NORTH DAKOTA. 173 



The Adams fund work of the station was conducted by the chemi- 

 cal, botanical, and veterinarj' departments. Work on the physiology 

 of the sap movement in trees was continued, and as a check similar 

 work was done with herbaceous plants, sunflowers, and corn, and 

 studies on small trees and shrubs were begun in the laboratory and 

 the greenhouse. The study of the principles underlying resistance 

 and immunity to disease was continued as in previous years by breed- 

 ing various cropping plants year after year under conditions be- 

 lieved favorable to the development of disease. The principal crops 

 in this experiment were wheat, flax, and potatoes. The results of 

 this research work have enabled the station to place in the hands of 

 farmere three types of flaxseed highly resistant to disease. Two of 

 the types are essentially wilt resistant and the other is both wilt and 

 rust resistant. Similar work was done with wheat, and types devel- 

 oped under conditions testing their ability to resist disease have been 

 originated and were distributed during the year for further testing 

 their value in resisting disease. Cultures obtained in a study of soil 

 organisms Avere tested under held conditions and their effect on crops 

 was studied. Investigations on the bacterial and fungus flora of soils 

 and their effect on the soil and plants were also continued during 



the year. 



The results secured during the past year in the study of swamp 

 fever in horses were embodied in Bulletin 94 of the station. It was 

 found that the disease was due to a filterable virus, and further work 

 was done on the problems of early and proper diagnosis. In this 

 connection some of the more recent methods such as the complement 

 fixation method and others were tried, and a comparative study was 

 made of the disease known in Europe as anemia. It was found that 

 the virus is present in the urine but apparently not in the feces of 

 iqifected animals, and that infection can be induced through the 

 mouth. 



A continuation of the work on the nutrition of the wheat plant in 

 its relation to soil conditions was reported. This work was mainly 

 a study of the humus and other plant foods, and how they are 

 changed by cultivation and cropping. Studies on the utilization of 

 flax straw were in progi-ess, attention being given to the chemical 

 and other constituents of the fiber and the possibility of economically 

 utilizing the straw in paper or other products. This study brought 

 out an inquiry as to the presence of a glucosid of flax straw in 

 various stages of growth and its relation to stock poisoning. 



The study of the milling properties of wheat as affected by soils, 

 varieties, and other factors was continued in cooperation with this 

 department, and involved milling and baking tests of wheats and 

 flours produced in different parts of the State as well as different 

 varieties grown under varying conditions. Studies were made of 



