XXXVIII REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. 



improved ti.s the result of experiments conducted by the Division that 

 pastures which three years ago were estimated by experts to be ca]:)a- 

 ble of supporting only one steer to 16 acres will now maintain in 

 good condition one steer to 8 acres, a net gain of 100 per cent in the 

 carrying capacity. The possibility of growing clovers, and especially 

 the improved varieties of alfalfa, in this section of Texas has also been 

 determined by the experiments of our agent at Abilene. The work 

 carried on at Wallawalla, in cooperation with the Oregon Railroad and 

 Navigation Company, has been devoted exclusively this season to the 

 production of seed of important native grasses and forage plants for 

 distribution to the agricultural experiment stations. 



Arrangements are now made for continuing, through this Division, 

 seed production in cooperation with experiment stations, and the work 

 at Wallawalla will close with the present season. The station at 

 Highmore, S. Dak., conducted in cooperation with the State experi- 

 ment station, has been continued, and the results of the season's work 

 there will form the subject of a divisional report. The work of last 

 season was set forth in Circular No. 21 of this Division. These exper- 

 iments have attracted a great deal of attention from ranchers and 

 farmers, and already they are beginning to put into practice the meth- 

 ods recommended for improving the ranges which have been shown 

 to be so efficacious at the stations named. Among the questions which 

 will be taken up in these cooperative investigations are the following- 

 Range improvement; the formation and management of meadows and 

 pastures; forage plants for alkali soils; sand-binding and soil-binding 

 grasses; soiling crops for a continuous series throughout the season; 

 winter pasturage; the relation of forage crops to the reclamation of 

 worn-out lands and the maintenance of soil fertility; selection and 

 development of varieties of grass and forage plants adapted to special 

 purposes or conditions, or possessing special qualities of hardiness, 

 palatability, yield, etc. 



The investigation of forage crops suitable for alkali soils will be 

 undertaken with the Montana and Colorado experiment stations and 

 with the stations in other States in which there is a large amount of 

 such land. The question of sand-binding and soil-binding grasses is of 

 special importance at certain points on the Pacific coast, along the Great 

 Lakes, and on the Atlantic coast, and it is planned to undertake investi- 

 gations of such grasses in connection with the Oregon experiment sta- 

 tion, and perhaps with other stations in the regions represented. 

 Experiments with soiling crops are being carried on with the Maryland 

 experiment station, and these will be extended to other sections where 

 dairying is a leading industry and where this question is an important 

 one. Winter pastvirage is one of the most vital questions for the South, 

 and its investigation is accordingly being arranged with certain of the 



