FIELD CROPS. 441 



amount of lint. It is proposed tlmt n lint index in tlie weiglit of the lint itself 

 instead of a less important proportion between the lint and the seeds be used 

 for judging varieties. "The lint from 100 seeds of Upland cottons ranges 

 in weight from gm. or less to 9 gm. and upward, and these figures can be 

 directly applied as a standard in judging varieties in place of the lint per- 

 centages." A lint index on this basis would mean something actually accom- 

 l)lished, and an unintentional discrimination between small seeds and small 

 bolls would be avoided. 



The relation between large seeds and large amounts of lint, or a high lint 

 index, was tested by D. N. Shoemaker by a study of weights of 73 samples of 

 seeds and lint in a series of selections of Triumph cotton, and the results are 

 here briefly noted. The average weight of 100 seeds was 12.37 gm., and their 

 average weight of lint 7.38 gm. Of 44 plants whose lint was above the average 

 only 4 fell below the average in weight of seed, and of 29 plants which fell 

 below the average in weight of lint only 4 were above the average in weight of 

 seed, and these exceeded the average only a little. No such evidence of correla- 

 tion was found when the same data were arranged according to size of seed 

 and percentage of lint. Of the 28 plants showing lint percentages above the 

 average of 37.7, 15 had seeds below the average weight while the other 13 had 

 sjeeds above the average. The author points out that the selection of a plant 

 with the highest percentage of lint, which was 42.8. would have meant the 

 rejection of no less than 41 plants whose seeds produced larger amounts of lint; 

 that is, the plant with the highest percentage would have ranked as No. 42 in 

 the series of 73 plants if arranged by lint indexes. The plant with the highest 

 jiercentage of lint had only seven-eighths as much lint as the plant showing the 

 highest lint index, and this is used as an illustration to indicate the extent of 

 the practical difference in this variety between the lint index and the lint per- 

 centage as the basis of selection. 



Progress of the beet-sugar industry in the United States In 1907 (U. S. 

 Drpt. Agi: Riit. S6, pp. 7-88). — As in previous reports a general review of the 

 beet-sugar industry is given for the year 1907, by C. F. Saylor, together with 

 discussions with reference to the influence of the beet-sugar industry, the costs 

 and profits of sugar beet growing, the use and value of by-products, the labor 

 j)roblem and labor-saving devices, and the development of conditions and pros- 

 pects for extending the beet-sugar industry in the different States, with statis- 

 tics of sugar production in this country and the world at large. 



In 1907, 63 factories were in operation, 370,984 acres of beets were harvested, 

 3.767,871 tons of beets were worked into 463,628 tons of sugar, the average 

 sugar content of the beets was 15.8 per cent, the average purity coefiicient 83.6 

 per cent, and the estimated abstraction of sugar 12.30 per cent. The average 

 yield of beets was 10.16 tons per acre, exceeded only in 1904 and 1906, and 

 being 5 per cent greater than the 6-year avei-age for 1901-1906. The average 

 length of the campaign was 89 days. 



The-work of tlie Bm-eau of Plant Industry with sugar beets is briefly outlined 

 I'y P.. T. Calloway. 



Sugar beets in Virginia, W. P>. Ki.i.ktt ( \'ir(/iiii<i St(t. Circ. /. /*/). '/. fig. /). — 

 Culture tests with sugar beets in Virginia are briefly reiiorted. The first experi- 

 ments were conducted by this Department from 1897 to 1900, inclusive, and 132 

 samples analyzed contained an average of 10 per cent of sugar and a purity of 

 74 per cent. All but one of the sami)les were grown iu Piedmont and Tidewater, 

 Virginia. 



The results of 3 years' experiments begun in 1900 by the Virginia Experiment 

 Station in cooperation with this Department have been previously noted 

 (E. S. R., 17, p. 549). The results of 1904 were a little better than the 3-year 

 65623— No. 5—09 4 



