Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons^™

Winter Wheat Investigations, T. A. Kiesselbach

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

Twenty years of wheat breeding, consisting chiefly of the isolation and testing of pure lines, has now been conducted at the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station. It is the purpose of this paper to report the conduct and results of this work. The resulting strains are compared with the best other wheats available from Nebraska and other sources. The effects of a number of cultural practices related to the preparation of seed, seeding, treatment of the growing crop, and harvesting are also presented. Some consideration is given to the experimental technique of the comparative tests.

Hardy Alfalfa For Nebraska, T. A. Kiesselbach, A. Anderson

Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station: Historical Circulars

Comparative tests of varieties and regional strains of common alfalfa at the Nebraska Experiment Station have clearly indicated that winter hardiness is an important factor to be considered when purchasing alfalfa seed. Much of the seed sold in the United States has proved inferior in this regard for Nebraska conditions. The use of southern-grown domestic seed or seed imported from countries with a much milder climate than that of Nebraska should be avoided in this state. On the other hand, reliance may be placed on the seed of hardy varieties or hardy regional strains of common alfalfa grown in Nebraska …

Control Of Flowering In Teosinte: Short-Day Treatment Brings Early Flowers, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Attempts to force teosinte into flower in mid-summer, in order to facilitate hybridizing it with maize, have afforded considerable information concerning the flowering time of teosinte under diverse conditions. The possibility that some of this information may be of use to others suggests its publication. The paper is, therefore, to be considered as a help in the technique of teosinte and maize hybridization rather than a contribution ~to the solution of the physiological problems involved.

A Genetic View Of Sex Expression In The Flowering Plants, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

It seems a conservative statement to say that studies

of the past twenty years among animal forms have

tended increasingly to link the phenomena of sex inheritance

with the behavior of chromosomes. To this

result, cytology and genetics have contributed perhaps

almost equally. The number of forms in which

one sex is known to have a morphologically different

chromosome complex from the other sex are many.

That, with respect to the chromosomes, the female of

certain forms produces gametes of a single kind,

whereas the male produces two kinds, and that in

turn an egg fertilized by one kind of …

A Study Of The Environmental Conditions Influencing The Development Of Stem Rust In The Absence Of An Alternate Host. Ii. Infection Studies With Puccinia Graminis Tritici Form Iii And Form Ix, George L. Peltier

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

Stakman and Levine have shown that Puccinia graminis tritici (Pers.) Erikss. and Henn. consists of a number of biologic forms, which can be determined by their action on different varieties of Triticum species. To date 37 such biologic forms have been identified by them through the parasitic action on 12 differential hosts chosen from a large number of varieties of Triticum species. To determine whether these biologic forms remain constant in their behavior under various environmental conditions, a detailed study of the host-parasite relation was undertaken with 2 of these forms. At the same time an opportunity was afforded to …

Size And Structure Of Leaves Of Cereals In Relation To Climate, William Edward Bruner, John E. Weaver

Papers from the University Studies series (University of Nebraska)

Although a very large amount of work has been done on the variation in form, size, and anatomical structure of native plants grown under different conditions, relatively little attention has been given to similar studies of crop plants. As far as we are able to ascertain, no investigations have been made of variation in the leaves of cereal crops grown under widely different, measured environments.

During the past few years (1920-23), in connection with studies on the development and activities of the roots of crop plants (Weaver, Jean, and Crist, 1922), plant production as a measure of environment (Weaver, 1924), …

Pericarp Studies In Maize. I. The Inheritance Of Pericarp Colors, E. G. Anderson, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Introduction ... 466

Nomenclature ... 467

Pigments present in colored pericarp ... 467

Factor relations of pericarp colors ... 468

Factor relations of red pericarp, P ... 468

Factor relations of cherry pericarp ... 471

Discussion and Summary ... 474

Literature Cited ... 475

Corn Investigations, T. A. Kiesselbach

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The purpose of the investigations reported in this bulletin has been primarily to determine some of the underlying principles involved in corn improvement. The work comprises a study of some of the physiological characteristics of the crop together with a comparison of various selection, breeding, and cultural practices in their relation to grain yield.

