REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 99 



ihc summer season. The South Dakota Station, in testing the vakie 

 of corn sihige and roots for feeding steers, found that when these 

 substances were fed with shelled corn and wild hay there was a 

 larger gain than without these feeds, and that for fattening steers 

 haj^ with silage proved to be better than hay or silage alone as a 

 roughage. 



In horticultural work, the results of orchard experiments by the 

 Missouri Station showed that proper pruning alone on a given plat 

 of peach trees resulted in a 3neld giving net returns of $125 per acre. 

 Proper fertilizing with ammonium sulphate on another plat in the 

 same orchard resulted in a yield of $40 per acre net, while on a plat 

 where proper pruning, fertilizing, and spraying were all combined the 

 peaches 3'ielded a net profit at the rate of $300 per acre after pay- 

 ing the expenses of management and shipping the crop to market. A 

 successful method of budding the walnut V\^as worked out by the 

 Oregon Station. This method is based on the principle of securing 

 dormant 1-year-old buds, while propagators heretofore have attempted 

 to use buds of the current year's growth. 



The Delaware Station, in cooperation with this department, 

 worked out a method for quickly immunizing against anthrax in 

 case of an outbreak, and produced a serum with which it is possible 

 to protect a sheep against an otherwise mortal dose of bacilli and to 

 produce an immediate passive innnunity. 



In experiments to determine the efficiency of mitigated cultures of 

 human tubercle bacilli as a vaccine against bovine tuberculosis, the 

 Missouri Station found that vaccinated cattle contracted the disease 

 when exposed to infected animals, even under the favorable condi- 

 tions of an outdoor life. The fecal excretions of tuberculous cattle 

 were a much more important source of infection to swine than foods 

 contaminated with the saliva of tuberculous cattle. Not onl}' a very 

 large percentage of the pigs fed behijid tuberculous cattle became 

 infected with the disease, but some of the pigs showed well-developed 

 tubercular lesions in less than four weeks of exposure. This station 

 continued the manufacture of hog-cholera serum and distributed 

 G0,000 doses during the year. In hog-cholera serum work the South 

 Dakota Station showed that 90 per cent of all animals treated safely 

 withstood disease. 



The Ohio Station demonstrated the practicability of eradicating 

 bovine tuberculosis and of buildiug up a herd of sound aniuials from 

 the progeny of tuberculous cattle by the systematic use of the tuber- 

 culin test and the thorough disinfection of barns. 



In its studies of citrus diseases the Florida Station ascertained 

 that the fungus causing stem-end rot is present in the orchard during 

 practically the entire year, being found on partially deca3'ed branches 

 and twigs when the fruit is immature or after it is harvested. 



