BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 449 



The Scolts])]iifr field station, located G miles east of Mitchell, Nebr., 

 includes 100 acres of public land, all irrigable. The Nebraska Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station is cooperating in the maintenance and 

 conduct of this station. The lines of work include the testing of vari- 

 eties of field crops, experiments in methods of tillage, rotation and 

 tillage experiments on drj^ land, the investigation of certain diseases 

 of potatoes, and rotation experiments under irrigation. 



OTHER LINES OF WORK. 



In addition to the operation of the field stations listed above, co- 

 operative work is carried on (1) with an association of farmers, 

 whose aim is to determine the methods of tillage and rotations best 

 suited to the production of potatoes, barley, onions, and beans on the 

 so-called tule lands near Stockton, Cal. ; (2) with the North Dakota 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, at Williston, to supervise the irri- 

 gation work and to aid farmers in working out their individual irri- 

 gation problems. 



The results of the experiments in acclimatizing and breeding Egyp- 

 tian cotton at Yuma, Ariz., indicate that this crop might be estab- 

 lished profitably in certain of the irrigated sections of southwestern 

 Arizona and southeastern California. Consequently it has seemed 

 advisable to arrange for a thorough cooperative test of the crop on a 

 commercial scale by farmers in the Salt River Valley in Arizona, the 

 Colorado River Valley, and the Imperial Valley in California. This 

 work is now in progress, and 800 acres of land have been planted. 

 This acreage is divided among a large number of farmers, most of 

 whom have planted from 1 to iO acres each. 



PLANS FOR FUTURE WORK. 



It is proposed to continue the work along the lines indicated, ex- 

 cept that the Avork at Williston, N. Dak., is to be discontinued. Pro- 

 vision is to be made for increasing slightly the work at several of the 

 field stations and for a material increase of the work of establishing 

 Egyptian cotton production in the irrigated regions of the Southwest. 



POMOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS. 



The work in connection with the pomological collections has been 

 continued under the direction of Col. G. B. Brackett. 



Investigations along three main lines of work — fruit culture, fruit 

 nomenclature, and fruit identification — show for the year most satis- 

 factory and gratifying results. 



Fruit culture. — The work on small fruits is making satisfactory 

 progress. About 250 varieties of strawberries, raspberries, currants, 

 and gooseberries have been recently planted on Arlington farm in 

 order to make an exhaustive study of varieties and methods of cul- 

 ture, which will be supplemented by a study of varieties and cultural 

 methods in the leading centers of the industry in the Eastern States. 

 Blight-proof pear trees and choice varieties of hickory nuts are also 

 being tested. An illustrated bulletin on the Persian walnut has been 

 completed and is now in press. Investigations covering the im- 

 provements of the more hardy varieties of this nut by selection and 



70481°— AGR 1012 2t) 



