BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTEY. 153 



on the Minidoka project on adjacent range areas. Cooperative sell- 

 ing of wool was successfully inaugurated on the Boise and Shoshone 

 projects. 



PASTURES. 



On those reclamation projects where the dairy and sheep industries 

 are specially important there is a strong demand for information 

 regarding feasible methods of maintaining dairy cows and small 

 farm flocks of sheep during the summer months. In this connec- 

 tion the use of irrigated pastures is almost universally desired. The 

 work of the bureau in connection with pastures during the past year 

 has been done principally on the Huntley and Shoshone projects, 

 where the results secured at the Huntley Experiment Farm have been 

 placed before the settlers in an effective manner. A large number 

 of pastures have been established at points w^ell distributed through- 

 out the two projects, and substantial progress has been made. The 

 results secured in this work during the early part of the past fiscal 

 year stimulated a greatly increased planting of pastures during the 

 spring of 1917. 



SUPPLEMENTARY FEED CROPS. 



On several of the projects some difficulty has been encountered in 

 the production of crops to use in supplementing alfalfa, which is 

 produced abundantly. The work of this office in the production of 

 these supplementary feed crops has been done chiefly on the Truckee- 

 Carson, Huntley, and Shoshone projects. On the Truckee-Carson 

 project tests of varieties and cultural methods for wheat, oats, barley, 

 corn, and mangels have been conducted in cooperation with farmers, 

 and the results have been gratifying. Preliminary tests have also 

 been inaugurated on the same project for the purpose of securing 

 information as to satisfactory varieties and methods of production 

 of silage corn. On the Huntley and Shoshone projects the work has 

 had to do chiefly with the production of barley, wheat, and corn for 

 silage. 



IRRIGATION METHODS. 



On the Umatilla project, in Oregon, where the topography is 

 rough and the soil extremely sandy, the farmers have had serious 

 difficulty in developing satisfactory methods of irrigation. A field 

 man has been stationed on the project by this office and has devoted 

 his time to assisting the settlers in improving their irrigation prac- 

 tices. This work necessitates in many instances a complete readjust- 

 ment and rearrangement of the farm irrigation systems and equip- 

 ment and securing a more efficient farm distribution of irrigation 

 water. Improved methods of preparing new land for irrigation also 

 are being put into practice by the settlers. 



CROP UTILIZATION. 



A METHOD OF SECURING UNIFORMLY MATURED SWEET CORN. 



It has been found that the number of days that elapse between 

 the time when the silks first appear and the time when the ear is in 



