IIU in:P()KT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Cornell University Agriculturfil Experiment Station, Ithaca. 



Depiirtiiii'iii (if Conicll I'nlvorsity. 



L. II. r.Aii.iY. .M. S.. IHicctor. 



GENERAL OUTLOOK. 



The development of the Cornell Station under the new administra- 

 tion has i)i()^n-essed satisfactorily, except that the lack of funds has 

 exerted a retarding influence. In the department of agronomy the 

 Avork outlined in the last report of this Office has been continued, 

 selection and breeding work being a prominent feature of nearly all 

 the field-crop exi)eriments. There has also been some work in farm 

 mechanics on the draft of imj^lements. In animal husbandly the 

 work has consisted of experiments in meat production with cattle, 

 sheep, and swine, and breeding exi^eriments with dairy cattle. 



In the horticultural department a wide range of investigations is 

 being carried on, but special emphasis is being placed on studies of a 

 spot disease found on Refuge wax beans, in which it has been found 

 that picking off the diseased pods as they appear is quite effective ; of 

 the black rot of grapes, and of varieties of peonies with special refer- 

 ence to establishing a standard nomenclature. About 1,600 varieties 

 of peonies are now being grown at the station, and some 400 more will 

 be added. This work is being done in cooperation with the American 

 Peony Association. Tests are also being made of methods of propa- 

 gating from tuberous cuttings, and of storing cut flowers. The horti- 

 culturist is also studying about 400 varieties of beans in cooperation 

 with the Bureau of Plant Industry of this Department. The station 

 has been working on this subject for four or five years in cooperation 

 with a large grower in the State in an effort to straighten out the no- 

 menclature of varieties. Experiments in both Avarm and cool green- 

 houses on the effects of acetylene light on ])lant growth have given 

 some striking results. Easter lilies, for example, produced larger 

 plants and earlier blooms, and radishes were 10 days earlier. These 

 experiments were made with numerous flowering plants and vege- 

 tables, and an effort is now being made to reduce the work to a com- 

 mercial basis. Some work with mushrooms has been done in coopera- 

 tion with the botanist, who is continuing his studies of fungi with 

 special reference to Avorking out the life histories of economic species 

 of mushrooms and other fungi. A bulletin on mushroom gi'OAving 

 for amateurs has been issued. The chemist has continued to co- 

 operate Avith the Bureau of Chemistry of this Department in study- 

 ing the effect of environment on the chemical composition of sugar 

 beets, and has taken up, in cooperation with the agronomist of the 

 station and a canning factory, studies on the effect of selection on the 

 sugar content of SAveet corn. The eiuomologist has continued his 



