MINNESOTA. 89 



cation. These results show the extent to which the decline of crop 

 yields can be jjrevented by the judicious rotation of crops, the use of 

 farm manures, and the production of leguminous crops. There has 

 been notable development in work in animal husbandry along the line 

 of individual feeding of cattle, sheep, and swine to compare individ- 

 ual and breeding variations and to determine the food requirements of 

 animals from birth to maturity. Investigations on the protein re- 

 quirements for milk production have been carried on for a number of 

 years and show the extent to which rations must vary to meet the re- 

 quirements for the production of ditferent amounts of milk. These 

 experiments have shown that excessive amounts of protein are fre- 

 quently fed to cows, unnecessarily increasing the expense of the 

 rations, and that farm grains are practically as valuable for milk pro- 

 duction as many mill products. 



In the nutrition investigations in cooperation with this Office the 

 work on the comparative digestibility and food value of the three 

 standard types of flour — graham, whole-wheat, and straight-grade 

 flour — has been brought to a close, and the results have shown that 

 while sfraham and entire wheat contain more nutritive materials than 

 straight-grade flour they are less digestible, so that the body actually 

 receives less nutritive material from these grades of flour than from 

 the standard grade of white flour. The station is also cooperating 

 with the Bureau of Plant Industry in plant breeding and tests of 

 varieties of vegetables and clover seed and with the Bureau of Sta- 

 tistics in studies of farm statistics. 



Experiments have been undertaken recently to determine the in- 

 fluence of various fertilizers upon the crop-producing power of the 

 different soil types of the State. The last session of the legislature 

 gave special appropriations for investigations in soils, live stock, and 

 plant breeding. This work will be carried on both at the exi^eriment 

 station and in different parts of the State in cooperation with farmers, 

 numy of the present lines of investigation being extended. Investi- 

 gations in forestry have been inaugurated to determine the rate of 

 new growth of forest trees and the importance and value of refor- 

 esting the old stumpage. 



The work of the station covers a wide range and has yielded valua- 

 ble results in all lines. This is evidenced loy the liberal appropria- 

 tions which have been made for station purposes. The legislature 

 recently adjourned made appropriations amounting in the aggregate 

 to al)out $10(),()()0 for the agricultural department of the university, 

 exclusive of the substations. For the substation at Crookston $8,000 

 a year was provided for maintenance, besides $4,000 for drainage, 

 $5,000 for house and farm buildings, and $15,000 for a building for 

 the Crookston School of Agriculture. For the substation at Grand 

 Rapids $4,000 a year was appropriated for maintenance and $2,000 



