WISCONSIN. 147 



WISCONSIN. 



Agrricultural Experiment Station of the TJniversity of Wisconsin, Madison. 



Department of the (iiivcrsity of Wisconsin. 



W. A. Henry, D. Agr., 1>. Sc, Director. 



GENERAL OUTLOOK. 



Few now lines of work have been taken up by the Wisconsin Sta- 

 tion during the past year, but old lines have been extended and devel- 

 oped as far as means and facilities would permit. The station has 

 recently closed a comparative test of alfalfa, medium red clover, timo- 

 th}', and brome grass, in which the weight of green forage obtained 

 from alfalfa was ajiproximately double that of clover, three times 

 that of timothy, and five times that of brome grass; nearly the same 

 I^roportions held for hay, while in the case of protein, alfalfa yielded 

 three times as much as clover, nine times as much as timothy, and 

 twelve times as much as brome grass. The total quantities of dry 

 matter and fat were also much in favor of alfalfa. In an experiment 

 in the production of grade lambs in winter and marketing them about 

 the middle of March, at an average age of seventy-five days, the station 

 realized a net profit of $6.43 on each lamb. An extensive series of 

 tests in withholding salt from dairy cows showed that serious derange- 

 ment was sure to come at some time, usually directly after parturi- 

 tion. The bacteriologist has had good success in locating some of the 

 causes of difficulty in the manufacture of Swiss cheese and the pasteur- 

 ization of milk in a number of commercial plants. 



The disposal of dairy sewage and the manufacture of whey butter 

 are new lines of work which are to be taken up. A. small sewage plant 

 has been constructed to take care of the dairy sewage. A septic and 

 filter bed system is to be employed, the effluent to be used for irrigation 

 purposes. To foster the horse breeding interests of the State a de- 

 partment of horse breeding has been created, and placed in charge of 

 Dr. A. S. Alexander, veterinarian of the station. The legislature has 

 passed an act requiring all stallions used for breeding purposes in 

 the State to be registered and licensed by this department. Wiscon- 

 sin is considered one of the best vStates in the Union for breeding high- 

 quality horses, and it is believed that the efforts inaugurated will 

 greatly stinudate this important industry. The department of agri- 

 cultural engineering has made rapid growth on its educational side, 

 and is making investigations in stable ventilation and with concrete 

 fence posts. The work in agronomy continues to be extensive, and in- 

 cludes considerable new work in corn breeding and testing. The soil 

 work continues to be largely conccT-ned with investigations on nuick 

 soils. The new work in animal husbandry consists quite largely of 



