NEW YORK. 203 



fund. The growth of a legume with a nonlegunie gave the hitter 

 a greater protein content than when it was grown alone. The growth 

 of alfalfa was found to increase the nitrifying power of the soil for 

 at least certain periods in the growth of the crop. Both legumes and 

 nonlegumes were shown to have a definite relation to the nitrate 

 content of the soil on which they grow, the relation differing Avith 

 different crops. The station advances the hypothesis that certain 

 nonlegumes stimulate nitrification during their period of most active 

 growth, and later have a depressing effect on the process of nitrate 

 formation. The absorption of nitrate nitrogen by wheat plants grown 

 in a rich soil was found not to Ix' pro})ortional to the growth of the 

 plants, but to increase with a decrease in the soil moisture content 

 and consequently with a decrease in the crop. This result is consid- 

 ered as a probable explanation of the high percentage of gluten in 

 wheat grown in semiarid regions. 



In studying the relation of lime to the growth of alfalfa, it was 

 observed that the protein content of alfalfa grown on limed soil is 

 markedly greater than when the plants are grown on soil in need 

 of lime. In these experiments the difference amounted to 88 pounds 

 of protein per ton of alfalfa hay. Investigations involving the ap- 

 plication of fertilizers at different stages of growth of corn and oats 

 have demonstrated that, under certain conditions and for certain 

 crops, the application of fertilizers after the crops are growing effects 

 a substantial economy. 



The entomological work under the Adams Act was confined mainly 

 to a study of the species of Isosoma on grasses and cereals. This 

 work consisted of rearing the insects and studying the different spe- 

 cies with reference to their taxonomy. The study of the life histories 

 of the red bugs of the apple and of the plum leaf miner was begun as 

 a new project. 



The station also carried on numerous lines of work with Hatch 

 and State funds. The timothy-breeding experiments under way for 

 several years have resulted in a number of new forms which repro- 

 duce their characters true to type. The best of these were tested in 

 the field and grown in isolated plats to secure pure seed for distribu- 

 tion. Corn-breeding experiments were carried on in four different 

 sections of the State for the purpose of obtaining high-yielding and 

 early-ripening strains of dent corn. The oat and wheat breeding 

 experiments carried on in cooperation with this department for sev- 

 eral years were continued. 



The experimental soil work consisted of an examination of the 

 chemical composition and of certain physical properties of the more 

 important types of soil in the State, a comparison of the practice of 

 fertilizing for hay crops with that of fertilizing for the grain crops 

 in a rotation of timothy three years followed by corn and oats each 



