MICHIGAN. 165 



marked progress was made. Parasites of larch and tamarack insects 

 received special attention. 



Among the lines of work conducted with other funds, the prepara- 

 tion and distribution of hog-cholera serum received special attention. 

 On account of the shortage of funds for this work the serum is now 

 being sold at 4 cents per cubic centimeter, to cover the cost of prepa- 

 ration and distribution. 



Experiments w^ere continued in breeding and feeding farm horses 

 of the Percheron and Clydesdale breeds, breeding up a grade dairy 

 herd, herd testing, trials of home-grown and supplementary feeds for 

 hogs and of succulent rations for sheep, and in determining the rela- 

 tive merits of farm poultry houses. Experiments were also carried 

 on in the rearing of calves on skim milk and supplementary feeds 

 and the production of baby beef. It was found that baby-beef pro- 

 duction by the skim-milk method was much cheaper and gave better 

 results than by the suckling methods. Wlien marketed at an average 

 age of 18 months, calves raised on skim milk weighed 966 pounds, 

 while those that had suckled their dams weighed 995 pounds. The 

 skim-milk baby beef Avas produced for $5.23 per hundredweight, as 

 compared with $6.73 per hundredweight for the others. 



In a feeding experiment with horses it was found that a ration 

 made up of shredded cornstalks, oat straw, and hay for roughage, 

 together with ear corn, oats, and a mixture of dried-beet pulp, bran, 

 and oil cake for concentrates, in addition to a few carrots daily, may 

 be profitably substituted for a ration of oats and timothy hay in win- 

 ter feeding. 



Studies were made of the chemistry of lime-sulphur mixtures, on 

 soil temperatures, on the construction of silos, and on soil drainage. 



Extensive breeding experiments with plants were carried on, in- 

 cluding breeding of wheat, oats, alfalfa for seed and forage, clover, 

 cowpeas, soy beans, and field beans. Tests of varieties of com were 

 begun at the station and at different places in the State. Tests of 

 varieties of wheat were also made at the station, and an extensive 

 series of plats to study questions of soil fertility in connection with 

 a rotation of com, wheat, and clover were laid out on a new area for 

 the purpose on the south farm of the college. Additional land was 

 also assigned to the forestry department, which already has extensive 

 plantations on this farm. 



Experiments with fertilizers for potatoes were undertaken at the 

 station and in cooperation with farmers, and work was also con- 

 ducted with sprays for potatoes; fertilizers for apples, peaches, and 

 grapes; cover crops for orchards and vineyards; on cold storage of 

 apples; propagation of apples from suckers, from fruiting wood, and 

 from selected trees ; propagation of peaches from pits from diflferent 



