The root-rotting fungus—Ophiobolus graminis—thrives on' wheat and barley but not on oats or rye.

Three spray and three dust formulations of 2,4-D and one spray application of methoxone were applied to fall-sown Federation wheat on April 15, 1947, when the plants were about 6 inches high. These plots contained about 42 mustard plants and 23 tarweed plants per square rod. There were six replications of each treatment in square rod plots with alternate check plots part of which were weeded by hand. Hand weeding increased the yield 3 bushels per acre. All chemical treatments reduced the yield of wheat as compared with the weeded plots, indicating some injury to the wheat. All differences except for the sodium salt spray are statistically significant at the 5% level. Also, all treatments reduced the yield of wheat below the average of the unweeded checks, but only the methyl ester and acid sprays produced statistically significant differences. The spray treatments reduced the plant height somewhat and tended to be more injurious than were the corresponding dusts. The test weight per bushel of wheat was not materially affected by any treatment.

1. Shelling seeds of several species and stocks of wheat and two varieties of "hull-less" barley resulted in a considerable increase in the percentage of germination, if shelling immediately preceded germination in petri dishes. For such stocks it would appear that storing seeds with the chaff on and shelling just before germinating would be the best way to prolong viability. 2. The ability of seeds of four varieties of common wheat to germinate in the chaff was correlated with their tendency, as reported by Harrington, to germinate in the stook. Thus, tests in petri dishes might be used to indicate the tendency of seeds of a variety to germinate before harvest or in the stook. 3. Shelled and unshelled seeds of three varieties of oats germinated about equally well in petri dishes, though shelled seeds germinated more quickly. 4. Seeds of "hulled" varieties of barley varied in their response to the removal of chaff, but in general, removal of chaff from seeds of "hulled" stocks did not result in as great a benefit to the seeds as it did with seeds of "hull-less" stocks. 5. Shelling had little effect on the germination of seeds of wheat stocks tested in soil, except that, as in petri dishes, shelled seeds germinated more quickly. 6. Unshelled seeds of oats germinated distinctly better than shelled seeds in soil, but, as in petri dishes, shelled and unshelled seeds germinated at about the same rate. Differences in the effect of chaff on germination in petri dishes and soil suggest that seed laboratory tests in petri dishes may not be as reliable as tests in soil in indicating the germinative ability of some seeds under farm conditions. 7. The effects of chaff in altering germination of wheat, barley, and oats were apparently dependent to a considerable degree on the age and viability of the seeds. Highly viable, fresh seeds usually grew whether they were shelled or not. 8. Storing seeds with naphthalene for 3 to 5 months resulted in a slight reduction in germination, more noticeable in the rate of germination than in percentage, of a stock of wheat seeds tested but did not account for the effect of chaff in reducing germination. 9. Unshelled seeds of three stocks of einkorn and one stock of barley were distinctly less liable than shelled seeds to mold. The other stocks of cereals tested were almost mold-free. 10. Aqueous solutions of extracts of wheat chaff were sometimes but not consistently effective in inhibiting germination of seeds and in inhibiting the growth of mold on shelled seeds.

Nitrogen and carbon studies of the surface 6 2/3 inches of a prairie soil have been conducted since 1911 on the soil fertility plots at the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, Kans. This paper contains results of 1946 analyses of samplings on these plots and compares long-time trends in nitrogen and carbon with fertilizer applications, cropping systems, yields of dry matter, and carbon:nitrogen ratios. This study has lead to the following conclusions: 1. There has been a continual over-all loss of nitrogen and carbon over the entire period of the experiment regardless of cropping system or fertilizer treatment. Plots with the highest nitrogen content at the beginning of the experiment have suffered the greatest losses. 2. Fertilizer treatment had no influence on the nitrogen trends in the soil or on carbon:nitrogen ratios. 3. The loss of nitrogen was essentially the same on the 16-year and 3-year rotations, while with continuous wheat the nitrogen content of the soil has nearly reached an equilibrium. 4. The loss of carbon has been greater on the 3-year rotation and continuous wheat plots than with the 16-year rotation. 5. Yields of dry matter were highest for the rotation containing alfalfa and for complete fertilizer treatments, but these had relatively little influence on the carbon and nitrogen levels of the soil. 6. The average carbon:nitrogen ratios for continuous wheat and for the 3-year rotation remained essentially the same over the period of the experiment, but the ratio for the 16-year rotation has widened during the entire period. 7. As indicated by the results of this experiment, the cropping systems and fertilizer treatments studied on this soil have had only slight influence on the trend of nitrogen and carbon but may have some influence on the speed with which an equilibrium is reached and also the ultimate level.

Yield data for ear corn and wheat grain are reported from a longtime soil fertility experiment on Tilsit silt loam in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The 31-year period covered is from 1914 to 1944, inclusive. The experiment includes plots receiving nothing or manure in combination with superphosphate, rock phosphate, ground limestone, and muriate of potash. Yields were obtained in a 4-year rotation of corn, wheat, and 2 years of mixed legume and grass hay during the last half of the period and in a 4-year rotation of corn, soybeans, wheat, and mixed hay during the first half. Various methods of treatment of the data are discussed, as well as the effect of treatment on yield trends. These include regression and analysis of variance. Graphs showing yield trends are fitted by the method of regression. All treatments gave significant positive regression coefficients except for plots receiving nothing or manure and ground limestone. Plots receiving nothing showed a downward trend in corn yields, showing a decided decline in productivity over the experimental period. Most yields showed a linear trend throughout. Phosphate fertilizer was found to be the most important factor affecting the yield trends. By means of analysis of variance, yield variation and differences were broken down into their component parts. A very significant difference between treatments, between years, and for the reduction in variance due to the trends in yields was found. Because of lack of replication of treatments on each crop in any one year, considerable information was lost. Replication of each treatment for each year in the rotation however, took the place of replication in any one year to a considerable extent. Variability of yield data for different years was evaluated by calculating coefficients of variability for the various treatments. Low-yielding treatments were considerably more variable than high-yielding ones. Calculations of correlation coefficients of corn yields with weather gave some measure of the effect of precipitation and temperature on yield and variability. Significant correlations of corn yields with weather data for critical periods were found.

Incomplete set - when located further volumes will be scanned and added | New Zealand with an area of 100,000 sq. miles lies between 34° 6'8 and 47° 20'S latitude,and 166° 30'E and 178° 30'E longitude (Fig. 1). The country is surrounded by a vast expanse of sea,the only land mass in the neighbourhood being Australia which is more than a thousand miles away. The situation in the Pacific Ocean brings it under the influence of Oceanic conditions and its position in the middle latitudes means that it is subject to weather changes that are common in Temperate zone between the high pressure area of the Sub-tropics and the low pressure region over the Southern Ocean. As a result of the nature and distribution of relief in New Zealand varied climatic differences ranging from cool to warm, and super - humid to arid are found in the country. In this study it is intended to analyse some of the salient weather factors affecting wheat - a crop of vital importance. The name of wheat is associated with the biblical stories of the first creation of man. Its cultivation and utilisation is older than the written history. At the dawn of history it was commonly cultivated in Western Asia. The expansion of its production and greater utilisation has spread with human civilisation. Today it is the chief bread crop of the world and in feeding the whole human race is second only to rice in staple food.