136 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



individual selections. This nursery was planted April 15, 1907, and thinned to 

 single plants about the middle of July. An epitome of the tirst season's obser- 

 vations is given. 



While in previous tests at the station the Turkestan alfalfa has proven the 

 most desirable for hay, it was observed in these tests that although one-half of* 

 the plats were sown with Turkestan strains the most leafy and the gi'eatest seed- 

 producing plants were not found in the Turkestan varieties. Six selections of 

 the most promising type for seed and hay were made, and of these the seed pro- 

 duction in four ranged from 70 to 118 gm. from 10 plants, one strain produced 

 18 oz. of clean seed from 50 plants and the remaining strain 11 oz. from 1.50 

 plants. 



Clover seed in the Connecticut market, E. H. Jenkins and Mary H. Jauger 

 ( Connect iciit Sta. Bill. UK), pj). 3-1 'i, figs. S). — This bulletin briefly reports tli<' 

 results of examining 51 samples of clover seed obtained from various sources 

 within tlie State. The seed of 26 of the samples examinefl weighed less than 

 li gm. i)er 1.000 seeds, that of 2 weighing 1.27 gm. or less, being ecjual to about 

 .')63,0U0 seeds per pound. Two .samples weighed 1.92 gm. per l.o<>0 see<ls, which 

 is equal to 236,000 seeds per pound. 



The average vitality of the 51 samples was <»16.6 per cent, but 20 fell below the 

 minimum of 85 per cent and -1 below 75 per cent, the lowest being 64.2 per cent. 

 The average purity of the seed was 90.5, which is 7.5 per cent lower than the 

 provisional standard of this Department. Disregarding the foreign clovei', 

 alfalfa, and timothy seed present, 8 lbs. iier acre of any of these samjiles would 

 plant from 2 to 8 weed seeds per square foot of land. 



Three samples were found highly adulterated, the tirst containing 21.2 per 

 cent, the second 22.6 per cent, and the third :]9.1 ))er cent of black medii* 

 (Medicago lui)Ulin(i). In 5 samples the total number of foreign seeds per 

 pound was 78,604, .54,705, 12,458, 28,237, and 44.522. respectively. Only- in 

 samples were apparently free of dodder seed. In 28 samples tested from is to 

 11,615 dodder seeds were found per pound. With a seeding of 8 lbs. i)er acre 

 the smaller quantity of dodder would give 1 seed to every .300 yq. ft., while 

 the larger quantity would average 2 dodder seeds for every square foot. 



[Experiments in clover and corn selection], F. W. Card (Rhode Island Sta. 

 Rpt. 1907, PI). 21-'f-220 ) . — ^A test of purple and yellow seeds of red clover showed 

 no material difference in average nitrogen content between the plants grown 

 from the two kinds of seed, but striking differences in the nitrogen content of 

 different individual plants varying from 2.86 per cent in the lowest to 4.62 per 

 cent in the highest, or an increase of over 60 per cent, were observed. 



In the corn selection experiments 6 rows of seed from plants l)eariug 13 ears 

 in 1905 and 13 rows from plants bearing 11 ears in 1905 were planted May 24, 

 1906. The corn from the 13-ear seed gave an average of 21.3 oz. of ears per 

 plant, 4.6 ears per plant, 3.1 good ears per plant, and with an average weight 

 per ear of 4.6 oz. The corn grown from the 11-ear seed produced 15.6 oz. of 

 ears per plant, 3.5 ears, and 2.3 good ears per plant, while the average weight 

 per ear was 4.5 oz. The highest number of ears per plant borne in 1905 was 13 

 and in 1906 only 10, but the average number per plant increased. In 1905, 50 

 per cent of the plants bore less than 4 ears, and in 1906 only 27.5 per cent bore 

 less than 4 ears. 



Egyptian cotton in the southwestern United States, T. H. Kearney and 

 W. A. Peterson (U. S. Dept. Agr.. Bur. Plant Indus. Bui. 128, pp. 11, pis. 5, 

 figs. 2). — A review is given of the cotton trade of Egypt, together with a 

 description of Egyptian cotton, and the results of experiments with this kind of 

 cotton in Arizona are reported. 



