WISCONSIN. 205 



The study of the influence of soil treatment on the phosphorus 

 content pointed out that the acid soils examined were deficient in 

 available forms of phosphorus. Analytical data showed fixation of 

 mineral phosphorus resultin<r from applications of phosphorus to 

 the soil, the absence of accumulations of this element under similar 

 conditions in tobacco plantations, and in some experiments a leaching 

 of phosphorus where barnyard manure had been used. 



"Work carried on with Hatch and miscellaneous funds was also 

 actively prosecuted. The department of agronomy continued its 

 improvement work with oats, barley, and corn. It is thought that 

 one-fourth of all the corn grown in the State is of the Silver King 

 variety which was produced by the station. A Yellow Dent variety, 

 called Golden Glow, has been produced for the more northern parts 

 of the State. The experiments on improved pedigreed strains of 

 barley, adapted to Wisconsin, were completed and the selected strains 

 which yield somewhat better than the Select Oderbruck and Mand- 

 scheuri barleys, and possess superior malting qualities and absolute 

 uniformity, will be distributed through the Agricultural Experiment 

 Association, representing the 1.500 or more graduates of the agri- 

 cultural courses of the university that cooperate with the station. 

 Experimental work in agronomy was conducted on the farms of 15 

 different public institutions throughout the State. Cooperative work 

 in the culture of hemp was done with this Department and attention 

 was further given to alfalfa growing and to the use of iron sulphate 

 and salt in the destruction of weeds by spraying. 



The horticultural department continued its work with hj'brid 

 plums, apples, tobacco, rhubarb, asparagus, and other crops. Through 

 selection in progress for 15 years a very promising strain has been 

 develoi:)ed from the native plums. Good progress was also made in 

 the crossing of American and English forcing cucumbers. During 

 the season the station method of handling cranberry bogs, under test 

 at Cranmoor, which consists principally in maintaining clean culture, 

 proved to be a very strong factor in the protection of this crop against 

 early frost in the fall. Entomological investigations on cranberry 

 insects were continued in cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology 

 of this Department, l)eing principally directed toward a study of cer- 

 tain phases of the life history of the more important insects, especially 

 the vine and fruit worms. 



The department of bacteriology cooperated with the department of 

 chemistry in studying the acid fermentations of milk and the bacteria 

 affecting the flavor of Cheddar cheeses. Milk of a relatively high 

 grade produced on Wisconsin farms examined bacteriologically 

 showed that milk may bo kept clean and sanitary by comparatively 

 inexpensive methods. Other lines of work consisted in the study 

 of the bacterial soil flora on plats treated with various combinations 