Genetic Interrelations Of Two Andromonoecious Types Of Maize, Dwarf And Anther Ear, R. A. Emerson, Sterling H. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Attention was called by Montgomery (1906)to the occasional appearance

of perfect flowers in the staminate inflorescence of maize and similar

cases were reported by Kempton (1913). Montgomery (1911) described

with illustrations a true-breeding type of semi-dwarf dent maize, the ears

of which were perfect-flowered. Perfect-flowered maize was described

and illustrated also by Blaringhem (1908, pp. 180-183). East and

Hayes (1911, pp. 13, 14) noted and illustrated a perfect-flowered sweet

corn. Weatherwax (1916, 1917) showed that typically pistillate

flowers of maize exhibit in microscopic sections the rudiments of stamens

and that staminate flowers show rudiments of pistils.

The Regional Adaptation Of Corn In Nebraska, T. A. Kiesselbach, F. D. Keim

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The purpose of this investigation was to determine some of the factors involved in the regional adaptation of corn. The procedure has been to make a comparative study of native corn types, known to be locally adapted to various regional areas in Nebraska through long growth there. The work has been confined to the single species group - Zea mays indentata. No one variety of a common source is grown throughout the state, and therefore it has been impossible to keep within a single variety. It would appear that the data should indicate morphological and histological plant characteristics involved …

The Relative Frequency Of Crossing Over In Microspore And In Megaspore Development In Maize, R. A. Emerson, C. B. Hutchison

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

One of the early developments in the study of linkage in Drosophila was the discovery that the phenomenon of crossing over is confined to the female sex (Morgan 1912). The fact that no crossing over occurs in the male Drosophila holds true not only for sex-linked genes but for factors in the autosomes as well and is so well established that it affords a most convenient method of determining to which of the different linkage groups a new factor belongs.

The same phenomenon, but with the sexes reversed, obtains in the silkworm moth. Tanaka (1914, 1915) has found from back-cross …

Heritable Characters Of Maize: Ix. Crinkly Leaf, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In 1910 a strain of dent corn obtained at the National Corn Exposition held at Omaha was crossed with a strain of flint corn obtained from the Department of Agronomy of the University of Nebraska. The F₁ plants of this cross were normal and no abnormalities had been observed in the parent strains. But since the latter had not been subjected to self-pollination, there is no assurance that one or other of them did not have in it the character to be described here. In the F₂ generation of this cross there occurred a tpe of plant that …

Freezing Injury Of Seed Corn, T. A. Kiesselbach, J. A. Ratcliff

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The object of the investigations in this bulletin has been to determine the conditions under which freezing injury may occur to seed corn; to indicate, if possible, the vital changes in the embryo resulting in such injury; and to point out ways by which seed corn of strong vitality and satisfactory yielding capacity may be obtained.

Heritable Characters Of Maize Ii.-Pistillate Flowered Maize Plants, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In the "freak"

class at the Annual

Corn Show held at Lincoln, Nebraska,

in the winter of 1913-14,

there was exhibited a corn tassel

with a heavy setting of seeds. A few

seeds are not infrequently found in the

staminate inflorescence of maize, particularly

in pod com, and tillers of various

corn varieties often end in ears instead

of in tassels or have tassels, the central

spikes of which are ear like. The freak

exhibited at the com show, however,

was a large. much branched affair.

wholly tassel-like in form except for the

fact that it bore a heavy crop …

Fusarium Blight Of The Soy Bean And The Relation Of Various Factors To Infection, Richard O. Cromwell

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

An investigation was outlined (1) to determine the parasitism of Fusarium on soy bean, (2) to establish its relationship to Fusaria of the section Elegans in so far as a comparison of the cultural characters permitted, and (3) by means of cross- inoculations and field studies to determine the relationship of this disease of soy beans to the wilt disease of cowpeas (Vigna sinensis Hassk.) caused by Fusarium tracheiphilum Smith. The results of these investigations up to the close of the summer of 1916 have been reported. The studies were continued at the North Carolina Experiment Station until the …

