REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 81 



Prickly-pear investigations. — The past severe winter has shovm 

 that the spineless forms of prickly pear must be confined to regions 

 even farther south than was previously announced. This is particu- 

 larly true in the regions from Texas to Florida. Investigations indi- 

 cate, contrary to general belief, that prickly pears breed true to seed. 

 The spiny species native to southern Texas are giving great promise 

 as a cultivated farm crop. Thousands of cattle have been " roughed " 

 through on this feed the past year, and several dairies have depended 

 on it alone for their roughage. Both dairy cows and other cattle do 

 well with no other roughage. 



Weeds and tillage. — Methods of eradicating quack-grass, or 

 witch-grass; perennial morning-glory, or bindweed; and wild onions 

 have been worked out on the basis of their agronomic habits, and 

 extensive demonstrations are in progress to bring these facts home 

 to farmers in different parts of the country. Work on the relation 

 of weeds to the tillage needs of corn is being continued on 160 farms 

 in 32 States. Results of this work to date seem to indicate that the 

 primary object of corn tillage is the destruction of weeds. 



Farm practice. — The possibiHty of curing hay by artificial drying 

 has been shown to be practicable for regions Uke the South, where it is 

 difficult to cure hay because of untimely rainfall. A drier that cures 

 green alfalfa in 25 minutes into a very superior hay at a nominal cost 

 has been designed and constructed by the Department. The study 

 of farm practice in the use of commercial fertihzers has resulted in the 

 pubUcation of a Farmers' Bulletin dealing with this subject in the 

 South. Studies of pastures have shown their growing importance in 

 the production of cheap beef. The run-down condition of pastures 

 in many sections is being studied \\dth special reference to their 

 rejuvenation. In the clearing up of logged-off land, promising new 

 methods for burning stumps wliich appear to be cheaper than the 

 use of powder and the donkey engine, although slower, have been 

 devised. 



farmers' cooperative demonstration work. 



The demonstration work among southern farmers is rapidly in- 

 creasing. Organized in 1904 for the purpose of fighting the boll 

 weevil in Texas, this work has now extended to all of the Southern 

 States. 



The problem of meeting the advance of the weevil in the South is 

 a complex one. Southern farmers for j^ears have raised cotton and 

 depended upon it to furnish home necessities and supplies. A credit 

 system has prevailed under which the cotton farmer, whether owner 

 or tenant, runs twelve months behind. When cotton fails, his credit 

 fails; hence the necessity for a change of methods. 



73477°— AGR 1910 (J 



