430 STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



not already on hand were procured and the work commenced under the 

 direction and supervision of the professor of Agriculture and his assistants. 



For the purpose of growing these grains the 10 acres of ground previa 

 ously used by the students for experimental purposes, was used. As was 

 the practice previously, it was divided into plots, and only one variety 

 grown on a plot. For the leading varieties, however, the plots were very 

 much larger than the others and frequently in duplicate. This new object 

 added new interest and so enthusiastic became the students and so success- 

 fully was the work carried on that at the end of the first season the results 

 already obtained far exceeded the expectations of those in charge. Very 

 careful notes were taken on all the plots from the time of the preparation 

 of the ground until after the harvesting had been completed. These notes 

 were taken at frequent intervals and in a general way contained the height, 

 color, thickness, stool, diseases, etc. While these general notes were kept 

 upon all the plots, more careful notes were taken along the line of the object 

 of the experiment. Work of a similar nature was again conducted in 1892 

 and our exhibits were taken from the two seasons' growth. 



The work of preparing the exhibit necessitated no small amount of dili- 

 gent care and ingenious labor on the part of the students. To preserve the 

 names of the varieties, care for during growth, harvesting, threshing, clean- 

 ing and preparing for exhibiting, hundreds of varieties of grains, was a 

 task which in itself seemed nigh impossible. We are gratified to be able 

 to say, however, that so faithfully was the work performed that we have yet 

 to hear of a single mistake being made during the whole operation. 



For the purpose of exhibiting the seeds and grains, glass jars and glass 

 frames were procured. The glass jars purchased were plain cylindrical 

 jars inverted, with the opening at the bottom, thus exposing as much clear 

 surface as possible. They contained when filled about one pint of grain, 

 and upon each was placed a neat label bearing the name of the variety and 

 the season of growing. 



The glass frames were 5x6x1 inches in size, with a glass front, the other 

 part being made of oak, with the opening in the back. They were neat and 

 proved to be an excellent method of exhibiting grains. 



The object in preparing the straw samples was to show the natural length, 

 size and color of the straw as well as the size and quality of the heads. The 

 samples were stripped of their leaves and tied up in neat, compact bundles, 

 about three inches in diameter, bearing as did the other samples, labels 

 giving the name of the variety and the season of growing. 



Upon the 500 square feet allotted to the college, convenient cases were 

 erected with shelves for the inverted jars, sloping sides for the glass frames 

 and standards to which the straw samples were fastened. When all had 

 been put in place it presented a very showy and attractive appearance. 



The exhibit included, aside from the straw samples, over four hundred 

 samples of wheats, 150 being in inverted glass jars and the remaining 265 

 were placed in glass frames. Of oats there were exhibited 175 samples, 100 

 being in glass frames and 75 in inverted jars. 



Of the straw samples there were about 400 specimens, 250 of these were 

 wheats, 100 oats, and 50 of a miscellaneous nature such as grasses, millets, 

 spurry, flax, etc. 



A rare and most valuable part of the exhibit was that prepared by Dr. 

 W. J. Beal, containing oO specimens representing the forage plants, and 

 200 samples in which were represented the noxious weeds of Michigan and 

 also the jjrincipal orders of plants. 



