150 15EP0RT or OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



Miicli i)n);j:ress >vas made diiriiifr the year in the investip^ations 

 under the Ailanis Act whicli, as in previous years, are confined to 

 plant hreedin<jf and the chemistry and bacteriology of soils. The 

 plant-breed in<j: work is lar<j:ely bein*; conducted with sweet corn, 

 beans, e^jgplants, tomatoes, peas, peppers, and squashes. With each 

 crop a special problem is being studied, and the underlying princij^les 

 influencing the form and character of the different fruits are con- 

 sidered. The tendency to sterility due to inbreeding and to weakness 

 resulting from crossing plants normally close fertilized is also studied. 

 A large number of hybrids and crosses has been obtained and obser- 

 vations on their differences are made. 



The department of soil chemistry and bacteriology, in charge of 

 the other Adams project, is working on the principles affecting the 

 production of plant food, with special attention to soil fertility in 

 relation to the bacterial flora. Denitrification and the relative avail- 

 ability of different forms of nitrogenous material, as well as the 

 soil nitrogen balance are studied. The diffusibility of nitrogen taken 

 up by leguminous plants to nonleguminous ones growing in the 

 immediate proximity is made the object of one experiment (PI. VII), 

 and the study of the pure cultures sold for inoculating leguminous 

 crops is the object of another. Several experiments are in progress 

 to determine the bacterial changes going on in the soil and how these, 

 as well as the growing crop, are influenced by different methods of 

 treatment. 



The horticultural department is continuing its cooperative work 

 with peaches at Highbridge and Vineland with excellent results, 

 although the orchards are not in full bearing as yet. These investiga- 

 tions are conducted upon a commercial basis with a view to solving 

 the most important problems of peach culture within the State, and 

 thereby encouraging the fruit growers and placing the industry, if 

 possible, upon a firmer footing. A bulletin was published during the 

 year giving directions and advice with reference to setting out peach 

 orchards and caring for them during their early growth, based upon 

 the work in this line. At Vineland, field experiments with grapes 

 are also carried on, conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry. Both lines of work at this point were inspected the 

 past summer by members of the State Horticultural Society. 



In the entomological work special attention was given to the im- 

 portation of the brown-tail moth and its possible spread in the State. 



The mosquito work, for which $15,000 ^vas allowed, and the study 

 of Paris green and other insecticides carried on under state appro- 

 priations, have been temporarily suspended, owing to the failure of 

 the legislature to make further provision for these investigations. 

 The mosquito work is now pursued only locally under the advice of 

 the station entomologist. A bulletin reporting in part the observa- 



