132 REPOBT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



experiment station 1 uilding (PI. IV, fig. 2), residences for the director 

 and the foreman, and a barn. The station building is of red pressed 

 brick and contains the experiment station offices, two large laboratory 

 rooms, and a museum room. 



The work already undertaken includes variety tests, improvement 

 of varieties by selection, originating new varieties by cross polleniza- 

 tion, and the study of diseases and insects injurious to fruits. A care- 

 ful study is being made of the orchard conditions of the Ozark region, 

 and cooperative orchard work in spraying and cultivation has been 

 started. In executing the inspection laws of the State the station is 

 required to treat or destroy orchards infected with scale insects or 

 dangerous diseases. 



INCOME. 



The station is supported entirely by State appropriation, the amount 

 for the years 1901 and 1902 being $26,525. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



The publications of this station received during the past fiscal year 

 were Bulletin 1 and the Annual Report for 1900. 



Bulletin i, pp. 21. — Preliminary Report on the Bitter Rot of 

 Apples. — This bulletin gives the results of experiments carried on at the 

 station to prevent bitter rot of apples, and contains information con- 

 cerning the disease collected from apple growers in different parts of 

 the country. 



First Annual Report, 1900^ pp. 20. — This report consists of two 

 parts — a communication from the board of trustees to the Forty-first 

 General Assembly of Missouri, and a report from the director to the 

 board of trustees. The trustees report the selection of a site for the 

 experiment station, the purchase of land, election of manager and 

 inspector, erection of buildings, and progress of the experiment station ; 

 recommend changes in the law governing the station, and submit esti- 

 mates for appropriations. The director reviews the work of the 

 station and submits a statement of receipts and expenditures for the 

 year ended December 31, 1900. 



GENERAL OUTLOOK. 



The production of fruit, especially apples, is one of the two 

 important agricultural industries of the State, and southwestern 

 Missouri is especially well adapted to this industry. The experiment 

 station at Columbia has conducted investigations on the subject of 

 fruit growing and has been aided in the work by the State Board of 

 Agriculture and the State Horticultural Society. The establishment 

 of the State Fruit Experiment Station at Mountain Grove shows the 

 popularity of investigations of this nature and will supplement the 

 work of the Columbia station in the region in which the new station is 

 located. 



