EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 283 



years up until 1917 one of the variety series usually found a place in 

 some other farm field as No. 12, No. 14, or No. 16, but during all these 

 years the breeding work had about 20 acres. 



Throughout this time no rotation could be practiced because of un- 

 certainty regarding land and because of the volume of the breeding 

 work underway. More land is now available for the plant breeding work 

 — a five-year rotation on 5 five-acre fields in fields 9 and 10. The rota- 

 tion is as follows: Beans, wheat, corn, oats, clover (turned under). In 

 addition to this, however, there are eight acres in the back of field No. 

 9 that are being built up to take care of the flax breeding work in co- 

 operation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the two acres 

 north of the Poultry Plant devoted mostly to alfalfa breeding. 



Most of the breeding work is carried on on the five five-acre fields to be 

 cropped in rotation. This rotation is as follows, taking for example the 

 front of field No. 10 : 



1918 — Oats and barley seeded to clover. 



1919 — Clover plowed and seeded to fall wheat. 



1920 — Wheat and rye seeded to clover. 



1921 — Clover plowed under for beans. 



1922 — Corn, hemp, sunflowers and similar crops fall plowed. 



1923 — Oats and barley seeded to clover. 

 Thus the series will continue. The other four blocks will have the 

 same rotation except so arranged that all of these crops may be planted 

 in a single season. 



In the present season (1920) there are 29 plats in the alfalfa variety 

 series, and over 10,000 plants in the new alfalfa nursery, and about one 

 and one-half acres in increase. There are 74 centgeners of barley, 138 

 plats in the barley variety series, and 19 plats in a rate of seeding test, 

 on Michigan-2-Row, besides a plant-to-the-row barley series. There are 

 545 plats of beans. The clover nursery includes over 1,000 plants. There 

 are G4 plats of corn, chiefly, selling, increase and isolation plats. The 

 hemp work includes two progenies that are planted in alternate rows 

 for crossing. They are also used to separate the corns. There is no 

 oat variety series for 1920, but the breeding work is ripe for a new 

 variety series beginning with 1921. The new oats are in a row series that 

 were plant-rows in 1919. The Rosen rye work includes rate and date of 

 seeding ajnd selected head isolation plat. The selfing work is in the in- 

 vestigational state. There are about 600 mother beets being selfed in an at- 

 tempt to improve sugar beets by breeding. 



During the two previous years there Avere test series on sunflowers, 

 but only the best one is being increased from original seed in 1920. 

 There are five acres devoted to an increase of the Hughes annual sweet 

 clover. This is a promising new sort that should fill a needed place where 

 the farmer has lost his clover seeding, and where grasshoppers are bad. 

 The timothy work continues in the form of seed plats and a variety 

 series. There are 296 plats of wheat including centgeners, variety series, 

 rate and time of seeding plats, and increases of six new wheats, originat- 

 ing in plant selections of 1915 and from crosses made in 1912. The 

 problem is to produce wheats that have a stiff straw and at the same 

 time are as winter hardy as the western hard winter wheats. 



Re.spectfully submitted, 



FRANK A. SPRAfai, 



Plant Breeder. 



