NEBRASKA. 183 



L. W. Chase, of the department of agricultural engineering in the 

 college of agriculture, was added to the station council as agricul- 

 tural engineer, largely for the purpose of conducting experiments in 

 farm drainage and sanitation and the use of cement for farm pur- 

 poses. G. H. Coons, adjunct professor of agricultural botany, was 

 appointed assistant in agricultural botany in the station, and toward 

 the close of the year W. L. French, adjunct professor in dairy hus- 

 bandry, was aiDpointed assistant in dairy husbandry in the station. 



Two new substations authorized by acts of the last legislature were 

 located, one near Mitchell, in Scotts Bluff County, and the other near 

 Valentine, in the sand hills region. For the station located at 

 Mitchell, which is to give special attention to irrigation and dry-land 

 work in agriculture, the State appropriated $5,000 for the biennium 

 ending April 11, and about $2,000 of this sum was expended for 

 13ermanent improvements. This station is conducted in cooperation 

 with the Bureau of Plant Industry upon land furnished by the United 

 States Reclamation Service. This department expends $1:,000 annu- 

 ally in connection with this work, and the Eeclamation Service 

 expended $5,000 in the erection of buildings. Fritz Knorr, of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, was appointed superintendent. 



The Valentine substation, for which the State appropriated 

 $15,000 for the biennium, is to investigate the crops and agricultural 

 methods adapted to the sand hills region of the State. Of the 

 total appropriation about $9,000 was used for improvements, includ- 

 ing a dwelling and a barn, both constructed from concrete blocks. 

 James Cowan was appointed superintendent of this substation. At 

 the central station at Lincoln a steer-feeding plant to house 60 

 steers for experimental feeding purposes is in process of erection. 

 The barn will be built of hollow brick, rough cast with cement, and 

 will cost with equij^ment about $10,000. The station at Lincoln ex- 

 pended during the year about $17,500 of State funds, including 

 $5,500 appropriated for special purposes. 



Xo new Adams- fund work was undertaken during the year, but the 

 2)rojects in hand were continued and certain phases of the investiga- 

 tions were completed. The work on the relation between leaf area 

 and the use of water in corn was actively prosecuted and extended 

 to include isolation of high-leaf and low-leaf strains of corn, trans- 

 piration at different periods and under different conditions of humid- 

 ity of the air and soil, and evaporation from the soil under natural 

 conditions. The results of these investigations indicated that the 

 water required by the growing plant is proportional to the relative 

 leaf area rather than to the relative dry weight. The loss of water 

 by the plant was found to be correlated with the loss of Avater from 

 a free surface, the plant apparently not exercising control in this 

 case. The transpiration studies, together with field tests, indicated 



