SOUTH DAKOTA. 183 



tions previously used were continued and a new long time rotation to 

 run for twenty-four years, with alfalfa, corn, peas and oats, was 

 introduced. Chemical and physical analyses in the samples of soil 

 were made and a special laboratory was fitted up for the work. The 

 work in fruit breeding was conducted on an extensive scale. New 

 crosses were made of the sand cherry with plums, apricots, and 

 peaches. Two promising varieties for the north central region have 

 resulted from crossing the sand cherry with plums. Investigations 

 were also carried on with apples, grapes, peaches, and roses. The 

 work on roses has resulted in doubling the wild rose. 



The digestion experiments with shwp were discontinued and a re- 

 port was made on the work." Digestion coefficients for Dakota-grown 

 grains and forage plants were determined, and this same line of work 

 is now continued with horses. The study of lumpy jaw included 

 histological and bacteriological studies of the disease to determine its 

 cause. Preliminary work was done on the project relating to the 

 effect of alkali waters in dairying. 



With Hatch funds, the agronomy department of the station tested 

 systems of farming, bred corn for protein and oil content, and carried 

 on similar work at the substations. The variety tests of corn con- 

 ducted in cooperation with this Department were completed, a 5-year 

 period being closed. At the Highmore substation, the soil fertility 

 work included systems of farming and rotations of three or more years 

 containing one leguminous crop, cultivated versus uncultivated crops, 

 fallow, different methods of plowing, and variety tests with barley, 

 oats, and durum and spring wheats. The clovers and alfalfas col- 

 lected abroad by the horticulturist, after their culture in the green- 

 house, were transferred to the field. Preparations were also made to 

 bocfin work at the Eureka and Cottonwood substations. 



The horticultural department continued its work with a large col- 

 lection of alfalfa from Siberia and other countries, with a view to 

 securing a strain or varietv erect in habit and with abundant seed not 

 easily shaken off the plant. The chemist in cooperation with this De- 

 partment worked with sugar beets to produce a high percentage of 

 sugar by selection of mother beets and to find hard}' strains adapted 

 to South Dakota. 



The botanist of the station did considerable work in weed spraying, 

 giving special attention to mustard, and published a bulletin on this 

 subject. An investigation of the cytology of rusts was made, and in 

 this connection the botanist worked during the summer in the labora- 

 tory at Madison, Wis. 



In animal husbandry, steers of different ages were fed on the same 

 grain ration to determine the most profitable age of feeding, and a 



» South Dakota Sta. Bui. 114. 



