BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 303 



fundamental in investigations of dry-land agriculture, will be con- 

 tinued during the fiscal years 1912 and 1913. 



Indicator value or native vegetation. — As stated in the Report 

 of the Acting Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry for 1910, it is 

 now possible, as a result of investigations carried on under this proj- 

 ect in the Great Plains area, to determine with reasonable accuracy 

 from the character of the native vegetation the crop-producing capa- 

 bilities of new land. 



A reconnoissance has been made in portions of the Intermountain 

 States (Utah. "Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, etc.) in order to locate a 

 suitable area for conducting investigations along this line during the 

 fiscal year 1912. In this region the object will be to determine what 

 types of natural vegetation indicate land (1) suitable for dry-land 

 crop production and (2) liable to injury from alkali if brought under 

 irrigation. If the results warrant, this work will probably be con- 

 tinued during the fiscal year 1913. 



Egyptian cotton in the Southwest. — The Yuma variety, the most 

 promising of the new types of Egj^ptian cotton developed in the 

 course of this plant-breeding work, is being tested by farmers at 

 numerous localities and is giving every evidence of being a produc- 

 tive variety, yielding a high gi*ade of fiber. The manufacturing firm 

 which purchased several bales of this variety grown in Arizona in 

 1909 and 1910 pronounces the fiber superior to the grades of imported 

 Egyptian cotton which they have been using. 



During the fiscal year 1912 the breeding work will be continued as 

 heretofore, attention being given to further improvement of the 

 Yuma variety. Also, since diflferent types of this class of cotton are 

 required in different branches of manufacture, other less extensively 

 tested strains which have been originated in the course of this breed- 

 ing work will be tried on a field scale. 



If Egyptian cotton becomes a commercial crop under irrigation in 

 the Southwest, as now appears likely, it will be necessary to continue 

 the breeding work during the fiscal year 1913 in order to maintain 

 the strains already developed and, if possible, to improve still further 

 the quality of fiber. 



PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 



The work of the physical laboratory, which is largely cooperative 

 in character, has been continued during the past year under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. L. J. Briggs, 



One of the principal lines of investigation has been the measure- 

 ment of physical factors influencing the development of crops in dry- 

 land regions which has been carried on systematically at the various 

 field stations conducted by the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture in the 

 Great Plains area. Similar measurements have also been made at 

 the experiment farms on the reclamation projects conducted by the 

 Office of "Western Agricultural Extension and upon the farms of the 

 Office of Grain Investigations. During the past year these measure- 

 ments have been of special importance in the dry-farming regions on 

 account of the exceptionally dry weather which has prevailed in many 

 sections. It is under such conditions that the adaptation of crops to 

 dry-land farming is most severely tested, and it is most important to 



