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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



thing here in Pennsylvania is to continue the soil survey which has 

 been commenced by the Department at Washington. A good deal 

 has alreadv been done out in Centre County, and I think the good 

 work will be continued if the Department of Agriculture is encour- 

 aged in it. A man by the name of Atherton, I think, has been tell- 

 ing the readers of the Saturday Evening I'ost that the land of 

 Southern Illinois, which used to be considered the finest in the 

 country, has deteriorated to such an extent that they cannot raise 

 twenty-five bushels of corn to the acre. They have been planting 

 corn for fifty years, and nothing but corn, and they have taken out of 

 the soil all that goes to produce corn. We in Pennsylvania have 

 done a little better, because we include clover; if we don't turn down 

 the tops, we at least turn down the roots, and they give us the bac- 

 teria which we need, to keep up the fertility of the soil. Now, let us 

 encourage the Department of Agriculture in every way we can to 

 continue this work of soil analysis with us, so that we may under- 

 stand just what we are doing/and what the soils require in order 

 to produce the results we are looking for. 



REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 



Prof. W. a. Buckhout, State College, Pa. 



My correspondence during the past year has been somewhat less 

 than in former years and has involved nothing out of the ordinary. 

 The same matters come up periodically year after year, and hence I 

 need only briefly repeat w^hat has been said before. 



Seeds, particularly clover and alfalfa, come in for determination 

 of jDurity. While samples of seed vary somewhat, none that have 

 come into my hands are especially bad. They generally contain a 

 few scattering seeds of various weeds, quite frequently of dodder, 

 which is so small as to be difficult to detect. The danger from 

 dodder, however, is quite small and local. Should it get a foothold 

 it is easily destroyed by cutting before it has chance to form seed 

 for another year. It is quite temporary. The greatest danger from 

 impure seed of all kinds arises from the ignorance and inattention 

 of the small dealers. If the business could be confined to those 

 who make a business of seeds and take pains to inform themselves 

 of the quality and character of their goods, there would be very 

 little to complain of. 



Weeds and plants for identification were in the usual variety. 

 There is no ''best" way to exterminate weeds, outside of the commoL 

 sense of each case. Write to the Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, for "Farmers Bulletin No. 28, 'Weeds and How 

 to Kill Them.' " Study your case as you would any other problem 

 and act accordingly. 



There is more or less inquiry respecting cultivation of medicinal 

 plants. The one thing to remember regarding them is that they are 

 so difl:erent and apart from the ordinary plants of cultivation that 



