134 ANNUAL REPORTS OV DEPARTMENT OV AGRICULTURE. 



others, made notable jirogress in the study of the rehition between the 

 water suppl_y of the soil and the growth and health of plants, i. e., the 

 true duty of water in plant growth. It has been shown that, while 

 deficienc}' of water retards the growth of plants, excess of water, as 

 in careless irrigation, may seriously affect their health. 



The M'ork of the stations is emphasizing more strongly each year 

 the fact that progress in the improvement of agricultural crops must 

 be based upon a fundamental, scientific knowledge of the nature of 

 the qualities it is desired to develop and perpetuate, as, for example, 

 yielding capacity, drought resistance, disease resistance, hardiness, 

 and the like. 



The Wisconsin Station is preparing to distribute a considerable 

 number of new varieties of plums and apples that have been devel- 

 oped at the station. Tn 1910 it distributed over 300 pounds of im- 

 proved tobacco seed to growers in the State. Pedigreed barleys have 

 been disseminate^l through the Wisconsin Experiment Association. 

 The work has been extended to include boys' clubs, and contests have 

 been arranged in growing corn, barley, and oats, $18,000 in premiums 

 being offered in various fairs, contests, etc. The yield of a pedigreed 

 strain of oats on the station farm is reported at TO bushels per acre. 



The plant-breeding w^ork in the department of horticulture in the 

 South Dakota Station has become very extensive. Some excellent 

 hybrid plums, plum and sand-cherry crosses, and hybrids of raspber- 

 ries have been given to the public, and others are receiving final trial 

 before they are distributed. The hybrids of purple-leafed plum of 

 Persia with the sand cherry have turned out to be valuable orna- 

 mentals, and the union of the native plum and the Chinese apricot 

 has resulted in varieties promising as profitable market fruits. A 

 hybrid raspberry sent out from the station is winning much favor 

 over a wide area of the Northwest and is the hardiest raspberry so far 

 produced. The same department is carrying on alfalfa -breeding 

 w^ork, in which seven or eight species of Medicago are being used, to 

 develop hardy strains for hay, pasture, and seed production. This 

 station is also carrying on work in the breeding of sugar beets in 

 cooperation with this department. This work has so far resulted in 

 more than 40 different strains of selected beets, as many more cross- 

 bred varieties, and a number of single individuals selected on account 

 of excellence. As a result of several seasons' work it is claimed that 

 hj^brid sugar beets have not given as good results as those developed 

 from a process of straight selection from known mother beets. In 

 sugar-beet breeding work carried on by the Utah Station, strict meth- 

 ods of pedigreed breeding are employed, and the total hereditary 

 power of each original mother is ascertained. The seed produced last 

 year showed a gain of over 1^- per cent in the sugar content as com- 

 pared with the imported seed of the same original strain. 



