EXPERIMENT STATION RErORTS 59 



should be made of the hairj vetch, referred to in Bulletin 149, as giving 

 some promise when sown Avith oats in field No. 8. We have tried the 

 plant more extensively since that time and it gives promise of becoming 

 ii valuable addition to the list of legumes to be used as a green manure. 

 Rape continues to be an invaluable forage crop for sheep and is well-nigh 

 indispensable as an autumn forage plant where a large flock is kept on a 

 farm too small to furnish a large acreage of ordinary pasture. Many 

 letters from widely separated sections of the state show that it is being 

 introduced quite generally on the farms of sheep owners in Michigan. 



Clover has proven a failure generally over southern Michigan, yet on 

 the College farm the seeding of 1898 offers a good stand in the spring of 

 1899. This fortunate condition is due to the fact that the main field of 

 clover is virgin soil, and that the plots sown on poor sandy soil were 

 sown without a nurse crop, again calling attention to the value of this 

 method of securing a fair crop of clover hay in a bad year. 



As mentioned in the last report of the Station, much of the energy of 

 the Agriculturist is devoted to the solution of questions relating to soil 

 fertility, methods of testing present fertility and means of increasing the 

 productivity of soils by the application of either barn-yard manures or 

 commercial fertilizers. 



The loss of the peach trees in the northern portion of the "fruit belt" 

 along the western coast of the state has called attention to the wisdom 

 of carefully selecting locations for peach orchards before planting ex- 

 tensively. 



The energies of the Bacteriologist have been absorbed by the experi- 

 ments in tuberculosis at the College and investigations as to the cause 

 and treatment of so called hog cholera at various outbreaks over the state 

 at large. The work along the latter line is very far from satisfactory, 

 because lacking in definite aim. The investigations so far have clearly 

 pointed out that the germ causing one outbreak is different from that 

 causing an outbreak in a herd, it may be not far distant from the first 

 one. The microscopic symptoms in the two cases may be nearly identical, 

 but Bacteriologists find a distinct germ in the two cases. We cannot 

 therefore, hope for very immediate and decisive results from the work 

 carried on along this line, but the financial losses due to these swine 

 diseases are so great that the work must be continued until we know the 

 cause of the disease and the means of prevention. 



At the date of this report Mr. Marshall is studying in the laboratory of 

 Dr. Alfred Jorgenson in Copenhagen, and we hope next year to undertake 

 the work with added skill and energy. 



The South Haven sub-station has made its important impress on the 

 fruit growing interests of western Michigan, largely because of the unique 

 ability of ex-President T. T. Lyon. It is painful to record the close of his 

 life work, and the necessary severing of the close bonds that have bound 

 his genius to the work of the Station. I shall leave it to others to fitly 

 characterize the invaluable services he has rendered his State and his 

 country. A fit eulogium could hardly find place in the dry and didactic 

 pages of an official report. Since the acceptance of his resignation the 

 work of that sub-station has been carried forward with ability by Mr. S. 

 H. Fulton, a graduate of this College in 1897. 



The cooperative experiments in the Horticultural Department have 

 been somewhat extended in the year 1899. Certain fruit tree diseases de- 