Studies Concerning The Elimination Of Experimental Error In Comparative Crop Tests, T. A. Kiesselbach

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

It is apparent that many sources of error have unconsciously entered into comparative crop yield tests. The very important matter of overcoming variation in soil conditions as a source of experimental error has been quite extensively studied and reported by various investigators during the past decade. The means suggested for reducing such error have been (1) repetition of plats and (2) correction of yields according to check plats planted to a uniform variety or treatment at stated intervals. Both methods have proved of value and a combination of both may often be used advantageously. Some danger always exists of error …

Relation Of Size Of Seed And Sprout Value To The Yield Of Small Grain Crops, T. A. Kiesselbach, C. A. Helm

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

A superior yielding power has frequently been attributed to the extra large seed. Since the seeds of any given crop commonly differ markedly in size, it is of importance from the standpoint of crop production to know the extent to which this difference in size may affect the yield of the crop produced. The following experiments have been conducted for the purpose of contributing further to the information upon this subject.

Genetical Studies Of Variegated Pericarp In Maize, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Two years ago there were presented some results of a study of the inheritance of self pattern in the pericarp of maize seeds, occurring as a sporophytic2 variation in variegated ears (EMERSON1 914). Further results, in entire accord with those previously reported, have now been obtained. In addition, data bearing upon new phases of the problem are also available.

The chief results reported in the earlier paper were the following: ( I ) The more nearly self-colored the pericarp of any seed of a variegated ear, the more likely is the progeny of that seed to produce a self-colored ear …

Transpiration As A Factor In Crop Production, T. A. Kiesselbach

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The object of experiments reported in this bulletin has been to determine principles according to which water is used by crops. In many agricultural districts, water is frequently a seriously limiting factor in crop production. It has been thought that some means might be devised through a correct understanding of the principles involved, whereby economy in the use of water in farm practice could be increased. In this effort there are two chief points of attack, namely, (1) adjusting the external factors to the needs of the plant, and (2) selecting plants adapted to the conditions.

The Storage And Use Of Soil Moisture. Report Of Experimental Substation, North Platte, Nebraska, W. W. Burr

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The profitable cultivation of the non-irrigable lands in west central and western Nebraska is limited by the amount and efficient use of the precipitation. There are tracts of land in the sand hills and minor tracts of badly worn heavier soils where the need of soil fertility is becoming evident. But, in the main, the great problem at present is not one of soil fertility, but of how to get enough water to make use of the fertility now present. The rainfall of this section, which varies from an actual shortage to seldom more than a meager sufficiency, makes it …

The Inheritance Of A Recurring Somatic Variation In Variegated Ears Of Maize, R. A. Emerson

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The inheritance of variegation has special interest and importance in genetics. In this paper I shall present data from maize and attempt to show how they can be interpreted in strictly Mendelian terms.

The Inheritance Of A Recurring Somatic Variation In Variegated Ears Of Maize, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The inheritance of variegation has special interest and importance in genetics. It is with forms of variegation that the only two certainly known cases of non-Mendelian inheritance have had to do. I refer to Baur's experiments with Pelargonium, in which crosses of green-leaved and white-leaved forms exhibited somatic segregations in F₁ that bred true in later generations, and to Correns 's work with Mirabilis, which showed green and white leaf color, to be inherited through the mother only. De Vries's con- ception of "ever-sporting" varieties was apparently founded largely upon the behavior of variegated flowers in pedigree …

Multiple Factors Vs. "Golden Mean" In Size Inheritance, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Groth's preliminary note on the "golden mean" in the inheritance of sizes in SCIENCE of April 17, 1914, pp. 581-584, deserves the attention of geneticists. Its publication is of such recent date that I need only call attention to one or two points that seem to me of particular moment.

