REPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 213 



character of the investigation that the supervision of the funds be- 

 comes in a large measure a supervision of the investigations and 

 experiments as far as their character, original features, and con- 

 tinuity are concerned. Since the passage of the Adams Act this 

 office has considered, and approved over 600 projects outlined and 

 submitted by the stations to be carried on with the fund provided by 

 the act. Numerous questions arise as to the nature of the work and 

 entail a large amount of correspondence to effect a settlement of the 

 different problems. The Adams fund projects of the experiment sta- 

 tions represent a vast amount of original investigation, and there 

 probably has never been an attempt to supervise research work con- 

 ducted on such an extensive scale. 



COOPERATION WITH STATIONS. 



The experiment stations during the period under discussion have 

 freely cooperated with this department in numerous lines of work 

 and have been highly instrumental in carrjdng the benefit of the 

 department's efforts to the different agricultural sections and to the 

 individual farmer. xYmong the numerous lines of activity which 

 have made marked progress as the result of vigorous efforts on the 

 part of the department and the stations may be mentioned the utiliza- 

 tion of lands hitherto unproductive on account of limited rainfall 

 or lack of crops suited to the conditions. 



One of the results of this work is the bringing under cultivation 

 of large areas of dry lands and the making regions of deficient 

 rainfall available for settlement. In this connection the introduction 

 of durum wheats by this department and their distribution largely 

 through the stations has been of great value to the Great Plains 

 region and other sections where dry farming is practiced. 



Plant-breeding work has undergone a remarkable development 

 during the past 16 years, and in no other field has the work of the 

 department, supplemented extensively by experiment-station effort, 

 met with greater success. The production of improved seed corn has 

 become the rule rather than the exception, and numerous varieties 

 and strains of field, garden, and orchard crops have been originated 

 and distributed. The Wisconsin station has distributed improved 

 tobacco seed, pedigreed barleys, and pure-bred varieties of oats. The 

 Minnesota station has bred a winter rye, hardier and producing 

 greater yields than varieties ordinarily grown, and has originated 

 and sent out a variety each of wheat, oats, corn, and flax, now com- 

 mercially known and quite widely grown in Minnesota and the ad- 

 joining States. The South Dakota station has produced and given 

 to the public some excellent hj'brid plums, plum and sand cherry 

 crosses, and hybrid raspberries, in addition to carrying on breeding 

 work with hardy alfalfas and other promising forage crops for the 



