1148 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



[Experiments at the agricultural experiment station at Vienna, 1905], 0. 

 Reitmair (Ztschr. Landw. Versuchsw. Oesterr., 9 (1906), No. 3, pp. 148-179).— -The 

 work of the department of agronomy is reviewed and the results secured are briefly 

 reported. 



The average results of several fertilizer tests with potatoes, sugar beets, winter 

 rye, and winter wheat show that of the total increase in yield secured from the com- 

 plete application the following percentages were due to the use of nitrate of soda: 

 Potatoes 48.7, sugar beets 38.2, winter rye 57.5, and winter wheat 40 per cent, The 

 hoed crops received 200 kg. of nitrate per hectare and the cereals 150 kg. These 

 comparatively small applications are regarded in general as the most profitable for 

 the soils under test. 



Potash was applied in the form of kainit and potash salt in quantities furnishing 

 100 kg. of potash per hectare, and the effect of this single application observed for 3 

 years. The first year the increase in the different crops due to potash was medium 

 and regular, but where kainit was applied to oats no increase was secured. The 

 second year the effect of potash on all crops excepting clover was weak, being weak- 

 est with oats. The third year the residual effect was still quite noticeable with 

 clover, where the potash salt showed a better growth than the kainit, while the 

 year before the kainit produced the better crop. The potash requirements of barley 

 did not seem greater than those of other cereals. 



Fertilizer experiments on meadows and inoculation experiments with different 

 leguminous plants, together with other work of the station are also reviewed. 



Fertilizer experiments on meadows, A. Grete {Landw. Jahrb. Schiveiz, 20 

 (1906), No. 2, pp. 117-148). — The results of cooperative experiments carried on from 

 1898 to 1900, inclusive, are reported. The plats, each containing 100 square meters, 

 were given various combinations of phosphoric acid, potash, nitrogen, and lime at 

 the rate of 0.8, 1, 0.45, and 2 kg. per plat, respectively. Lime was applied only in 

 1898. 



It was found that the soil was very much in need of phosphoric acid while its 

 potash requirement was small, the yields with phosphoric acid alone being almost as 

 large as where the 2 elements were given together. Nitrogen gave a small increase 

 in the yield of dry matter, but the production of protein was smaller than without 

 it. The increase in dry matter was insufficient to pay for its use. Phosphoric acid 

 and potash favored the growth of clovers and proved most profitable, although the 

 potash added comparatively little to the increase in yield. 



Some suggestions relative to alfalfa growing in Ohio, C. G. Williams (Ohio 

 Sta. Cure. 49, pp. 3). — Brief general directions for alfalfa culture are given. 



The station found that on soil derived from sandstone the use of a ton of lime per 

 acre was much more effective than other kinds of treatment, while on a limestone 

 soil the application of lime gave no beneficial results. In some plat experiments on 

 a limestone soil the use of 200 lbs. of steamed bone per acre seemed to have increased 

 the yield over 148 per cent, while an application of 8 tons of stable manure per acre 

 apparently gave an increase of 210 per cent. 



Alfalfa seed: Its adulterants, substitutes, and impurities and their detec- 

 tion, H. F. Roberts and G. F. Freeman (Kansas Sta. Bid. 133, pp. 51-111, Jigs. 44)-— 

 The impurities commonly occurring in alfalfa seed are enumerated and described, 

 and the results of purity and germination tests made by the station are recorded. 



Seed of yellow trefoil (Med'tcago lupulina) was found to be the chief adulterant, 

 but in a number of samples bur clover (M. denticulata) and sweet clover (Melilotus 

 alba) also occurred. It is pointed out that the seeds of these 3 species, unless present 

 in large quantities, can not be readily distinguished from the seeds of alfalfa. Yellow 

 trefoil and bur clover injure the quality of the forage produced, and on account of 

 their being annuals die out after the first year and thus reduce the stand. Sweet 

 clover is a biennial, and is generally distasteful to stock. 



