96 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



tion. was npiwiiitod chemist ; D. L. Van Dino, for six years entomolo- 

 gist of tlio station, was transferred to the Bureau of I^nt(unolo«;y of 

 this l)ei)artment ; I). T. FuHaway, formerly assistant entomologist, 

 was promoted to the head of that department; an<l Valentine Holt 

 was appointed assistant in plant propa<^ation. 



The work of the dillerent dej)artments made markeil progress dur- 

 ing the year. In the de])artment of agronomy particular attention 

 ■was given to forage crops, rice, and cotton. The experiments with 

 forage plants attracted tiie attention of ranchmen and planters, who 

 are learning the economic value of producing forage, especially from 

 leguminous plants grown in crop rotations. The cultural and fertil- 

 izer work with rice is giving valuable results, and some of the better 

 varieties of rice introduced by the station have been widely planted 

 with gratifying results. Methods of fertilizing the rice crop were 

 devised at the station that more than doubled the yield of rice on 

 ordinary rice lands. The breeding experiments with rice are being 

 continued and some very promising varieties were secured. The 

 work with cotton attracted much attention. The station has a num- 

 ber of varieties of Upland, Chinese, Egyptian, Sea Island, and 

 Caravonica cottons under observation, and a number of promising 

 strains of Sea Island and Caravonica have been developed. In 

 propagating cotton it has been found possible to grow the plants, 

 particularly Sea Island and Caravonica, as perennials, and to propa- 

 gate them from cuttings, by grafting and budding. This is of espe- 

 cial value for the rapid ]:)roduction of desirable strains where the 

 elimination of cross fertilization is desired. By growing the plants 

 as perennials and pruning at the proper seasons it has been found 

 possible to control the time of maturity of the bolls so as not to inter- 

 fere with the activity of plantations during the cane-grinding 

 season. 



The horticulturist's investigations on the shipment of fruits re- 

 sulted in a large and growing business in the shipping of fresh fruits, 

 jjarticularly pineapples. The studies were continued on the methods 

 of propagation of tropical fruits, such as citrus trees, avocados, man- 

 goes, papayas, and other fruits, and some improvements were made 

 in methods of propagation, especially of the mango. Studies are 

 being made in the care of orchards, and demonstration experiments 

 were conducted on the eradication of scale insects and mealy bugs 

 by fumigation with hydrocyanic-acid gas. 



An important line of work taken up by the chemist was a study of 

 soils, especially on the island of Oahu, where pineapple plantings are 

 being rapidly extended. The soils where pineapples are planted are 

 usually of two types — red and black, the former being better adapted 

 to the crop. The black soils were found to contain a high per- 

 centage of manganese, and studies show that this accumulates on the 



