4 N. H. Agr. Experiment Station [Bulletin 289 



Among the developments of the year in our state service work has been 

 the completion of a thorough survey of rural electrification in the state in co- 

 operation with the Emergency Relief Administration, the State Public 

 Service Commission and the Farm Bureau Federation. New Hampshire is 

 already credited by the Edison Electric Institute with having 66.6%' of its 

 total number of farms served with electricity, the highest figure for any 

 state in the country. 



In our poultry work, we have completed during the year the contagious 

 bronchitis vaccine building, complying with the Federal requirements for 

 handling this service. Pullorum samples reached a new high of 239,000 

 tests. The development of the Bang's disease testing program by the State 

 Department of Agriculture is also resulting in a considerable extension of 

 laboratory work. As a result of this and of the action of the last Legislature 

 in appropriating increased funds for Animal Industry work, it is possible 

 for the State Department of Agriculture to take over financial responsibility 

 for both pullorum and Bang's tests. Samples will be collected by the State 

 Department, and the Station will conduct the laboratory phases of the work 

 — a similar arrangement to that carried on for so many years in respect to 

 analyses of feeding-stuffs and fertilizers and seed testing. With the reduced 

 poultry fees it now seems probable that pullorum tests this year will run to 

 300,000 or more. 



There have been few changes in personnel. H. C. Woodworth has been 

 on leave of absence during the year, assisting the federal Resettlement and 

 Land Use Division of the northeastern states. L. E. Washburn resigned as 

 assistant in animal husbandry September 1 , and his place has been taken by 

 Roger Doe. A. M. Jorgenson replaced L. J. Bowen as graduate assistant in 

 botany. The soil survey has been in charge of W. J. Latimer, assisted by 

 M. H. Layton for the U. S. Bureau of Soils. They are being assisted by 

 Paul Scripture, W. H. Lyford and W. H. Coates of the Station staff. 



The technical equipment of the animal nutrition laboratory was aug- 

 mented during the year by the installation of an electrical psychromoter 

 with which to measure the amount of water lost by vaporization from the 

 bodies of horses and cattle. This contribution was made by the Carnegie In- 

 stitution of Washington, which is cooperating in the animal nutrition investi- 

 gations, and funds have been supplied by the same institution for the building 

 of a respiration chamber larger than any before available for the measuring 

 of animals of unusual size. This chamber has already been tested and used 

 experimentally. 



The following is a brief review of significant findings in our various 

 projects during the year. 



Digestion Experiments with Dairy Cattle 



As in past year the nutrition experiments have been conducted in co- 

 operation with Dr. F. G. Benedict, director of the Nutrition Laboratory of 

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 



Digestion experiments carried out with oat hay show that when cut at 

 the right time and properly cured it exceeds any other hay so far tested in 

 metabolizable energy and it is surpassed only by alfalfa and red clover hay 

 in digestible crude protein content. The digestible energy is 66.8 per cent 

 of the total energy ingo. The metabolizable energy per 100 pounds of hay is 



