552 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



method of fermentation in 1902, when 655,200 lbs. of Zimmer Spanish was treated by 

 this method; in 1903, 4,212,000 lbs., and in 1904, 10,208,000 lbs., consisting of Zimmer 

 Spanish, Ohio seed leaf, and Little Dutch, were fermented in bulk under its direction. 



Experiments in growing Sumatra tobacco under shelter tent, 1903, W. 

 Frear {Pennsylvania Sta. Bui. 72, pp. 11). — Cooperative experiments in growing 

 Sumatra tobacco under shade were conducted on two farms, one on Donegal gravelly 

 loam soil and the other on Penn sandy loam. Similar experiments were made on 

 the Donegal gravelly loam in 1902. 



Notes on the weather conditions and the culture, harvesting, and curing of the 

 crop are given, together with statements relating to the expense involved in the dif- 

 ferent operations. The crops were bulk-sweated with other Sumatra leaf, and graded 

 according to the Connecticut standard. In the crop from the Donegal gravelly loam 

 soil the loss from sweating and in rejected leaf amounted to 21.9 per cent. In the 

 sweated crop 34.2 per cent of the leaves were graded as light-colored and 47.9 per 

 cent as dark. Of the selected leaf 58.4 per cent was 'regarded as fit for wrappers. 

 About three-fifths of the crop consisted of leaves over 16 in. in length. 



The results so far obtained indicate that the shade-grown leaf on the Donegal grav- 

 elly loam, lacking in luster, life, and color, is not a satisfactory substitute for imported 

 wrapper leaf, but that on the lighter Penn sandy loam a leaf of more acceptable 

 color, better luster, and less flimsiness is obtainable. 



Tobacco investigations in Porto Rico during 1903-4, J. van Leenhoff, Jr. 

 {Porto Rico Sta. Bid. 5, pp. 47, pis. 5, fig. 1). — This is the Spanish edition of Bulletin 

 5 of the Porto Rico Station, the English edition of which has been noted (E. S. R., 

 17, p. 32). 



Improving the quality of wheat, T. L. Lyon {U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant 

 Indus. Bid. 78, pp. 120) . — This bulletin contains a historical and an experimental 

 part. 



The historical part consists of a brief summary of a number of experiments made 

 from 1845 to the present time in this and other countries, and bearing on the influence 

 of the time of harvesting, the use of immature seed, the conditions of soil and 

 climate, the supply of soil moisture, and the size or weight and the specific gravity 

 of the seed on the composition and yield of wheat. 



The experimental part presents the results obtained by the author in breeding 

 experiments conducted at the Nebraska Experiment Station in cooperation with this 

 Department. The object of the investigations was to determine whether a high or 

 low nitrogen content may be a characteristic of an individual plant, whether this 

 quality is transmitted to the offspring, with what constant characteristics it is corre- 

 lated, and whether a high percentage of nitrogen in a normal matured wheat plant 

 indicates a large accumulation of nitrogen by that plant. 



The data indicate that whe i grown under the same conditions kernels of the same 

 variety high in proteid material have a lower specific gravity, weigh slightly less, 

 and occupy a smaller volume than kernels having a smaller percentage of proteids. 

 The same relations obtain between individual spikes and individual plants, but the 

 relation of light kernel and high percentage of nitrogen did not appear to hold 

 between individual plants in different years. As between kernels, spikes, and plants 

 the kernels of greater weight contained a larger weight of proteids, although a lower 

 percentage. 



The quality of high proteid content and its correlated properties, it was found, 

 may be due to immaturity in the kernel, or they may belong to the normal and fully 

 ripened kernel. It was further shown that plants bearing either the largest number 

 or the greatest weight of kernels as well as those producing the greatest weight of 

 proteid matter and gluten have kernels of more than medium, but not the greatest 

 weight. 



