MARYLAND. 121 



In addition to the Adams fund projects, the station conducted 

 invesifrations and experiments on a wide ran^e of subjects, inchiding 

 breeding alfalfa for seed production; tests of alfalfa seed from dif- 

 ferent sources; fertilizer and culture tests with alfalfa; breeding 

 and tests of seed from different sources with red, mammoth, alsike, 

 and white clovers; breeding, variety tests, harvesting, and thrashing 

 cowpeas, and the culture of cowpeas with corn. > 



The new lines of work in agronomy taken up during the year 

 included breeding of sweet corn, study of the cause of dying out of 

 alfalfa fields, and growing hairy vetch for seed. The variety tests 

 with corn were made at the station farm and in cooperation with 12 

 farmers in different parts of the State. Experiments with alfalfa 

 were made in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry of this 

 Department. Tests of varieties, improvement by selection and breed- 

 ing, and fertilizer and rotation experiments with tobacco were also 

 made in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



In the horticultural department experiments were made on the 

 breeding, fertilizing, and spraying of apples, with tests of cover 

 crops for apple orchards; on varieties of peaches, breeding of pears, 

 tests of seedling papaws, and pruning and training raspberries; 

 variety tests, seed selection, mulching, spring cultivation, and preser- 

 vation (for exhibit purposes) of strawberries; adaptability and prun- 

 ing of pecans; varieties and grafting and budding of Persian walnuts; 

 fertilizers for asparagus; variety tests, fertilizing, and breeding for 

 disease and weather resistance with cabbage; comparison of Cali- 

 fornia and home-grown seed of celery ; seed selection, fertilizing, cold 

 storage, and varieties of potatoes; rust-proof Rockyford muskmelons; 

 poultry manure supplemented with phosphoric acid and potash for 

 onions and tomatoes; variety tests of tomatoes and effect of copper 

 solutions and other substances on disease resistance in tomatoes; 

 and improvement and culture of various flowers, including carna- 

 tions, geraniums, roses, and violets. 



The work in the botanical and pathological department of the 

 station included tests of the effect of various lime and sulphur sprays 

 on different crops, especially the peach and plum, and of methods of 

 preparing the sprays; tests of iron sulphate and other chemicals for 

 killing weeds; classification of a collection of Maryland grasses; 

 and collection of information on cause, prevalence, amount of injury, 

 and treatment of economic plant diseases in Maryland. The chem- 

 ical department carried on studies of the chemical and physical 

 properties of unproductive soils. 



In the dairy department experiments were completed and compiled 

 for publication on the manufacture of sweet-cream butter, butter 

 making in Maryland, and methods of whipping cream. Work was 

 also undertaken on the sources of contamination of milk in the 



