912), No. 3, pp. 340-366). — ^This 

 paper reports the results of determinations of the ash and nitrogen content of 

 4 legumes and 5 grass varieties grown for this purpose in 1906 and 1907 (see 

 below), and also those of 12 native plants mostly classed as weeds. The figures 

 are presented in numerous tables of comparisons in various relations, and the 

 results are discussed. Analyses of samples of the surface and subsoil taken each 

 year from the plats are shown. 



Percentage of ash constituents in the dry matter of legumes and grasses. 



The influence of botanical composition, of origin, and of harvest time on 

 the chemical composition of hay, II, A. Strigel {Landto. Jahrb., 43 {1912) ^ 

 No. 3, pp. 366-371). — Analyses of hay samples from East Prussia averaged richer 

 in protein and fat and poorer in crude fiber than those from the experiment 

 field in Berlin. Hay samples from Oberlausitz ranked between the legumes 

 and grasses of the Berlin field in nitrogen, crude fiber, and carbohydrates, but 

 were richer than either in fat and ash. The calcium and magnesium in the 

 dry matter was about midway between that in the legumes and grasses. The 

 content of potash, sodium, phosphoric acid, chlorin, and especially silica, was 

 higher than in either of the Berlin crops. It is noted that in general the 

 predominance of one plant species or another would change the composition 

 of the dry matter or of the ash, but that this difference is not so marked as 

 the difference between the Papilionacese and Graminese. 



The percentage of organic substances in the dry matter changed with the 

 time of harvest, but not uniformly, while the ash constituents showed greater 

 regularity. As the season progressed the hay showed an increase of calcium 

 and magnesium; at first a reduction then a slight increase in potash; and at 

 first an increase then a reduction in sodium. The percentage of phosphonis in 

 the hay diminished from the early to the normal cutting time. Sulphuric acid, 

 chlorin, and silica showed an increase during the season. 



Range improvement by deferred and rotation grazing, A. W. Sampson 

 {U. 8. Dept. Agr. Bui. 34, 1913, pp. 16).— In this bulletin the author discusses 

 the causes of deterioration in ranges, the requirements of plant growth, the 

 maintenance of a maximum forage crop, and the application of a system of 

 deferred grazing to range management. It is claimed that deferring grazing 

 over a portion of the range until the seed has matured, and then grazing it to 

 avoid loss of forage "through nonuse, and to assist reproduction by trampling 

 in the seed restores and maintains the vegetation without the loss of the forage 

 crop in any year, insures the seed being planted, thereby overcoming the chief 

 disadvantage of year-long protection, and does away with the fire danger 

 resulting from the accumulation of inflammable material under year-long pro- 

 tection. 



Experimental cultures of pure types of cereals, [with] observations on the 

 stability and variability of their characters, Bgeuf {IV. Conf. Internat, 



