NOETH DAKOTA. . 161 



STATION STAFF. 



J. H. Worst, LL. D., President of the College and Director. 

 E. F. Ladd, B. 8., Chem. H. L. Bolley, M. 8., Bot. 



J. H. Shepperd, M. S. A.- Agr. A. M. Ten Eyck, M. 8., Asst. Agr. 



C. B. Waldron, B. 8., Hort. H. M. Ash, Farm Supt. 



C. E. Nugent, Bookkeeper and Accountant. 



LINES OF WORK. 



The work of the North Dakota Station during the past year has been 

 along the same lines as heretofore and has included studies of the 

 transformation of vegetable matter into humus and the formation and 

 movements of nitrates in the soil, with accompanying studies of nitri- 

 fying bacteria; experiments to determine the loss of nitrates from 

 leaching and to determine the amount of water required to produce 1 

 pound of dry matter in soils containing an abundant supply of plant 

 food; a comparative study of timothy and brome grass for hay and 

 pasture; selection experiments with corn and wheat to secure varieties 

 with higher gluten content; also selection experiments with potatoes 

 and flax; studies of plant diseases, especially flax wilt; plant breeding; 

 rotation experiments; feeding experiments with horses and pigs, the 

 latter for the utilization of waste products; horticultural investigations, 

 including the cultivation of vegetables, small fruits, and apples, and 

 experiments with forest trees, shelter belts, hedges, etc. Some work 

 on the conservation of moisture and on varieties of grasses to bind the 

 soil has been conducted at a substation at Edgely, with the aid of a 

 small appropriation from the State. In connection with poultr}^ work 

 an egg record is being kept with a view to learning how to produce 

 fertile eggs. Studies on the conservation of soil moisture are being 

 made b}^ cultivation and rotation and by the determination of the 

 amount of moisture which a crop takes out and leaves in the soil. 



During the year the station has furnished sugar-beet seed to about 

 1,600 farmers for cooperative work. Cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry of this Department includes experiments to determine 

 the influence of the origin of red-clover seed on yield of crop and to 

 improve the wheat industry of the Northwest. Further investigation 

 of the so-called "flax sickness" has convinced the botanist that it is 

 identical with the newly described disease known as "flax wilt," and 

 is due to a fungus belonging to the genus Fusarium, which is rapidly 

 distributed to new soils by means of seed flax, straw, manure, etc. 

 Many experiments have been conducted to determine the various 

 features in the life history of the fungus and some means of preventing 

 its occurrence in the crop. Members of the station staff rendered 

 assistance at a large number of farmers' institutes during the fall and 

 winter. A farmers' institute law, which became effective July 1, 1901, 

 carries an appropriation of $2,500 for two years and connects this 

 H. Doc. 384—11 



