1916.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 29a 



hay production on soil naturally adapted to grasses.and clovers 

 under this system of management. The average of twent}^- 

 three years' experiments has been the production, usually in 

 two crops annually, of nearly three tons of well-made hay to 

 the acre. The average annual cost of the materials used in top- 

 dressing has amounted to from $10 to S12 per acre. The possi- 

 bilities of profit at prices which hay usually brings are clearly 

 apparent. The substitution of a mixture of basic slag meal 

 (2,070 pounds) and muriate of potash (647| pounds) for one 

 ton of wood ashes applied in the earlier j-ears of the experiment 

 appears to have been a distinct improvement. 



Department of Horticulture. 

 The work in this department during the past year has not 

 been carried in any special line of investigation to a point 

 making a definite report of results at this time desirable. The 

 investigations in progress include both such as relate to prob- 

 lems of a research character which have been looked after by 

 Dr. Shaw, and more practical experiments, most of which are 

 under the direct charge of Professor Sears. Professor Waugh's 

 report includes an outline statement indicating the nature of the 

 principal lines of investigation. 



Department of Poultry Husbandry. 



The report of Dr. Goodale of the department of poultry hus- 

 bandry deals mainly with lines of general investigation con- 

 nected with the factors which influence egg production. Some 

 of Dr. Goodale's principal conclusions are: — 



First, that the prime factor essential for satisfactory winter 

 egg production from strong stock is early maturity. The records 

 of the station flocks show that, even in the case of birds of one 

 breed hatched from eggs from the same pen supposedly made 

 up of birds of similar breeding, there is an astonishing varia- 

 bility in the age at which the first egg is produced, namely 

 from 195 to 300 days. 



Second, the prime factor essential for high annual egg pro- 

 duction aside from early maturity is nonbroodiness. A con- 

 siderable flock of Rhode Island Red hens, none of which were 



