182 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



OREGON. 



Oregon Experiment Station, CorvalUs. 



Department of Oregon State Agricultural College. 



James Withtcombe, M. Agr., Director. 



The number of changes occurring on the staff of the Oregon station 

 during the past year, which were for the greater part enumerated in 

 the previous report, included the resignation of C. E. Bradley, the 

 chemist, who entered commercial work. The State legislature made 

 the following appropriations for the biennium : General station work, 

 $20,000; investigation of crop and fruit pests and diseases and horti- 

 cultural problems in the State, $30,000 ; Eastern Oregon substation at 

 Union, $15,000; dry-farming substation at Moro, $5,000; substation 

 for horticultural and irrigation investigations at Hermiston, $0,000; 

 establishing and maintaining a new substation in southern Oregon, 

 $10,000; establishing and maintaining a dry-farming substation in 

 the Harney Valley, $G,000 ; a total of $92,000 for the two years. 



During the past year the Adams fund work of the station was more 

 clearly diiTerentiated than heretofore and Avas strengthened in a 

 number of other w^ays. In connection with the work on soil leaching 

 the tank experiments were continued with different tyjDes of soil from 

 different parts of the State. Various fertilizers were studied as to 

 their effect on leaching. Absorption tests were continued, samples of 

 water from the Columbia and \Yillamette Rivers were analyzed, and 

 pot experiments were conducted with wheat and vetch on clay-loam 

 and red-hill soils, with special reference to the effects of lime and 

 gyj^sum. The work on this project was completed and the results 

 were prepared for publication. 



The study of lupulin in hops was continued, including its dis- 

 tribution in different parts, stages of growth, and varieties of the 

 plant. The effect of kiln drying and the use of different fertilizers 

 on the composition of hops was also studied. Considerable study was 

 devoted to the testing and improvement of methods of analysis of 

 hops, especially the resins. 



Practically all the field work in the project on the pollination of 

 the apple and conditions affecting it was completed, and the data ob- 

 tained related to sterility and fertility of varieties of apples and 

 pears and the determination of mutual affinities. This work was 

 conducted at Medford, Hood River, Freewater, IMilton, and Corvallis. 

 In this connection attention was also given to the cause of the striping 

 or banding of fruits, such as occurs on the apple and the pear. 



The study of the irrigation of fruit in the Rogue River Valley was 

 continued in two oi'chards, the number of trees under observation in 

 each being increased. The station is now ready to publish the results 



