38 STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



half sown in fall, and the remninder in tlie early spring: at least as soon as 

 April 1. I hardly regard the test this season as a strictly fair one. 



UPLAND RICE. 



I have also sown a variety of rice known as upland rice on loamy soil to see 

 how it would do in our climate. Jt has grown well tims far (Aug. 1st). The 

 seed was sown May 9th and treated simihir to spring wheat as was ordered in 

 the printed directions. (Since badly dried up, Sept. 1st, 1879.) 



PLASTER OR GYPSUM ON CORN. 



The experiment with plaster as a fertilizer for corn was continued this year 

 as a means of comparison! with the two preceding years. The plats this year 

 were in field No. 9. As the season of growth is not passed the result cannot 

 be published. 



EXPERIMENTAL GRASSES. 



Plat No. 1 — Timothy (Phleuni Pratense) and Foul Meadow (Poa Serotina) 



Plat No. 2 — Timothy and Blue Grass (Poa Prsetensis). 



Plat No. 3 — Timothy and Orchard Grass (Dastylus Gloruerata). 



Plat No. 4 — Timothy and Red Top (Agrostis Vulgaris). 



Of these plats Nos. 'Z and 3 did the best. The season was a very dry one, 

 and the Red Top and Foul Meadow did absolutely nothing worth the name on 

 any part of the plats. The Orchard Grass did best on the loams and the 

 Blue Grass on the drained muck bed and clay loam. Timothy grew in all 

 places tolerably well. These should be observed in a moist or decidedly wet 

 season in order to get at their value as grasses. It must be remembered that 

 the clover and timothy on the same field gave only one-half the usual crop, 

 and that for 6 successive weeks in April and May, we were without enough 

 rain to wet down one-half an inch. 



Later in the season the plats have done better, with frequent rains in July. 



EXPERIMENTS IN BREEDING. 



Last year the Hereford cow dropped a calf sired by the Short-horn bull 

 Rufus, 18,275; he by 2d Duke of Oneida and out of Roan Duchess 3d. This 

 calf carried the markitigs of the Hereford cattle (the white face and general 

 appearance) with much of the disposition of the mother. This year the ex- 

 periment was repeated and the result was almost identical. A heifer calf was 

 dropped with the white face of the Hereford, etc., as before, and sired by the 

 same bull. 



This year the Hereford has been served by the Devon bull and her first cross- 

 bred heifer by the young Short-Horn bull Gen. Custer, 29,G18; he by the 23d 

 Duke of Airdrie, 19,9(53, out of imported Georgia Hillhurst 3d, bred by Col. 

 Kingscoli, Gloucestershire, and imported by B. B. Groom & Sons to Kentucky. 



Next year will probably show the result of this years' breeding, and it will 

 be watched with a great deal of interest for two re.isons. 



Firat, To see the result of the first and second impregnation on subsequent 

 progeny ; and 



ISecond, To watch result of union of Devon and Hereford blood. 



1 have also experimented in ihe weighing of feed consumed, so as to see the 

 ratio of pounds of feed consumed for lUO lbs. live weight in the different 

 breeds, viz.: Short-horns, A^rshires, Devous, Galloways, and Jerseys. I 



