EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 191 



iDJiired. Two or three of these will probably be dropped for this rea- 

 son. The others will go on to variety series. 



In the spring barleys Ave have 66 plant-row plots, selected last year, 

 mostly from among foreign lots. The remainder of the work is as 

 reported before. 



Rye. — We have four strains of winter rye in plant-row plots this 

 year that appear to be mnch superior to the common run of ryes in 

 the state. Thev enter the variety series along with the common rye 

 this fall. 



Field Beans. — The work with beans has been increased by including 

 a number of new varieties into the variety' series. 



Alfalfa. — During the winter quite a number of small lots of station 

 grown alfalfa seed Avere sent out to farmers of the state, who wished a 

 start from Michigan seed-producing strains. These lots of seed came 

 from select mother plants. 



A small variety series of alfalfa was started this spring. Some of 

 this Avork also is being undertaken by farmers oA^er the state. In 

 time the work will furnish Michigan lier oAvn alfalfa seed. 



SOIL FERTILITY EXPERIMENTS. 



The Davenport fertility and rotation experiment was discontinued 

 last year and a summary of same appears later in this report. 



The neAv fertility and rotation experiment in Field 9 has been car- 

 ried out as previously planned. This experiment includes the study 

 of several three-year rotations, continuous cropping of certain crops 

 and the use of several grades of fertilizers and manures. Each rota- 

 tion is triplicated so that all of the crops are planted each year. While 

 it is agreed that the fertility questioned is largely a local one, it is 

 hoped that this experiment will at least point the way as to Avhat should 

 be tried in other sections and help to demonstrate certain fundamental 

 principles to students and college visitors. 



EXTENSION WORK. 



Last season Avas quite unfavorable for the variety tests of corn planted 

 by the experiment station and two of these were abandoned before ma- 

 turity of the crop. The other three tests were haiwested, one of them 

 miaking a satisfactory test and the other two only fairly so. This ex- 

 periment is being continued this season with a smaller number of 

 varieties, including some of the best from last years trials and a few 

 additional ones. 



The efforts of the department in extension work have been devoted 

 mainly to the introduction of alfalfa. Some time was devoted to this 

 work during the summer and fall of 1910 and since March 28th, 1911, 

 the farm crops field agent has been continually engaged at it. This 

 Avork has been facilitated by the organizations of alfalfa clubs of ten 

 or more members, each of whom agrees to grow an acre or more of 

 alfalfa. The college representative holds an evening conference with 

 the members if feasible, then driA^es to the different farms the next one 

 or two days, assisting the fanner in picking out suitable fields and 



