154 Summary of Agricultural Experiments, [may, 



pickle." The corns from prolific ears may be made of uniform size 

 by sifting out the small pickles; but, by this sifting process, the seed 

 has not been improved for sowing purposes, although the weight per 

 bushel is increased, and the weight of 1,000 seeds also. The very 

 best crops of oats may be got by seeding with small pickles and 

 tailings, the reason being that this seed is the offspring of those 

 prolific ears which produced the pickles in pairs. 



In buying oats, therefore, for seed purposes, the uniformity of the 

 sample, the appearance of the husk, the dressing of the grain, and a 

 heavy weight per bushel are no guarantee of high quality, there must 

 also be the certainty that the seeds have come from prolific ears, and 

 for this purpose the stalk on the individual corns must be examined 

 to see whether a sufficient number of these lack the rudiment. In 

 addition, a proper weight per 1,000 seeds is desirable, and the tables 

 given afford a guide on this point. 



Varieties of Oats. ( West of Scotland Agric. Coll. Buil. 47. Report 

 on Experiments on Varieties of Oats, 1902-7. Section IV., Dressed 

 Grain and Mealing Power. ).— This Bulletin deals with (1) kernels 

 of dressed grain, and (2) proportion of kernel to husk and mealing 

 power. 



The first point investigated is the average weight of kernels per 

 1,000, and the want of connection between the average weight of the 

 kernels per 1,000 and the weight of the corn per bushel is pointed 

 out. The maximum and minimum weight of 1,000 kernels and the 

 influence of manure on kernel weight are considered. Various factors 

 in connection with the proportion of kernel to husk are dealt with, 

 and the average weight of oatmeal yielded by equal weights of dressed 

 grain from each of 26 varieties is given. 



Varieties of Oats. (Univ. Coll., Reading. Results of Experiments 

 at College Farm, 1908.). — Siberian and Wide-awake were tested in 

 1908, and gave yields of 6 qr. 3 bus. and 6 qr. respectively. (Journal, 

 September, 1908, p. 561.) 



Black Tartarian Oats. (Journal of Irish Dept. of Agric, October, 

 1906.). — The price of Black Tartarian oats for seed depends largely 

 on the colour of the seed. Jet black seed is more valuable than seed 

 which is brown or mahogany in colour, and the main reason advanced 

 in favour of such a practice is the hope that the colour of the produce 

 may be influenced by the character of the seed. Five experiments were 

 carried out at different stations, which seem to show that the colour 

 depends far more on soil, climate, and local conditions than upon the 

 colour of the seed sown. It is generally believed that heavy cold soils 

 will produce blacker oats than warm, sandy soils, and that a better 

 colour is obtained when black oats are sown after potatoes or roots 

 than after grass. 



Colonial and Foreign Experiments. 



Experiments with various Nitrogenous Manures. (Arbeiten der 

 Deutschen Land. Gesell., Heft 146.). — This Report by Prof. Schneide- 

 wind, Director of the Experiment Station at Halle, covers numerous 

 pot and field experiments carried out in 1905-7 with various crops. The 

 field trials were carried out with rye, wheat, barley, potatoes, and 

 sugar beet, the manures tested being nitrate of soda, sulphate of 



