30 a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



to S50 per acre annually. On such land, interest and taxes 

 being included, the cost of raising and lifting onions in 1915 was 

 approximately 35 cents per bushel, while the cost of topping, 

 screening, bagging and hauling to the point of shipment was 

 6.8 cents per bushel. The average yield in the valley usually 

 ranges from about 400 to 500 bushels per acre. The average 

 price for the three years 1913-15 to farmers was about $1.14 per 

 100 pounds. The storage capacity in the valley is about 600,- 

 000 bushels. The average wholesale price out of storage has 

 been about S2.20 per 100 pounds. Storage costs the owner 

 about 11 cents per 100 pounds. The average shrinkage in 

 storage is about 10 per cent. The usual charge for storing 

 onions is from 23 to 25 cents per 100 pounds. This statement 

 makes it apparent that storage generally pays, and it would 

 seem that a larger proportion of farmers should build storage 

 houses. 



Department of Agriculture. 



The principal work of this department is the carrying on of 

 experiments bearing upon problems connected with the produc- 

 tive capacity of soils, largely connected with variant use of 

 fertilizing materials supplying the different plant-food elements. 

 In addition, however, to work of this character, crops are tested 

 as to their adaptation to Massachusetts conditions, and varie- 

 ties of the more important farm crops are subjected to com- 

 parative trials. Other lines of work consist in an effort to 

 determine the best methods of handling and applying manures 

 and fertilizers, and tests of different methods of tillage. 



Three distinct methods are used in connection with our inves- 

 tigations to determine fertilizer values, namely, plot experi- 

 ments in the open field; closed plot experiments in plunged 

 cylinders with carefully mixed soils to secure uniformity of 

 conditions throughout each series; and vegetation experiments, 

 where each treatment is carried on in duplicate in pots under 

 carefully controlled conditions. The work of the past year has 

 involved the use of 257 field plots in mowing, cultivated crops, 

 orchards and pastures; 143 closed plots; and 388 pots, the 

 latter in vegetation experiments. 



No attempt is made in the department report for this year to 

 give a complete account of any single experiment, for each is 



