46 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



REPORTS OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS. 



Following are the reports of the several executive officers of the 

 Bureau on the work of their respective branches: 



REPORT OF THE PATHOLOGIST AND PHYSIOLOGIST, ALBERT F. WOODS, ON WORK 



OF THE YEAR. 



CEREALS. 



The experience of the cerealist in charge of the Department's inves- 

 tigations of cereals, in his trip to Russia and other European countries 

 and in connection with the installation of our exhibit and the jury work 

 at the Paris Exposition, has proved to be very valuable to the Depart- 

 ment in its cereal work. A careful survey of the cereal industries of 

 the United States has been made and a report published, in which the 

 problems most needing attention are set forth clearly and concisely. 

 This report has not only proved a very valuable foundation on which 

 to plan our future investigations, but is of great value to those 

 engaged in similar lines of work. 



Russian wheats. — The hardy winter wheats imported from Russia 

 have proved so successful that the growers of Kansas have recently 

 imported privately over 15,000 bushels of the Crimean wheat for seed. 

 Still other and hardier Russian wheats are being tested, and will, it is 

 believed, supplant the spring wheats in Iowa, Nebraska, and northern 

 Kansas, and increase the yield in these States probably over 5 bushels 

 per acre. Some valuable drought- resistant Russian wheats which have 

 been tested by the Department show that they are admirably adapted 

 to the region west of the 100th meridian, where wheat growing is uncer- 

 tain or practically impossible. In connection with the Office of Seed 

 and Plant Introduction we expect to introduce a large number of very 

 promising Russian wheats specially adapted to some of our wheat- 

 growing areas. In all this wc(rk disease resistance is kept in mind 

 and some sorts remarkably free from rust have been obtained. 



Nonshattering wheats. — A few years ago Jones Winter Fife wheat 

 was tested in Washington State and yielded remarkably well, but the 

 crop could not be saved because of shattering. This variety is there- 

 fore being crossed with nonshattering varieties, and the hybrids 

 obtained will undoubtedly produce a nonshattering grain that will 

 yield well in the region in question. 



Macaroni wheats. — The tests of the different varieties of macaroni 

 wheats which have been recently made by the Department indicate 

 that several of the finest varieties of these can be produced in the 

 drier portions of the country, from Texas to North Dakota. Notwith- 

 standing the severe drought of the past season, these wheats yielded 

 heavily. The interest that has been aroused in the growing of these 

 wheats and in milling them has been phenomenal, and every endeavor 

 has been made to furnish growers and millers with the necessary 

 information in regard to them. The United States imports annually 

 over $16,000,000 pounds of macaroni, and the establishment of the 

 industry in this country will doubtless lead to the production of thou- 

 sands of bushels of macaroni wheats on lands where ordinary wheats 

 can not be produced. Efforts to develop foreign and domestic mar- 

 kets are yielding satisfactory results, and it is the belief that we will 

 soon produce better macaroni than that obtained abroad. Our manu- 



