SOME EESULTS OF STATION WORK. 65 



deterioration from a chemical standpoint exists in the principal flax 

 and wheat regions in insufficient form to account for the deteriorated 

 yields in quantity and quality, and the deterioration along these lines 

 is attributed to insanitary soil conditions. The station has worked 

 out specific rotations and methods of culture and seed treatment 

 tending to reduce the activitj'^ of these soil troubles. 



The Ohio station demonstrated the practicability of eradicating 

 bovine tuberculosis and of building up a herd of sound animals from 

 the progeny of tuberculous cattle by the systematic use of the tuber- 

 culin test and the thorough disinfection of barns. The station also 

 found that there exists a direct relation between the supply of avail- 

 able phosphorus in the soil and phosphorus in the grain of wheat 

 grown ujjon it. The results of a study of the mineral nutrients in 

 blue grass indicated that some blue-grass pastures in the State con- 

 tain tAvice as high percentages of the mineral nutrients as others, 

 these differences being due to differences in the soils upon which the 

 grasses were grown. It was also found that the content of blue grass 

 in mineral nutrients may be very greatly increased by the use of 

 fertilizers. 



A method of budding the walnut was worked out by the Oregon 

 ^!tation. This method is based on the principle of securing dormant 

 1-year-old buds, while propagators heretofore have attempted to use 

 buds of the current vear's growth. 



Work of the Utah station has shown that Turkey Red wheat is 

 the best yielding winter wheat for the State, and that the flour pro- 

 duced from it is the best and equal in quality to any produced in 

 other parts of the country. The work in dry farming conducted by 

 the station on sagebrush land has shown the practicability of farming 

 these lands under dry-farming methods, and as a consequence the 

 greater portion of the sagebrush areas of the State have been 

 taken up. 



The results of 20 years' spraying work with Bordeaux mixture on 

 late potatoes by the Vermont station showed an average yield per acre 

 of 268 bushels for the sprayed and of 1G3 bushels for the unsprayed 

 crops. This represents an average gain of 105 bushels per acre, or 

 an increase of 64 per cent in favor of spraying. 



The Wisconsin station found that silage as compared with soiling 

 crops can be fed to greater advantage to dairy cows through the 

 summer season. In its work on weed eradication this station found 

 that a crop of hemp, after cultivated summer fallow, was very effec- 

 tive in killing out quack grass and Canada thistle. In studying 

 the relation of soil bacteria to evaporation, this station found that 

 bacterial activity in the soil may so change the nature of substances 

 in solution in the soil water as to exert an influence upon evaporation. 



56096°— 12 5 



