Blakeslee and Avery: Adzuki Beans and Jimson Weeds 131 



commoner armed form (var. armata). 

 Capsule peculiarities, of course, cannot 

 be recognized in the seed pan, but the 

 character of the capsiile can be dis- 

 covered early in the bud by dissection. 



The color of the stem and the char- 

 acter of the capsule can be conveniently 

 combined to give a dihybrid ratio. A 

 living diagram showing the Pi, Fi 

 and F2 in such a dihybrid cross is shown 

 in Fig. 13, while a diagram showing 

 the results of crossing a heterozygous 

 plant with a double recessive is shown 

 in Fig. 14. A report on these charac- 

 ters has no novelty. They were used 

 in Naudin's early hybridization studies 

 and their inheritance has already been 

 investigated by Bateson and Saunders.^ 



A summary, given in Table II, of the 



data on pigmentation and capsule char- 

 acters, incidentally obtained in connec- 

 tion with other studies, will indicate 

 the closeness of the ratios to expecta- 

 tion. 



A study of variability in the Jimson 

 Weed is being carried on under the 

 direction of the senior author and he 

 would be glad, therefore, to receive 

 material of any striking peculiarities 

 that may be found in this genus. 



An excess stock of seed of both 

 Adzuki Beans and Jimson Weeds has 

 been accumulated which may be ex- 

 pected to throw the ratios discussed in 

 this paper. The writers would be glad 

 to send such material to teachers who 

 may request it so. long as the material 

 lasts. 



More Schemes to Increase Population of Germany 



German writers continue to occupy 

 themselves with plans for making good 

 the losses of the war in population. P. 

 Mayet, writing in Medizinische Reform 

 (xxii, Nos. 11-13), sets forth a detailed 

 program in six parts : 



1. Corresponds to the American In- 

 fant Mortality Movement. 



2. Special methods for reducing the 

 loss of illegitimate children, among 

 whom the death rate is always high. 



3. A comprehensive plan for the 

 physical and intellectual education of 

 youth, to make them more fit for 

 marriage and parenthood. 



4. Exclusion of celibates from all 



public office. It is calculated that this 

 measure would yield an increase of 

 30,000 births a year. 



5. Increase of birth rate by (a) fight- 

 ing venereal diseases and {b) giving 

 premiums for each child above three, 

 etc. 



6. Insurance schemes to make it 

 financially possible for parents to bring 

 up more children. 



However effective such methods might 

 be for increasing the German popula- 

 tion, it is hardly necessary to point 

 out that they would, on the whole, 

 produce quantity at the expense of 

 quality. 



Study of Egg-Production in Poultry 



As a result of five years' breeding of 

 Rhode Island Reds at the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, H. D. 

 Goodale finds : 



First, that the prime factor essential 

 for satisfactory winter egg production 

 from strong stock is early maturity. 

 The records of the station flocks show 

 that, even in the case of birds of one 

 breed hatched from eggs from the same 

 pen supposedly made up of birds of 

 similar breeding, there is an astonishing 

 variability in the age at which the first egg 



is produced, namely from 195 to 300 days. 

 vSecond, the prime factor essential for 

 high annual egg production aside from 

 early maturity is nonbroodiness. A 

 considerable flock of Rhode Island Red 

 hens, none of which was broody during 

 her first year, has been selected and 

 will be used for breeding in the effort 

 to produce a nonbroody strain. Dr. 

 Goodale concludes that if broodiness 

 can be eliminated, the increase in annual 

 egg production may very likely amount 

 to as much as 33)4%. 



^W. Bateson and E. R. Saunders, Report to Evolution Committee of the Royal Society, 

 p. 21. 1902. 



