16 CIRCULAR NO. 119, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



COOPERATION. 



Much of the work of the experiment farm is done in cooperation 

 with other offices of the Bureau of Plant Industry and with the 

 Forest Service. The nature and extent of this cooperative work is 

 indicated below. 



Biophysical Laboratory. — The Biophysical Laboratory cooperates 

 in all the climatological and physical observations. This work in- 

 cludes measurements of rainfall, wind, evaporation, and tempera- 

 ture, and miscellaneous physical observations. A summary of these 

 observations is given in Table I. 



Dry-Land Agriculture. — The Office of Dry-Land Agriculture uses 

 about 20 acres, divided into one-tenth-acre plats, for rotation and 

 tillage experiments above the canal. These experiments include 

 continuous cropping by ordinary methods and moisture-conservation 

 methods compared with alternate cropping and summer fallow, a 

 comparison of various three-year rotations, and crop rotations for the 

 conservation of humus. An assistant in Dry-Land Agriculture is 

 detailed for this work. 



Cereal Investigations. — This office has charge of the variety testing 

 of grains suited to dry-land conditions and of the plant-breeding 

 work with the most promising varieties of grain. During the year 

 1912 much time was devoted to methods of planting whiter wheat. 

 An assistant detailed by the Office of Cereal Investigations has charge 

 of these experiments. Approximately 20 acres of land are used. 



Alkali and Drought-Resistant Plant Investigations. — This office does 

 variety testing and breeding work with forage crops, including 

 alfalfa, brome-grass, western wheat-grass, sorghum, and millet, and 

 conducts studies of the water requirements of the different varieties 

 and strains tested. About 15 acres of land are devoted to the work, 

 and an assistant is detailed to supervise the experiments. 



Corn Investigations and Sugar-Plant Investigations. — The offices of 

 Corn Investigations and Sugar-Plant Investigations cooperate in the 

 work with corn and sugar beets, respectively, each office using about 

 2 acres of land. The tests with these crops include variety testing 

 and tillage experiments. 



Forest Service. — The United States Forest Service cooperates in the 

 testing of trees for shade, wood-lot, and windbreak purposes. About 

 9 acres of land are devoted to this work. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 



The climatological observations made during the five years 1908 

 to 1912, inclusive, are briefly summarized in Table I. 



[Cir. 119] 



