448 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



to be suitable for stocks for cultivated varieties and for use in breed- 

 ing improved varieties; (2) methods of tillage best suited to the 

 production of the more important annual crops, such as cotton, corn, 

 and sorghum; and (3) rotation experiments with the annual crops. 



The Yuma field station is located on 160 acres of public land which 

 has been reserved for this purpose adjacent to the town of Bard, 

 Cal., about 7 miles north of Yuma, Ariz. The lines of work include 

 (1) breeding and acclimatizing Egyptian cotton; (2) testing new 

 plant introductions, including tigs and dates; (3) methods of tillage 

 of the more important field crops, such as cotton, alfalfa, and corn; 

 and (4) testing new fiber crops, such as hemp and ramie. 



The Truckee-Carson field station, located 1 mile south of the town 

 of Fallon, Nev., occupies 160 acres of public land reserved for this 

 purpose. The lines of work include (1) testing various field and 

 garden crops, to determine which are best suited to the climate and 

 soils of the region; (2) tillage and laboratory experiments, to ascer- 

 tain the best methods of bringing into productiveness some of the 

 more refractory desert soils; (3) cooperative demonstrations with 

 farmers; and (4) testing varieties, fertilizers, tillage methods, and 

 orchard pruning and spraying. 



The Umatilla field station, located 2 miles west of the town of 

 Hermiston, Oreg., occupies 40 acres of public land reserved for this 

 purpose. The work at this station is in cooperation with the Oregon 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, and the responsibility for the 

 supervision of the experiments is carried by that institution. These 

 experiments deal chiefly with orchard and truck crops, including tests 

 of varieties, methods of planting, tillage, and fertilization. 



The Huntley field station adjoins the town of Osborn, Mont. The 

 station proper includes two tracts of public land of 160 acres each. 

 These lands are cut by two railroads and two wagon roads, and much 

 of the remaining land lies above the ditch, so that less than 100 acres 

 are available for irrigation experiments. The experimental work in- 

 cludes (1) methods of tillage for a number of important crop plants, 

 such as sugar beets, small grains, and hay crops, with particular 

 attention to methods of seeding alfalfa; (2) rotation experiments 

 under irrigation, occupying 28 acres of land in one-fourth-acre plats; 

 (3) testing numerous varieties of orchard fruits, such as apples, 

 plums, and cherries; and (4) rotation and tillage experiments in dry- 

 land agriculture on 20 acres of land above the ditch. An experiment 

 is being conducted on a tract of 40 acres of alkali land near the town 

 of Worden on the same project, the aim of which is to determine the 

 best method of bringing this land into a condition of productivity. 

 The experimental work of this field station has been planned in co- 

 operation with the officers of the Montana Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, and that institution gives some financial support to the work. 



The Bellefourche field station, located 1^ miles west of Newell, 

 S. Dak., includes 280 acres of public land, of which about 150 acres 

 are irrigable. The larger portion of the experimental work at this 

 station is conducted in cooperation with other offices of the bureau. 

 The Forest Service also cooperates in some tree-planting demonstra- 

 tions. The chief lines of work are breeding cereals, breeding and 

 physiological experiments with drought-resistant forage crops, meth- 

 ods of tillage and rotation experiments on dry land, and rotation ex- 

 periments under irrigation. 



