549 



Report of Alabama weather service for December, 1890, 

 P. ir. Mell, Tii. 1)., AND J. ]\1. (Juarles (p]). 25-29).— Notes on the 

 weather and a tabulated inouthly summary of meteorological observa- 

 tions and of soil temperatures at depths of from 1 to 911 inches. 



Alabama Canebrake Station, Third Annual Report, 1890 (pp. 10). 



A brief outline of the workof the station, with abstracts of Bulletins 

 Nos. 7-10. 



Previous to the establishiuent of this station large sums were annually expended 

 by canebrake planters for commercial fertilizers. The experiments at the station 

 have plainljf demonstrated the inefficiency of such compounds, while they have 

 eipiallj'' plainly shown that the owners of canebrake lauds have the means of restor- 

 ing their worn soils in the two leguminous plants, peas and melilotus, which supply 

 at once the two greatest needs of the black prairies — drainage and vegetable matter, 

 and through the latter nitrogen. 



Arizona Station, Bulletin No. 1, December 1, 1890 (pp. 4). 



Organization of the Arizona Station, F. A. Gulley, M. S. — 

 "The Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Arizona was 

 organized temporarily July 1, 1889, and permanent organization was 

 made October 9, 1890." The headquarters of the station are at Tucson, 

 but substations are to be established at various places in Arizona. 

 Fruit growing will receive especial attention, as this promises to be a 

 leading industry in the Territory. 



Four field stations have been located : (1) The University station at Tucson, on the 

 university grounds, which have a gravelly loam soil overlying a "caliche," soft lime 

 rock at a depth of from 2 to 6 feet ; permanent water at 8U feet, and on a small tract 

 of sandy land near by, with water at 30 feet. (2) ThePhcEnix station, 2 miles north- 

 west of the city, where 80 acres of land have been provided, varying from light sand 

 to a rather close adobe, with water at from 25 to 30 leet. (3) A station 3 miles south 

 of Tempo, at a switch and flag station on the Phtcnixaud Maricopa Railroad, on mesa 

 soil, with water at about 12 feet. (4) Blaisdell station at Blaisdell, 9 miles east of 

 Yuma, on the Southern Pacific Railway, on a fine sedimentary soil, with water at 

 about 15 feet. 



The Uuiversity station is representative of a large area of laud in the central and 

 eastern part of the Territory, and here we shall make the experiment of pumping 

 water 85 feet for irrigation. ThePhuinix station and the one south of Tempe repre- 

 sent a considerable part of the Salt River Valley, and the Blaisdell station does the 

 same for the Lower Gila River. Having access to alkali lands in the immediate vicinity 

 of the last-named place, the question of how to reclaim such soils will at once be 

 taken up for investigation. 



A large number of varieties of fruits, including nearly all that have been found of 

 value in California, will be planted at the four stations during the winter, as well 

 as other plants of economic interest, including the sugar-beet, sugar-cane, cotton, 

 grasses, forage plants, etc., and the results obtained recorded and published from time 

 to time. As soon as the chemical laboratory is equipped, which will be about the last 

 of January, 1891, we shall begin an e vamination of the waters of the several streams 

 and of the wells in the Territory used for irrigation, and a chemical analysis of soils 

 Rud of other materials. 



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