128 EEPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Carlyle not entering upon his duties until January, 1910. Other- 

 wise there were no changes in the station staff during the year, but 

 with reference to the supervision of the substations some rearrange- 

 ment was made. There was no increase in the State appropriations 

 over previous years, and the building operations were limited to 

 the erection of a section of the greenhouse. The station engaged 

 in several new lines of work in addition to those already in progress. 



Work on the Adams-fund project, including several new lines of 

 investigation, was actively pursued. In connection with the apple- 

 breeding project, which was enlarged in scope, over 5,000 pollinations 

 were made, of which about 50 per cent were successful. The mutual 

 affinities of varieties were taken into consideration for the purpose 

 of gaining a better understanding of the principles involved, and 

 incidentally of determining how varieties should be mixed in plant- 

 ing orchards to obtain best rasults in pollination and the setting of 

 fruit. About 80 apple hybrids were under observation. 



The studies of the duty of water in irrigation which were trans- 

 ferred from Caldwell to Gooding were carried on in cooperation 

 with the irrigation investigations of this office. Different measured 

 amounts of water were used in the culture of oats, wheat, barley, 

 milo maize, sorghums, grasses, corn, and some other forage crops, 

 and soil-moisture studies were made and data collected on the pro- 

 portion of grain to straw and other parts, fruiting periods, and 

 other jDhases of growth and production. The evaporation of water 

 from a free surface was studied by means of an evaporation tank, 

 and the determinations of soil moisture were made in a small labora- 

 tory fitted up for the purpose. Some of the results of- this work, 

 although as yet incomplete, indicate that in many instances far more 

 water is used in irrigating crops than is desirable for best results. 



At Caldwell, the effect of different methods of cultivation on 

 evaporation in comparison with a free water surface was studied by 

 means of eight water- jacketed soil tanks. These tanks were irrigated 

 with as much water as the soil would take up and then given different 

 treatment as to depth of cultivation for a j^eriod of eight weeks and 

 the air temperature and the soil temperatures to different depths 

 were determined. The effect of subsoiling on the absorption and 

 retention of soil water was studied on an acre of alfalfa which was 

 subsoiled three years ago to a depth of 3 feet. No difference has as 

 yet been observed between the subsoiled land and the check plat. 



In the work on the gluten content of wheat with reference to cause 

 of deterioration and methods of improvement, the effect of irrigation 

 and of row culture versus field culture was studied at Gooding, and 

 samples of wheat from different parts of the State were milled to 

 ascertain where wheat highest in gluten is produced. The samples 

 coming from the southern part of the State were found to be highest 



