100 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tree fruits and with the farm department in the selection of cereals and 

 legumes. The work with wheat has been continued for several years, 

 resulting already in the introduction of better strains. Annually im- 

 proved strains of standard varieties are sent out in smaller or larger 

 quantities from the station. In addition to this work the department 

 is now making tests of varieties originating in the state and giving 

 promise of merit. These new varieties are rigidly selected and the 

 results already attained demonstrate that before many years practi- 

 cally all of the wheat grown in Michigan will be from strains developed 

 at the station. 



Whether the soy bean is to prove a factor of consequence in Michi- 

 gan agriculture is left an unsettled question. We are selecting it first 

 to get a legume of greater foliage and value as a forage crop and, second 

 to secure greater productivity. It is certain that it will not compete 

 with clover as a general farm crop ; it may surpass it for spring sowing 

 where a heavy crop to plow under or a late summer crop for feeding 

 is desired. The cow-pea will need fundamental changes in its habits 

 and characteristics before it will be of great consequence to Michigan. 



The continued studies of the relation of legumes to soil fertility have 

 not resulted in the publication of bulletins. The matter must be kept 

 in abeyance until more definite results are obtained. Several sorts of 

 inoculating material were tried, but so far as appearance of plots or 

 weight of yields were concerned no benefits seem to accrue from their 

 use. The results with soy beans were quite contradictory. There are 

 certain factors involved in the problem which are not yet recognized 

 and have not been given due weight. 



Much time and money has been spent in attempting to grow sugar 

 beet seed capable of producing beets rich in sugar and of good tonnage. 

 So far, it must be confessed the results have not been encouraging. 

 The mother beets were practically all of them destroyed by a root rot, 

 probably a rhizoctonia. This was true notwithstanding the fact that 

 they were buried in dry sand in such a way as not to permit one beet 

 to touch another. Again, notwithstanding the xnost careful selection 

 by the test of the chemist it has not been possible to increase the per 

 cent of sugar in successive crops of mother beets. The tendency has 

 been rather downward than upward. It will be necessary to continue 

 this investigation for a few seasons more before finally deciding whether 

 to abandon the effort to grow beet seed in Michigan or not. 



The work with alfalfa has also been continued. Here also the mat- 

 ter of inoculation has been retried. Certain plots were sown with seed 

 inoculated with a culture sent on from Washington, the next plot in- 

 oculated with a commercial culture, a third uninoculated. But one 

 crop has yet been harvested from these plots. The yields have shown 

 no advantage on the side of the inoculated seed. The application of lime 

 gave sometimes increased yields and sometimes no increase. So the 

 application of potassic and phosphatic fertilizers gave no concordant 

 results. No difiiculty was experienced in getting a stand, nor did the 

 alfalfa winter-kill badly except on the plots devoted to date seeding and 

 to the test of seed from different sources. Seed was sown each spring, 

 summer and autumn mouths in 1905. Of the several sowings the July 

 seeding seemed to show the best growth in the spring of 1906. The 



