EXPERIMENT STATION REPORT 183 



alone and in combination with others strikingly different in plant, 

 foliage, flower and fruit. 



In a similar mannef, a plot of the commercial okras has been 

 under consideration and crosses secured for a more extended 

 study of the breeding habits of this species of plant. 



Several crosses and hybrids among the ornamental plants have 

 been secured that may yield points to the practical breeder in his 

 own home garden. 



During the year one bulletin, namely, No. 209, "Novelties in 

 Vegetable Fruits," (24 pages, 4 plates, 10 figures) has been 

 issued in which seeds were offered for distribution, which re- 

 sulted in the sending to testers 2,511 packets as follows: Corn, 

 731; tomatoes, 807; eggplants, 332; beans, 398; squashes, 243 

 packets, respectively. 



The necessary amount of time has been given to the details of 

 the office desk where, aside from the large correspondence with 

 the testers, habits of plants are outlined, names and nature of 

 weeds given, commercial seeds examined for impurities and dis- 

 eases of various sorts diagnosed. 



THE EXPERIMENT AREA. 



The ground devoted to plant improvement consists, as last 

 year, of seven acres in three separate portions of the College 

 Farm, namely, The Home Grounds that have been used by the 

 Botanical Department for fourteen years, consisting of two 

 acres divided into seven series of four plots each with an irreg- 

 ular piece of land at each end of the rectangular block of plots, 

 all of which is shown in detail in the plan upon page 185. Each 

 plot consists of one-twentieth of an acre marked by corner posts, 

 thus making it easy 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. The irregular end blocks are occupied with 

 grass borders and ornamental plants. 



The soil is of fairly uniform quality, a mixture of clay and 

 gravel and at the outset was not good for garden purposes but, 

 by the annual application of twenty tons of coarse, fresh barn- 

 yard manure, it has been much improved. During the past sea- 

 son, the amount of manure was reduced one-half and for the first 

 time a general fertilizer was added, at the rate of five hundred 

 pounds per acre. These two acres occupy a gentle slope and 

 water has been piped along the upper side to the head of each 

 path and from outlets there placed, irrigation is made easy for 

 the whole area. 



