rCir. 120— B.] 



THE WORK OF THE SAN ANTONIO EXPERIMENT FARM IN 



1912/ 



By S. H. Hastings. Farm Superintendent, Office of Western Irrifjation Agri- 



(uttiire. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The work of the Snii Antonio Experiment Farm is devoted to the 

 investigation of agricnltiiral problems peculiar to large areas in the 

 fcouthwestern United States, where the conditions of soil and climate 

 are similar to those at San Antonio. The more important lines of 

 work carried on are tillage and rotation experiments; breeding, 

 variety testing, and dilTerent planting methods for cotton; variety 



Fio. 1. — View sbovviui? the buildiufjjs on the S:ui Antouio Expcriiuent Farm. 



testing of grain sorghum and broom corn; corn breeding and variety 

 testing; a few forage-crop experiments; variety testing of peaches, 

 jDlums, apricots, persimmons, grapes, walnuts, almonds, and other 

 fruits, including Chinese dates. In addition to such horticultural 

 work as is mentioned above, much attention is being given to finding 

 stocks better adapted to the local conditions than those now used. 



1 Issued Apr. 5, 101.",. 



The San Antonio Experiment Farm comprises about 125 acres of hind situated about (> 

 miles south of San Antonio, Tex. The tract belongs to the city of San Antonio and is 

 leased to the Department of Agriculture. Al)out 80 acres of the land are under cultiva- 

 tion, and of these are irrigated. The farm is equipped with the buildings (fig. 1 I nec- 

 essary for storage, laboratory, and office purposes and for employees' quarters. The 

 e.xperimcnt farm is under the direction of the Office of Western Irrigation .Vgriculture of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry and is maintained from the funds of the Department of 

 .\griculture. Previous general reports on the work of the farm were published in 10(»S 

 and moo as Bureau of Plant Industry Circulars Nos. l.T and ?A. 



[Cir. 120] ' 



