100 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



Alma llio steers made a very substantial oain on the i)iilp ration and 

 returned a «;ood money value for the j)uli) consumed. In the western 

 l)art of the State, on the farm of the Honorable A. M. Todd, another 

 bunch of steers were fed to test the value of pulp, but the work was 

 unsatisfactorv, as far as showinpr anv value to the drv matter of the 

 ]m]]). At the home Station, with milk cows, the question was tested 

 a couple of years ago without showing any appreciable increase of milk 

 or butter when the pulp was added to the ration. The work will need 

 to be done over more than once more before reliable pronouncement can 

 be made bv the Station. 



The Agriculturist finds an o])portunity of heli)ing farmers living on 

 sandy soils by finding a new legume to take the place of clover, or> 

 rather, to take the place on sandy soil occupied by clover on clays and 

 clay loams. Such a legume is sand lucerne. He is also testing cow 

 peas and soja beans for use with corn in the silo or field cured to 

 enrich the ration in protein without the purchase of commercial feeding 

 Stuffs. 



As the State grows older, commercial feeding stuff's are coming more 

 and more into use. Neither farmers nor city owners of live stock can 

 determine the real value of a given sample of feeding material by ocular 

 or any other examination. Ditlerent samples of the same kind of ma- 

 terial differ widely in composition and feedijig value. In other states 

 these commercial feeding stuffs are analyzed and the results i)ublished in 

 bulletin form at the expense of the State. So imperative is the demand 

 for this work in Michigan that the chemist proposes to collect various 

 samples from widely different jj^rts of the State, but representing on 

 the whole the kinds of materials actually sold here, analyze them, and 

 re])ort the results of analysis in bulletin form. This kind of work is 

 now done with commercial fertilizers, and incalculable good to the 

 State results. 



The season's work in the Upper Peninsula resulted in excellent crojjs 

 of vegetables and cereals. On the first of May the Station grounds 

 were an unbroken forest. In October the ground had been cleared and 

 had produced abundant crops. The history of the work was published 

 in Bulletin 186, which was scattered broadcast over the State and sent, 

 as well, to prominent newspapers which called for it. The information 

 was thus scattered to all parts of the Union and the Experiment Station 

 in the first year of its history cannot fail to have attracted wide-spread 

 attention to the agricultural possibilities of the Upper Peninsula. 



The funds having been provided by the Legislature, a suitable house 

 and barn were erected in the fall of 1!)00. The cleared land has been 

 fenced, and ])reparation made for the introduction of stock and for 

 the carrying forward of farming operations in a practical way after a 

 suflflcient area has been cleared for pasture. 



The fruit orchards at South Haven are now in full bearing. The 

 yields of different varieties of peaches will therefore begin to give some 

 indication of their relative value. The same is true of other species 

 of tree fruits. A large part of the work heretofore done at that Sub- 

 Station has of necessity been preparatory, as it takes many years to 

 develop trees, and obtain a sufficient number of crops to indicate any- 

 thing about its productiveness or the quality of the fruit. 



