152 ANNUAL EEPORTS Or DEPAETMENT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



Cotton culture. — The new single-stalk system of cotton culture 

 has been further developed and definite steps have been taken to 

 extend its general application. The principles of this system have 

 been explained in detail in earlier publications. The most recent 

 bulletin issued gives the results obtained at San Antonio, Tex., where 

 increased yields of from 40 to 121 per cent were obtained from single- 

 stalk culture as compared with common methods. In a number of 

 other experiments earlier and larger yields have been obtained, the 

 rows treated by the new system often exceeding the others by from 

 30 to 50 per cent. Plans have been completed whereby a number of 

 demonstration experiments are being conducted in cooperation with 

 the Office of Extension Work in the South of the States Relations 

 Service for the purpose of demonstrating the adaptability of single- 

 stalk culture to the various sections of the cotton belt. 



Clover. — In cooperation with the experiment stations in the States 

 of Indiana, Iowa, and North Dakota, studies on the pollination and 

 fertilization of red-clover blossoms have been pursued. The im- 

 portance of these studies is indicated not alone by the steadily ad- 

 vancing price of red-clover seed, but by the bearing of the results on 

 the problem of selecting hardier and more productive strains of 

 clover. Clover seedings fail more frequently than they did formerly, 

 and farmers hesitate to risk seeding clover. The causes of these 

 failures are, however, not yet well understood. 



From being called a weed sweet clover has during the past few 

 years leaped into the front rank of valuable forage crops and soil 

 improvers. The possibility of a still wider use of this plant is being 

 investigated, and a series of experiments has been planned designed 

 to determine the best methods for its culture. 



The commercial production of crimson-clover seed has been studied 

 and a machine has been developed to facilitate the harvesting of the 

 seed. 



General sur^t:y of sugar-beet sections. — A general survey of 

 the recognized sugar-beet sections has been made with a view to de- 

 termining which of these sections are best suited to sugar-beet cul- 

 ture and which are not suited to this crop. This work comprised not 

 only a study of soil, climatic, and water conditions but also a study 

 of labor, marketing, crop competition, diseases, and all other factors 

 of a general nature bearing upon this problem. Of the seventy-seven 

 existing sugar-beet sections located in seventeen States the majority 

 of them appear to be wisely located with reference to the factors 

 which make for success. Some of the mills are poorly located with 

 reference to one or more of the factors considered. 



STUDIES OF NEW CROP PLANTS AND CROP EXTENSION. 



Hemp. — During the present season the area devoted to seed hemp 

 has been increased to approximately 800 acres. About three-fourths 

 of this is of the Minnesota No. 8 variety, developed by this bureau in 

 cooperation with the Minnesota State Experiment Station. This 

 variety is superior both for fiber production and "or seed production. 

 It is therefore more profitable for the grower producing seed to be 

 sown for the production of fiber crops, and because of its increased 