In brief, Groth's hypothesis is that the mode

of inheritance in F_l not only of surfaces and

volumes, but also of linear dimensions is to be

expressed by √ab rather than by a + b /2

where a and b are parent sizes. The hypothesis

is based upon …

The Inheritance Of Quantitative Characters In Maize, R. A. Emerson, E. M. East

Historical Research Bulletins of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station

The experiments conducted by one of the writers were begun at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station at New Haven in 1906 and removed to the Bussey Institution of Harvard University at Forest Hills, Massachusetts, in 1909. The materials employed in this study consisted principally of crosses of Tom Thumb pop with Black Mexican sweet and of Watson flint with Leaming dent. The number of rows per ear were noted in several other crosses, the parents of which are listed later in this paper. The experiments of the other writer were begun at the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station at Lincoln in …

Shorter Articles And Reports: The Simultaneous Modification Of Distinct Mendelian Factors, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

In another paper on the inheritance of a recurring somatic variation in variegated ears of maize, it was shown that the amount of red color developed in the pericarp of variegated seeds bears a definite relation to the development of color in the progeny of such seeds. The relation is such that the more color there is in the pericarp of the seeds planted the more likely are they to produce plants with wholly self-red ears and correspondingly the less likely to produce plants with variegated ears. Self-red ears thus produced behave just as if they were hybrids between self-red …

The Possible Origin Of Mutations In Somatic Cells, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

That mutations are accompanied by some change in the germ-plasm is, I take it, indisputable. Have we, however, any reason to suppose that the change takes place within the germ cells? I am not sure, as a matter of fact, that genetists in general regard the gametes as the place of origin of mutations. It is true, however, that experiments in the artificial production of mutations in plants have been limited largely to treatments of the ovaries from about the time of the reduction division to about the time of fertilization. This suggests a belief on the part of investigators …

Shorter Articles And Discussion Simplified Mendelian Formulae, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

I was somewhat surprised by 'Morgan's and Castle's suggestions for a simplification of Mendelian formulae. My surprise was not occasioned so much by the forms these suggestions took as by the fact that any pronounced changes were deemed necessary. I had not only employed the usual formula in my own work but had found no difficulty worth mentioning in understanding the formula used by most other workers in Mendelian fields. My experience with students in elementary courses in genetics had not prepared me for the idea that such formula were particularly difficult. Nevertheless I believe in simplifying the formulae if …

The Unexpected Occurrence Of Aleurone Colors In F2 Of A Cross Between Non-Colored Varieties Of Maize, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Before the Mendelian methods of analysis became available, considerable wonder would doubtless have been excited by the "mysterious" appearance in F₂ of one colored grain-purple or red-to every five or six white ones in case of a maize cross, both parents and F, of which had only white grains. An occurrence of this sort has recently been noted in one of my maize cultures and the F2 numbers are explained here as a trihybrid or tetrahybrid ratio. The crosses in question were made primarily for a study of size inheritance and fairly large numbers have been grown. The varieties …

Discussion And Correspondence Coupling Vs. Random Segregation, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

To the editor of science: The suggestion offered by Morgan, in SCIENCE of September 22, to account for the coupling and repulsion of factors for various characters in inheritance in such forms as Abraxas, Drosophila, fowls, sweet peas, etc., incites this note.

Briefly Morgan's hypothesis is (1) that the materials representing factors that couple are "near together in a linear series" in the chromosomes; (2) that, when pairs of parental chromosomes conjugate, "like regions stand opposed "; (3) that "homologous chromosomes twist around each other," but that the separation of chromosomes is in a single "plane"; (4) that, thereby the …

The Inheritance Of Sizes And Shapes In Plants, R. A. Emerson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Some years ago Lock reported a cross of a tall race of maize with a shorter race which produced an intermediate height in F₁ and exhibited no segregation in F₂ when crossed back with one of the parents. Castle's results with rabbits are very similar to those of Lock with maize. Castle summarizes his results in part as follows:

A cross between rabbits differing in ear-length produces offspring with ears of intermediate length, varying about the mean of the parental ear-lengths. . . . A study of the offspring of the primary cross-breds shows the blend of the …