4a P. D. 31 



Agronomy and of Botany are associated in certain studies with reference to 

 crops produced for feed for dairy animals ; and the Department of Agricultural 

 Economics is making a thoroughgoing study of our dairy market. 



In the studies in animal nutrition two projects of great promise are: first, a 

 study of substitutes for milk in the rearing of dairy calves ; and second, the role 

 of mineral constituents in the ration of dairy animals. In both cases the project 

 bears on an economically significant problem. The relatively high price at which 

 most milk produced in Massachusetts is sold makes its use for animals economi- 

 cally impracticable; whereas the poverty in lime of many Massachusetts soils 

 makes the study of the role of mineral su]>plements essential. A progress report 

 on the former project has been prepared for publication, and will shortly be 

 printed as a Station bulletin. 



In the agronomic field the most significant work now luider way is study of 

 the improvement of permanent pastures. The fact that such improvement is pos- 

 sible has been abundantly demonstrated. The next step must be to carry this 

 work into the field to determine facts as they apply to different soil types and 

 pasture conditions in the several geographical subdivisions of the State. This 

 work is exceedingly important; for our New England dairymen, operating 

 usually on rather poor pastures, often overgrown with brush and weeds, are 

 finding increasing difficulty in competing with dairymen located where pastures 

 are still in better condition. 



Finally, the study recently completed on the New England dairy market, sup- 

 ported cooperatively by the College and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, is of outstanding significance. 

 For the first time facts relating to the marketing problem of the Massachusetts 

 and New England dairy industry are brought together within the compass of a 

 single volume. This work when published should be of immense value to the 

 farmers of the State, as a basis for developing their marketing program. 



Fruit Production. 



Five different departments of the Experiment Station have cooperated this 

 past year in furthering projects having to do with the production and marketing 

 of Massachusetts fruit. These are the Departments of Pomology, Entomology, 

 Botany, Plant and Animal Chemistry, and Agricultural Economics. 



At the home station, results secured in experimental orchards show strikingly 

 the superiority of the sod mulch with nitrate method of treatment over against 

 cultivation of the producing orchard. As far as is known to us, the facts in this 

 comparison have been established for the first time. The significance to our 

 Massachusetts orchard industry lies in the fact that most of our orchards are 

 located on hilly land, on which the advantage of the sod mulch system of man- 

 agement over against cultivation is obvious. The other work of the department, 

 having to do particularly with methods of tree and soil management, is of 

 increasing value with every passing year. 



The work in nursery certification carried on under the supervision of the Sta- 

 tion, but without cost to the State or drain on Experiment Station funds, and 

 under the general auspices of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association, has 

 progressed rapidly during the year. The following table shows the progress of 

 the work since it was initiated in 1921 : 



Number of Number of Number of 



Trees Trees Nurseries 



Tear Certified Refused Total Examined 



1921 2,580 267 2,847 1 



1922 8,437 438 8^75 2 



1923 65,910 905 66,815 3 



1924 125,609 3,505 129,114 6 



The success of the work thus far has abundantly justified the expense of the 

 original research project. 



In disease control studies the Department of Botany has brought to a success- 

 ful close its investigation of apple scab control in the eastern part of the State. 

 As a result of the work of the Station, apple scab is being controlled to a very 



