36 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



of the dt'pai'tUH'iit of liortioulturo witc (Ustrii)iitt'(l in l(»ts fnmi 1 to oz. among 

 ;il)i»roxini.'itol.v !>()(» Krowers for the purpose of introducing; improved types in 

 plnee of the older and ii'ss valuMhie varieties now jxrowu. 



In the seed breedinji \vorl< J) crosses selected from a fireat many },'ro\vn during 

 the iirevious 2 years were used for the selection of plants ])rodncing a sui)erior 

 grade of tobacco. Out of apin-oximately 1,()()U plants only 5 were deemed worthy 

 of use for further selection. 



Fertilizer experiments were conducted t)n '.i different farms near Janesville. 

 On 2 of the farms no definite results were secured, but on the third where 1,000 

 lbs. of cotton-seed meal, irM lbs. of nitrate of soda, 140 lbs. of sulphate of i)ot- 

 ash, and 1XM) lbs. of bone meal were applied to a 5-acre plat very little rust 

 occurred, while on the check plat a great deal of injury resulted from this 

 disease. 



Eradication of farm weeds, li. A. Moore, A. L. Stone, and (J. Hutton ( Wis- 

 consin Std. Ri)t. IDOl, !>]). .'lit, -'/1 2). — The use of an anti-quackgrass mixture 

 proved to be of no value in eradicating quackgrass. In another test the ground 

 was plowed tJ in. deep in the fall and harrowed to bring the roots of the quack- 

 grass to the surface, which were then raked up and burned. In the spring 

 this same ground was i)lowed a little deeper than in the previous fall and 

 harrowed again to prevent the growth or the rooting of any of the grass. 

 Diiring a dry period in July the groimd was disked and harrowed, and at the 

 last plowing and harrowing in September no more quackgrass roots were 

 found. The grass was entirely eradicated from i acre of ground at a cost of 

 $18. 



Report of the agronomist, E. M. East {Connecticut State Sta. Rpt. 1901-8, 

 pt. 7, Pit. 397--'f52, pis. V). — This i-eport discusses the prospects of better seed 

 corn in Connecticut, the practical use of Mendel ism in corn breeding, inbreeding 

 in corn, some essential points in potato breeding, and extension work in 

 agronomy. In connection with the articles on inbreeding in corn and potato 

 breeding lists of the authors and works cited are given. 



In summarizing the article on how Mendel's law may be practically applied 

 in corn breeding, the author makes the following statement to illustrate his 

 principal points: "Let us suppose that a yellow tlint has been crossed upon 

 a white tlint, and a yellow variety is desired. The crossed kernels are planted 

 and allowed to fertilize naturally in the field. In this season, there will appear 

 about three yellow kernels to one white kernel. The white kernels being the 

 recessive will breed true without further trouble. Of the yellow kernel, on 

 the other hand, there will be one pure yellow to every two hybrid. If only 

 yellow kernels are then planted and a number of resulting ears are self- 

 fertilized, then, wherever a pure yellow kernel has been planted by chance, the 

 kernels of its self-fertilized ear will be pure yellow and will ever after breed 

 true to yellow. The same thing is true of the other dominant characters." 



In treating the subject of inbreeding in corn the author reviews the opinions 

 of different investigators, including Shull. who also recently published a paper 

 on the subject, and points out some of the results obtained at experiment sta- 

 tions. The author believes that when the results of inbreeding corn by arti- 

 ficial pollination are not as favorable as those secured by natural pollination 

 this does not necessjirily mean that this has been entirely due to inbreeding. 

 He states that in his first year's work with artificial corn pollination he 

 secured poor ears upon both crossed and self-fertilized plants, but in succeed- 

 ing years he obtained excellent ears by artificial pollination both when the 

 ears were crossed and when they were self-fertilized. Rows grown from ears 

 self-fertilized for 2 or 3 generations were exceedingly uniform in all of their 

 botanical characters, the plants were perfectly healthy and normal, and the 



