204 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



one year, and the study of the causes of the formation of soil granules 

 and the conditions involved in these processes. A bulletin on the 

 eifect of fertilizers applied to timothy on the corn crop following it 

 was published during the year. 



The results of steam sterilization of soils showed that steaming at 

 two atmospheres' pressure for two or four hours reduced the nitrates 

 to nitrites and ammonia, and that the ammonia was mostly derived 

 from organic nitrogen. Ammonification and nitrification were prac- 

 tically nonexistent during the three months following steaming. 



The department of farm practice inaugurated a new series of ex- 

 periments to test the relative efficiency of ditferent ways of manuring 

 land and ditferent ways of plowing. The department of farm man- 

 agement and field crops studied pasture management and made com- 

 parative tests of races of flint and dent corn in different sections of 

 the State. The results indicated that on hill lands flint varieties 

 are superior to the dent varieties. The agricultural survey work 

 conducted by this department has brought together information of 

 fundamental nature bearing on questions of farm management. 



The department of plant physiology conducted investigations on 

 the action of nutrient solutions of different composition upon plant 

 growth, the relation of plants to single nutrients or to preponderance 

 of a particular nutrient, the antidotal effect or antagonistic action of 

 different mineral constituents of the soil solution, nitrogen fixation 

 by fungi, stimulation and toxicity, respiration and fermentation, and 

 the physiological relations of bacteria. 



The department of plant pathology continued its studies of the 

 diseases of grapes, beans, ginseng, apples, nursery stock, and the like, 

 including special tests of lime-sulphur as a fungicide. New lines of 

 work on the following subjects were started and were conducted un- 

 der industrial fellowships provided from private sources: The uses 

 of sulphur and its compounds as fungicides; the heart rots of forest, 

 shade, and fruit trees; the effect of cement dust on the setting of 

 fruit, injury to foliage, etc.: the diseases and insect pests of fruit 

 and fruit trees; and the diseases of potatoes. Plant lice were found 

 to be the chief agents in spreading fire blight of pears, apples, 

 quinces, etc. The destruction of all sources of infection by cleaning 

 out all cankers and removing all diseased bark and disinfecting the 

 cuts with a corrosive sublimate solution of 1 : 1,000 is recommended. 

 A bulletin on peach-leaf curl advises early spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture or lime-sulphur solution before the buds are far advanced. 



The department of horticulture was engaged in monographing the 

 varieties of peonies, sweet peas, and gladioli, and published a bulletin 

 on the classification of the peony. A special study of the specialized 

 truck regions of the State was begun during the year. 



