FIELD CROPS, 1129 



Industry in run.ula. ontlini's its i)()ssil)iliti('s. and itresents statistics with refer- 

 ence to su^ar jtniduction. consuniijtion, and connneree. 



Tobacco, J. G. Smith (Honolulu Chamber Com. Ann., J008, pp. 123, 124). — 

 The ijossibiiities of tobacco culture in Hawaii are brietly discussed. It is stated 

 that in 190S about 60 acres were ,i.'rown. It is estimated that the planting for 

 1909 will be from 300 to 500 acres and that the output for the next 3 years 

 will be about n.OOO bales. 



Notes on tobacco, J. Van Leeniioif (Tran.waal Dcpt. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 2, 

 pp. 9, flys. 7). — General notes on tobacco soils and seed-bed management are 

 presented. 



How to produce bright tobaccos, J. Van Leenhoff {Transvaal Dcpt. Agr., 

 Fanners' Bui. 10, pp. Hi, Jigs. Jf, dgm. 1). — General directions for growing this 

 type of tobacco and for curing it are given. 



Report on turnip experiment, 1907, R. B. Greig { Aberdeen and A'o. of 

 Scot. Col. Agr. Bui. 10, pp. 1-10). — Nitrate of lime and calcium cyanamid were 

 practically as effective as sulphate of ammonia. The cyanamid was applied 

 with the seed and appeared to have no detrimental effect. Not taking the 

 residual value into account. 5 cwt. of superphosphate was applietl at a loss as 

 compared with 2J cwt. The results with high-grade and low-grade slag 

 showed hut little difference. 



On the inheritance of strength in wheat, R. H. Biffen (Jour. Agr. Sci., 3 

 (1908), No. 1, pp. 86-101, dgm. 1). — The statement is made in this article that 

 Red Fife after having been grown in England for 6 years is still equal in 

 strength to the same variety grown in Canada. Culture tests have shown that 

 in some localities this variety produces better crops than the common English 

 sorts, while in otliers its yields are not profitable. It has also been brought out 

 th;it the straw is not as strong as desirable. These facts have led to attemi)ts 

 to originate varieties having the productivity of common English wheats com- 

 l»ined with the strength of the Red Fife. 



Varieties with soft starchy grains were crossed with the Red Fife, which 

 produces hard and translucent kernels. Among soft varieties. Rough Chaff and 

 Rivet when grown on i)oor soil have rarely produced translucent grains, while 

 in Squarehead Master, Browick, Standup, and others opaque and translucent 

 grains have often been found in one and the same head when the varieties were 

 grown on jjoor soil. In the experiments referred to, Red Fife was u.sed more 

 than any other variety as a strong parent, but a considerable number of varie- 

 ties of Russian and Canadian wheats were also included. 



The F. 1 generation of plants raised from the hybrid grains produced a grain 

 of undoubted strength, but no indications of segregation into strong and weak 

 grains could be detected at this stage. The F. 2 generation was grown under 

 uniform soil conditions and each i)lant harvested separately. The grain types 

 were sorted out. and in the cases examined tlie segregation into strong and weak 

 tyjies was perfectly obvious. On attempting, however, to count out the types 

 re|)resented in the F. 2 generation it was found that some crosses gave sinqile 

 .Mendelian ratios, while others could not be sorted with any accuracy. In one 

 cross between Rough ChatT and Fife wheat 4 types of grain were present, strong 

 red, strong white, weak red, and weak white. In the fii'st 100 samples the pro- 

 portions of these were ."s : 1(1 : : IS : s, and in the second, oO : 18 : : IG : 7, showing a 

 reasonably near apiiroach to the !):3:::!:1 ratio expected when the characters 

 redness and wliiteness and strength and weakness are concerned. On the other 

 hand, the F. 2 generation of a cross l»etween Red Lannnas and Red Fife con- 

 tained plants with obviously strong :ind weak grains, but belween the extremes 

 there was a long series of i)lants which could not be classified with any cer- 

 tainty. 



