EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. ' 289 



casionally as would return the organic matter removed by the crop and 

 approach as near as possible to general farm conditions. Other mem- 

 bers of the Station Council will be consulted in regard to this matter 

 and I shall endeavor to arrive at some plan, if thought best to make any 

 change, that may be put in operation in 1917 and may be followed in- 

 definitely. 



It is also planned to extend this experiment to include some fertilizer 

 and manure work with beans and sugar beets. These two crops are 

 more or less distinctive in Michigan agriculture and are cash crops 

 which usually give good returns from the use of fertilizer, but in re- 

 gard to fertilization of which we have very little experimental data. 



Plans are also being made for starting other lines of investigation 

 which will be of value to Michigan agriculture. 



Mr. Eugene E. Down has been appointed as Station Foreman and 

 Station Assistant in Farm Crops, taking charge of his work April 1, 

 1916. 



The crop improvement work of the division has been under the able 

 direction of Mr. Frank A. Spragg. The appended report which he has 

 made to me should be included as a portion of the report from this 

 Division. 



Kespectfully submitted, 



V. M. SHOESMITH, 

 Farm Crops Experimentalist. 



East Lansing, Mich., June 30, 1916. 



REPORT OF CROPS BREEDER. 



Professor V. M. Shoesmith: 



Dear Sir — The crop improvement work of the year has continued the 

 older lines of work that were not complete, and undertaken as much 

 new work as the resources at hand would permit. 



The season of 1915 was exceptionally wet and with it came new 

 problems. The difficulties of harvesting detained operations and the 

 winter crops were not planted in time. The small growth that the 

 wheats made last fall, coupled with the open winter that at times al- 

 lowed the plants to grow before freezing up again, has resulted in ex- 

 tensive winter killing. Thus, the winter has proven to be nearly as 

 severe as the cold winter of 1911-12, with the same beneficial results, 

 i. e., a new variety of wheat is attracting considerable attention because it 

 is outstandingly vigorous. It is a strain originating in an individual 

 plant that stood the Avinter of 1911-12 in good shape. This new strain 

 (No. 28206) is awnless as well as a red wheat, but as to quality the 

 Experiment Station has no further data. This is the first year that a 

 milling test has been made with this wheat and the baking test has not 

 yet been made. 



Certain of the extractions from wheat crosses made in 1912 are at- 

 tracting considerable attention in the row series. This is particularly 

 true of those that come from the cross between Berkley (03402) and 

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