34 



EXPERIMENT STATION EECQED. 



amounted to 14.11 in., or ;ibout 3 iu. above tbe average. From July to October, 

 inclusive, 9.74 in., and from November to Aiiril, inclusive, 4.13 in., fell, while 

 May and June wei-e practically rainless. 



The summer annual growth was heavy, Bouteloua aristidoides and B. poUj- 

 stachya being especially abundant. In favorable places this growth was at the 

 rate of 500 to 1,200 lbs. of dried forage per acre. Among creosote bushes 

 {CoviUea trUlcntata) and on shallow soil the growth was only one-fifth to 

 one-third as heavy. This i-esult is considered due to the amounts of soil mois- 

 ture taken up by the creosote bushes and other shrubs. As in the two preceding 

 seasons the winter annual growth was light on account of insutlicient rainfall, 

 only 0.28 in. being received after March 1. It is stated that perhaps no single 

 factor has a greater influence on the distribution and abundance of the native 

 vegetation than that of moisture. 



The planting of native economic cacti was continued with the following vari- 

 eties: Opuntia fulyida, O. mamillata, 0. Hpinosior, O. arbuscula, O. engelmanni, 

 and 0. phw acantha. It was shown that cuttings of the native species need not 

 be wilted before planting to prevent rotting. Both cuttings and mature plants 

 made little growth until the summer rains set in. 



Saltbush work for practical results was a failure. Planting seeds of the more 

 valuable native and Australian species did not meet with much success. The 

 best results were secured with Australian saltbush {Atriplex semihaccata) , 

 but the growth was insufficient for economic purposes. The author states that 

 if cultivation and irrigation have to be employed, alfalfa would be a much more 

 profitable crop than the saltbush. 



With reference to sowing seeds on lands submerged from 2 to 6 weeks by the 

 annual rise of the Colorado River, it was found that about 45 per cent of the 

 seed of amber cane or common soughuni germinated even after 50 da.vs of sub- 

 mergence. "None of the varieties of forage, as African red top cane, dwarf 

 milo maize, Jerusalem coi*n, white Kafir corn, German millet, or pearl millet 

 can be depended upon to endure submergence for any considerable time. Japan- 

 ese and Honduras rice seed began growth under water and continued until the 

 soil became quite dry. Neither Johnson grass nor Bermuda grass seed could 

 be destroyed with continuous submergence of 50 days." 



A note is also given on observations of resistant eucalyi)ts. 



[The relation of] composition of soil to composition of plants, H. G. 

 Knight, F. E. Hepner, and F. A. Smith (Wyoming Sta. Rpt. 1908, p. Jf-'f). — In 

 1906 two small plats at Laramie were sown with barley. One of these plats 

 received nitrate of soda as a fertilizer. The analysis of the crop from both 

 plats is shown in the following table : 



Composition of harlcy yrovn on xoiJ treated icitJi nitrate of soda and on unfer- 

 tilized soil. 



