Nov., 1912.] 



ANNUAL REPORTS. 



15 



The objects of this experiment are, first, to secure data on the variations 

 in the growth of the individual timothy plant; second, to study these said varia- 

 tions; third, to select and isolate strains or individuals possessing the desired 

 characters; fourth, to propagate these individuals by close breeding; fifth, 

 to compare plants from close pollinated seed with plants propagated vegeta- 

 tively from same mother plant; sixth, to obtain sufficient seed of valuable 

 strains to sow under field conditions; seventh, to plant isolated plots from 

 inbred seed and obtain seed for planting larger areas in order to grow suffic- 

 ient pure-bred seed for distribution among farmers of the state. 



This work will be conducted by planting the individual plants in rows 

 four feet apart and forty inches in the row. Forty plants are planted from 

 each strain, making the plot for each strain sixty- seven feet long and eight feet 

 wide. Every third plot is a check plot. The seed from the check was a 

 standard strain selected for that purpose. The different strains were obtained 

 from the Pennsylvania Station, the Cornell Station, the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and commercial sources. 



III. COOPERATIVE EXPERIMENTS. 

 Hay Production. 



The cooperative experiments on methods of increasing the yield of hay 

 begun in 1910 have been continued as outlined in the last report. 



The following table shows the average yield of hay in pounds per acre 

 for three years for each of the first four treatments, for two years for the 

 reseeded plot and for one year for the cultivated plot : 



Some cooperative work with fertilizers similar to the above was begun 

 this year on the county farms at Ossipee and Claremont, and some interesting 

 results have already been obtained. 



Corn Tests. 



For the purpose of finding out what strains of corn are best adapted to 

 the several sections of the State a series of tests were begun this year in coop- 

 eration with the county farms in the counties of Rockingham, Hillsborough, 

 Merrimack, Cheshire, and Sullivan, also with the farm of the School for 

 Feeble-Minded in Belknap County, and with the New Hampshire College 

 Farm in Strafford Count} - . 



