26 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



while clover contained 13.28 per cent in the hay and 4.47 per cent in the green for- 

 age, timothy 4.47 per cent in the hay and 2.17 per cent in the green forage, and 

 brome grass 6.7 per cent in the hay and 2.7 per cent in the green forage. 



A summary of data obtained in tests with alfalfa by members of the Agricultural 

 Experiment Association of Wisconsin shows thatof 124 members reporting, 110 advo- 

 cate sowing with a nnrse crop, 99 using oats for this purpose, and 118 favor sowing 

 2 varieties. As compared with the Turkestan variety common alfalfa is considered 

 best by 28, while 81 could detect no difference. The best rate of sowing as shown 

 by these data is 20 lbs. of seed per acre. 



Red clover from various sources, YV. M. Munson {Maine Sta. Bui. 113, pp. 

 28-36). — A study of red clover from various American and European sources was 

 made in cooperation with this Department in 1902 and L903. 



Germination tests made of all the seed showed that a high percentage of sprouting 

 under favorable conditions, as in a seed tester or on blotting paper, is no proof that 

 similar results will be obtained when the seed is sown in soil. Of the foreign seeds 

 those from Upper Austria, Styria, Hungarian Transylvania, and Russia were appar- 

 ently the most vigorous, and the American seed from Ohio and Illinois was the 

 strongest. 



In 1902, 29 different lots of seed were sown May 19 on plats of 2 square rods each, 

 at the rate of 1 2 lbs. per acre. The plants began to appear May 26. Those from 

 north European seed were later in maturing than those from seed grown farther 

 south or from American seed. On August 30 the plats sown with seed from Indiana 

 and Bohemia were in good condition for hay. The largest yields were obtained 

 from seed obtained from Minnesota, Bohemia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Brittany, and 

 Ohio, in the order given. The yields of hay per acre for the entire list of tests ranged 

 from 1,040 lbs. for seed from Norway to 4, 040 lbs. for seed from Minnesota and 

 Bohemia. 



The shrinkage in curing for hay ranged from 68 to 82 per cent, the average being 

 about 73 to 75 per cent. In 1903 the earliest plats were those from Indiana, Hunga- 

 rian Mountain Region, and Ohio, being closely followed by plats from Bohemia, 

 Italy, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The earliest plats were ready for cutting June 29. 

 The highest dotal yield of hay for the season, 3.9 tons per acre, was obtained from 

 Indiana seed, with seed from Bohemia standing second, with a yield of 3.28 tons. 



Directions for the breeding- of corn, including methods for the prevention 

 of inbreeding, C. G. Hopkins, L. H. Smith, and E. M. East ( Illinois Sta. Bid. 100, 

 pp. 599-625, figs. 2). — Experiments to determine the effect of detasseling were car- 

 ried on for 4 years in connection with corn-breeding work. For 3 years the even- 

 numbered rows on 2 breeding plats containing 44 rows each were detasseled and each 

 succeeding year the even numbered rows were planted with seed selected from the 

 best detasseled rows and the odd-numbered rows with seed selected from the best 

 tasseled rows. Each plat, therefore, contained 22 tasseled rows and 22 detasseled 

 rows, and the seed was saved from the best 10 rows in each lot. 



The detasseled rows had no influence upon the breeding of the tasseled rows, but 

 they themselves were necessarily crossbred each year. The tasseled rows, however, 

 in the nature of the case became more or less inbred. The benefits produced by this 

 system of cross breeding are shown in tables; and in addition to general directions 

 for the selection of corn and the management of the breeding plat, a plan for plant- 

 ing to avoid inbreeding is outlined. 



Mechanically selected high protein and low protein Learning corn was grown in 

 these tests. The high protein Learning showed an average increase in favor of the 

 detasseled rows of 1.6 bu. per acre the first year, 10.1 bu. the second year, and 9.3 

 bu. the third year, while the detasseled rows of the low protein Learning yielded 5.9 

 bu. per acre less than the tasseled rows in the first year of the test and 14.7 and 11.8 

 bu. per acre more the second and third years, respectively. The individuality of 



