IOWA. 139 



In addition to the four Adams-fund projects already in progress 

 at the station, studies were begun during the year on a project with 

 reference to humus and its relations to the physiological activities of 

 the aj^ple. In the apple-breeding project, several thousand seedlings 

 have been grown and crosses were attempted in the spring of 1910, 

 but on account of untoward weather conditions did not meet with 

 success. Progress was reported in the cattle breeding and feeding 

 projects, as well as in the study of the relation of humus to crop pro- 

 duction. The station has followed the policy of concentrating atten- 

 tion upon a few important lines of work under the Adams fund. 



The activities of the station further included numerous lines of 

 work conducted with other funds. The work in animal husbandry 

 embraced experiments on the relative merits and profitableness of dif- 

 ferent methods of preparing corn for feeding hogs, and a bulletin 

 publishing the data points out that the most satisfactory results were 

 secured from feeding dry ear corn until the hogs weighed about 200 

 pounds. For hogs above 200 pounds soaked shelled corn gave the 

 most economical gains of all the forms in which corn was fed. 

 Experiments were also made to compare the value of corn, oil meal, 

 cottonseed meal, and gluten feed in work-horse rations, the points 

 receiving special attention being the health of the horses, degree of 

 spirit maintained, ability to endure hard work and hot weather, main- 

 tenance of weight and flesh, and the economy of the ration. 



A feeding test with fattening lambs, in progress for three years, 

 was made for the purpose of comparing a ration of grain and hay 

 with rations containing succulent feed, comparing sugar beets, man- 

 gels, turnijjs, rutabagas, cabbage, and corn silage as sources of suc- 

 culence in this connection, and determining whether succulent feed 

 is essential to rapid gains, high condition, and quality of finish. In 

 collaboration with the department of chemistry, studies in progress 

 for five years were continued on the influence of feeding sugar beets 

 and mangels to breeding animals, with special reference to the forma- 

 tion of renal and urinary calculi. 



A comparison of the value of stock foods foi swine, also made by 

 these departments cooperatively, showed that the foods in question 

 had no beneficial eflect on the digestion and that they did not appre- 

 ciably^ affect the gains secured when these preparations were fed 

 together with corn. 



The dairy department conducted experiments on pasteurization 

 and use of starters in butter making, investigated the causes of 

 metallic flavors in butter and of losses in butter making, and gave 

 attention to the problem of shrinkage in butter and to the prepara- 

 tion of ice cream and similar foods. 



The horticultural department, among other lines of work, carried 

 on experiments in spraying for fruit diseases, especially of grapes 



