236 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



good soil grew up with Johnson grass and yielded 2.6 tons of hay per acre. In a test 

 with Johnson grass alone it was found that the use of cotton-seed meal and nitrate 

 of soda as a fertilizer for this crop yielded a profit of §3.03 per acre, and that thor- 

 ough preparation of the soil more than doubled the crop. 



Six Japanese varieties of soy beans and Mammoth Yellow, a variety procured 

 from seedsmen, were tested. Mammoth Yellow produced 4.5 tons of hay per acre 

 with 40 per cent of moisture present. A yield of 24 bu. per acre was secured on a 

 part of the field. A variety of Egyptian clover gave promise of value, and sorghum 

 produced a better yield and a better quality of soiling than Kafir corn and milo 

 maize. Experiments in growing Bermuda grass from seed were only partially suc- 

 cessful. Alfalfa is reported as growing with success at the station. Thorough and 

 deep plowing and frequent use of the harrow have given good results as a method of 

 soil preparation. 



Report of work at McNeill Branch Experiment Station, E. B. Fekris (Mis- 

 sissippi Sta. Bpt. 1904, yp- 40-42). — The work of the station comprises the determi- 

 nation of crops and varieties best suited to the pine belt, the best use of fertilizers in 

 connection with their culture, and the planting of certain crops in sufficient quanti- 

 ties to determine the commercial side of growing them. The crops under test 

 include vegetables, fruits, corn, cotton, sugar cane, cassava, sweet potatoes, and 

 forage crops. The results with these crops, which are in nearly all cases promising, 

 are briefly noted/ 



[Report on field crops], J. H. Shepperd (North Dakota Stat. Bpt. 1904, J>t. l,pp. 

 66-138, pis. 2). — The customary description of the work of the agricultural depart- 

 ment of the college and station in 1904 is given and the results of different experi- 

 ments are reported. 



During the season 51,000 individual plants, including wheat, oats, barley, flax, 

 buckwheat, millet, alfalfa, emmer, spelt, rye, einkorn, and corn, were grown in the 

 plant-breeding nursery. The record of the seed distribution from 1898 to 1904, 

 inclusive, shows that 1,734.5 bu. of seed of different field and forage crops were dis- 

 tributed t«» 770 persons. Some of the reports from different parts of the State with 

 reference to these seed trials are reproduced. 



The results of red clover trials in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry 

 of this Department show that seed from Missouri, eastern Ohio, Russia, and Wis- 

 consin made a much better showing than the seed from other sources. On Septem- 

 ber 10 the plats sown with seed from Missouri and Wisconsin looked especially 

 favorable, while those sown with seed from Illinois and Russia were also promising. 



Fifty-seven varieties of wheat were tested in 1904. No difference in hardiness or 

 rust resistance was detected between the fife and blue stem wheats, while the durum 

 varieties were very much superior to either in these respects. The leading varieties 

 in the different classes were North Dakota crossbred fife, with a yield of 16.4 bu. per 

 acre, North Dakota crossbred blue stem with 17.3 bu., and Black Don IT. S. No. 1446 

 durum with 25.9 bu. per acre. The average yields of the best 6 varieties of wheat 

 in each class for 1904 were as follows: Durum 23.5, fife 16, blue stem 16.9, and blue 

 stem and fife 16.4 bu. per acre. Eleven out of the 12 varieties giving the largest 

 yields this season came from the plant-breeding nurseries of the North Dakota and 

 Minnesota experiment stations. 



A comparison of the average yields of the best 3 varieties of durum wheat with fife 

 and blue stem for 6 years gave an advantage of 4.85 bu. per acre in favor of the durum 

 wheat. The average yields for the last 2 years, as well as the results with the best 

 5 strains of fife and blue stem were in nearly every case in favor of varieties coming 

 from the plant-breeding nurseries. Four varieties of winter wheat sown in the fall 

 of 1903 were completely winterkilled. 



In a culture test corn land disked in the spring for wheat gave nearly 3 bu. more 

 per acre than fall-plowed corn land, and fall-plowed land produced a little over 1 bu. 



