64 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



further how moisture contained in bagasse and other conditions in- 

 fluence its fuel value. 



The Missouri station determined that nitrogen and phosphorus 

 are the limiting elements of plant food in Missouri soils, and that 

 the majority of Missouri uplands respond to an application of these 

 elements. The results of orchard work showed that proper pruning 

 alone on a given plat of peacK trees resulted in a yield giving net 

 returns of $125 per acre. Proper fertilizing with ammonium sul- 

 'phate on another plat in the same orchard resulted in a yield of $40 

 per acre net, while on a plat where proper pruning, fertilizing, and 

 spra3^ing were all combined the peaches yielded at the rate of a net 

 profit of $300 per acre after paying the expenses of management 

 and shipping crop to market. 



It was also demonstrated by the Missouri station that the practice 

 of maintaining young heifers on a high plane of nutrition does not 

 affect their milking qualities, and that the size of the cow may be 

 permanently increased by liberal feeding when young. In experi- 

 ments to determine the efficiency of mitigated cultures of human 

 tubercle bacilli as a vaccine against bovine tuberculosis, the station 

 found tliat vaccinated cattle contracted the disease when exposed to 

 infected animals even under the favorable conditions of an outdoor 

 life. The fecal excretions of tuberculous cattle were a much more 

 important source of infection to swine than foods contaminated Avith 

 the saliva of tuberculous cattle. It was shown that not onl}^ a' very 

 large percentage of the pigs fed behind tuberculous cattle became 

 infected with the disease, but that some of the pigs show well-de- 

 veloped tubercular lesions in less than four weeks of exj)osure. The 

 station continued the manufacture of hog-cholera serum and dis- 

 tributed 60,000 doses during the year. 



During the dry season of 1911 the new varieties of timothy origi- 

 nated at the Cornell station brought out strikingly their superior 

 cjualities, the average yield for 17 new varieties being 7,153 pounds 

 per acre, as compared w'ith 4,091 pounds for seven check plats of 

 ordinary timothy. Corn-breeding work with two different varieties 

 has resulted in each instance in a gain of about two weeks in earliness 

 or time of maturing. Oat hvbrids and selections made bv the sta- 

 tion and tested for five seasons have also shown marked improvement 

 in yielding capacit}^ as compared with common sorts. Analyses of 

 drainage waters showed a loss of calcium of over 200 pounds per acre 

 more on fallow than on soil growing corn and oats. 



The New York State station has worked out a method for the 

 preparation of lime-sulphur wash Avhich enables fruit growers to 

 make their own preparations at a very considerable saving. 



The North Dakota station demonstrated that old land is just as 

 suitable for growing flaxseed as new land. From experiments and 

 observations made by the station the conclusion was drawn that soil 



