262 NEW JERSEY STATE AGRICULTURAL 



eggplants, 121; winter sqnashes, 128; "Pak-Choi," 47, and "Pe- 

 •Tsai," 50 packets respectively. 



Some time has been consumed daily in the determination of the 

 names and habits of plants, the examination of commercial seeds 

 for impurities, the investigation of the diseases of crop plants, 

 and the correspondence connected with the above and allied mat- 

 ters associated with the Department. 



THE EXPERIMENT AREA. 



The land devoted tO' plant improvement consists now of seven 

 acres in three separate portions of the College Farm. The Home 

 Grounds have been in charge of the Botanical Department for the 

 past thirteen years, and consist of two acres divided into seven 

 series, each of four plots, as shown by the plan upon page 

 264. Each plot consists of one-tw^entieth of an acre, and within 

 the past year has been permanently marked by corner posts of 

 cedar, thus making it an easy matter to arrange the several crops 

 and keep the paths in place both ways of the area, as shown by 

 the double lines in the diagram. There is an irregular piece of 

 ground at each end of the rectangular block of plots and these are 

 occupied with ornamental plants for breeding purposes and grass 

 experiments. 



The soil of the Home Grounds is fairly uniform in quality, it 

 being a mixture of clay and gravel, and at the outset was not of 

 the best for garden purposes, but its texture has been much im- 

 proved by the annual application of manure at the rate of twenty 

 tons per acre for the past thirteen years. These two acres occupy 

 a gentle slope of land and water has been piped along the upper 

 side to the head of each path and, from outlets there placed, irri- 

 gation is made easy for the whole area. 



Another acre was added to the Experiment Area three years 

 ago and consists of three equal strips, widely separated from each 

 other in a neighboring field. Upon this area, called "The Strips," 

 several of the isolated corn-breeding plots are located, and be- 

 tween them and filling up the strips crossed beans, peas and 

 squashes have been grown. This land is a recent addition to the 

 College Farm, and is not yet brought up to that richness and tilth 

 demanded for the best results in plant-improvement experiments. 



