140 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



MISSOURI. 



Missouri Agricultural College Experiment Station, Colli mhia. 



Department of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts of the University 



of Missouri. 



F. B. MuMFORD, M. S., Director. 



The Missouri station during the past year extended its organization 

 by establishing three new departments— farm management, poultry, 

 and forestry — and increased its working force by the appointment 

 of a number of assistants. The new buildings recently completed 

 were the veterinary laboratory, costing $30,000; new dairy barn, 

 $12,000; implement and wagon barn, $2,000; poultry plant, $2,500; 

 hog-cholera serum laborator}^, $1,500; and cattle sheds, $300. A new 

 agricultural chemical building has been authorized, and the station 

 purchased 80 acres of land for the use of its horticultural department. 



The following appropriations in which the college and station are 

 jointly interested were made by the legislature for the biennium 

 beginning January 1, 1911: Outlying experiments, $15,000; soil sur- 

 vey, $12,000; manufacture and distribution of hog-cholera serum, 

 $25,000; agricultural laboratories, $8,000; agricultural library, $2,000; 

 animal husbandr}^, $12,000 ; dairy husbandry, $5,000 ; experiment sta- 

 tion, $20,000; dairy barn, $12,000; for completing veterinary build- 

 ing, $5,000; and agricultural chemistry building, $G0,000. 



A series of research bulletins was inaugurated during the year. 



General progress was made during the year in the Adams fund 

 work of the station. The study of the factors infliiencing the prop- 

 erties of milk was continued, and the project on the use made of food 

 by steers at different ages and at different conditions was practically 

 concluded as originally planned, with the exception that considerable 

 analytical work remained to be done. Some of the results obtained 

 in each of these studies were published. 



The work on age as a factor in animal breeding was carried on 

 with sows of different ages. The investigation has now proceeded 

 to the fourth generation, and the offspring were all reared upon the 

 same rations; and the weights, measurements, and gains were tabu- 

 lated. 



In the study of the dormant period of trees it was found that hard 

 freezing or extreme drought will force the development of buds, and 

 that late going into dormancy will prolong the rest period of treas 

 and thus protect against late spring frosts. The results further 

 showed that cultivation, pruning, and the application of fertilizers 

 delays ripening of wood in the fall and consequently extends the 

 dormant period later into the spring. The work on orchard fei'tiliza- 

 tion in its relation to disease resistance was conducted mainly on 

 thin soils, and excellent results were secured during the past very 



