DIVISION OF AGROSTOLOGY. 89 



tions: Range improvement; the formation, care, and management of 

 meadows and pastures; forage plants for alkali soils; sand and soil 

 binding grasses; soiling crops for a continuous series throughout the 

 season; winter pasturage; the relation of forage crops to the reclama- 

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

 and development of varieties of grasses and forage plants adapted to 

 special purposes or conditions, or possessing special qualities of har-- 

 diness, palatability, yield, etc. 



The work of range improvement already under way at Highmore, 

 S. Dak., and Abilene, Tex., is being continued, and additional inves- 

 tigations will be undertaken in Arizona and Washington in coopera- 

 tion with the respective experiment stations. Plans have been made 

 for the investigation of the formation, care, and management of mead- 

 ows and pastures with the State experiment stations in Missouri, Texas, 

 Minnesota, and other States Avhere this question is of first importance. 

 The investigation of forage crops suitable for alkali soils will be 

 undertaken with the Montana, Colorado, and other stations in States 

 in which there is a large amount of such land. The question of sand 

 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 investigations of such grasses in con- 

 nection with the Oregon station and perhaps with other stations in 

 the regions represented. Experiments with soiling crops are being 

 carried on with the Maryland station, and these will be extended to 

 other sections where dairying is a leading industry and where this 

 question is an important one. Winter pasturage is one of the most 

 vital questions for the South, and its investigation is accordingly being 

 arranged with certain of the Southern stations, while with others the 

 study of forage crops and their relation to the improvement of the 

 fertility of the soil, another question of importance in this section, 

 will be undertaken. Similar investigations are being planned for the 

 New England States. The study of selected varieties of grass and 

 forage crops is a question of general importance throughout the coun- 

 try, and investigations are being carried on in cooperation with the 

 Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology and with such of 

 the State experiment stations asare prepared to undertake the work. 



PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



Arrangements have been completed to maintain at Buffalo during the 

 Pan-American Exposition next season a grass garden in which will be 

 grown those grasses and forage plants of most general value, and also 

 those of special value, as for lawns, binding soils and drifting sand, etc. 

 It is also planned to make an exhibit of panels bearing representative 

 specimens of the more important sorts, both native and introduced, 

 samples of seeds and other products, and photographs illustrating the 

 habit of growth of the plants and the methods of growing and har- 

 vesting the crop, as well as preserving and utilizing it. 



NEW LINES OF WORK. 



The new lines of work called for in the last appropriation bill, that 

 is, experiments and reports on the best methods of extirpating John- 

 son grass and the investigation of animal foods, have been begun in 



