the influence of time of ripening on the gluten content and the influence of climate on hard and soft varieties. There are also breeding experiments with wheat, all available types being crossed with Oakley, a promising variety in the State. Corn breeding and a study of various types of White Burley tobacco are other features of the work in agronomy. A large amount of this work, including rotation experiments, the studies of meadows, pastures, annual forage crops, and new grasses and forage plants, is being conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry of this Department. Cooperation with the Bureau of Chemistry on sugar-beet investigations has been continued. Particular attention is also being given to the relative value of clover seed from different regions, and the results thus far are favorable to the use of locally grown seed. The chemist is investigating the poisoning of cattle, studying soils and methods of determining potash and nitrogen, and making a large number of analyses in connection with the studies of sugar beets, cereals, feeding stuffs, forage plants, etc. He has been studying the relation between the physical appearance of selected wheat and its gluten content, and in this work has devised methods for analyzing the very small samples secured. The studies thus far with sorghum and sugar beets indicate that these crops are not well adapted to the State. The entomologist and botanist has been studying the eradication of broom rape, and finds that common salt and muriate of potash are both very promising when applied to the soil. He is studying the influence of this parasite on the character of the hemp fiber, which seems to be greatly weakened in the plants affected by the broom rape. He is also making studies of nitrogenassimilating organisms and preparing cultures for distribution. Among the insects and plant diseases to which attention is given are the cabbage worm and the corn worm, the latter a serious pest to tobacco; cabbage wilt; celery blight, and tomato rot. The last legislature of the State passed a law providing for seed inspection for purity, and increased the appropriation for the enforcement of the pure-food law from $7,500 to $10,500 a year. Soil investigations are being carried on in connection with the State geological survey, which was reestablished by the last legislature. A new station building of buff pressed brick has been erected at a cost of about $20,000. (Pl. I.) The building is well constructed and admirably adapted to the needs of the station. The quarters heretofore occupied by the station will be turned over to the college for a chemical laboratory. In general, the station has had a very prosperous year and is in a good position to render efficient aid to the agriculture of the State. H. Doc. 421, 58-3-7 LINES OF WORK. The principal lines of work conducted by the Kentucky Station during the past year were as follows: Chemistry; soils; analyses of fertilizers, foods, and feeding stuffs; inspection of orchards and nurseries; field experiments-hemp, tobacco, cereals, legumes, fertilizers; horticulture; plant breeding-wheat, corn, and sorghum; breeding of animals; pig feeding; diseases of plants-broom rape of hemp and tomato rot; entomology-the Hessian fly, apiculture; and dairying. INCOME. The income of the station during the past fiscal year was as follows: United States appropriation----. State appropriation, including balance from previous year. Fees, including balance from previous year. Total $15, 000. 00 10, 208. 18 19, 982. 42 53, 791. 47 A report of the receipts and expenditures for the United States fund has been rendered in accordance with the schedules prescribed by this Department and has been approved. PUBLICATIONS. The publications of this station received during the past fiscal year were Bulletins 107-112 and the Annual Report for 1900. Two of the bulletins are on commercial fertilizers, the others on nursery inspection and the pest of seventeen-year locusts in Kentucky, some results in steer feeding, and the Hessian fly in 1902–3. LOUISIANA. No. 1. Sugar Experiment Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans. No. 2. State Experiment Station, Baton Rouge. No. 3. North Louisiana Experiment Station, Calhoun. Department of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College. GOVERNING BOARD. State Board of Agriculture and Immigration: Governor N. C. Blanchard, Baton Rouge; Henry L. Fuqua (Vice-President), Baton Rouge; J. G. Lee (Commissioner), Baton Rouge; Thos. D. Boyd (President of State University), Baton Rouge; W. R. Dodson (Director of State Experiment Station), Baton Rouge; John Dymond, Beldir; Emil Rost, St. Rose; A. V. Eastman, Lake Charles; E. T. Sellers, Walnut Lane; Chas. Schuler, Keatchie; H. P. McClendon, Amite. STATION STAFF. Sugar Experiment Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans. The work of the Louisiana stations during the past year has followed very closely the lines heretofore pursued. It covers a wide range and includes especially improvement of varieties and methods. of culture of sugar cane, cotton, corn, and potatoes; tests of native and introduced varieties of forage plants, tobacco, fiber plants, and other field crops, fruits, and vegetables; rotation experiments; study of the chemical composition, digestibility, and feeding value of the by-products of rice, cotton, and sugar cane; a study of the rationale of the production and changes of sugar and other carbohydrates in cane and the improvement of methods of sugar making (sugar-house work) by strict chemical control; feeding experiments with home-grown forage plants and other available Louisiana feeds; investigations relating to injurious insects (especially the cotton-boll weevil) and animal diseases; introduction of improved breeds of cattle, sheep, and hogs; a systematic study (survey) of the soils of the State; irrigation experiments; inspection of fertilizers and Paris green; farmers' institute work. The entomologist gives nearly his whole time to boll-weevil investigations under the provisions of the Louisiana State Crop Pest Commission act of 1903, carrying an appropriation of $25,000, and in cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology of this Department. The introduction of the cotton-boll weevil into the experimental plats at Audubon Park during the summer of 1903 necessitated the complete destruction of all cotton growing at that place and resulted in the loss of many valuable varieties to which years of labor had been devoted. In connection with the geological survey of the State and in cooperation with the Bureau of Soils of this Department, the soils of the State are being mapped, classified, and analyzed, and their crop adaptations recorded. The hardy orange hybrids, which are being tested at Audubon Park in cooperation with the Bureau of Plant Industry, have fruited this year for the first time. The work of the station on seedling sugar canes has resulted in the development of two especially valuable varieties— Demerara No. 74 and Demerara No. 95-the former of which especially is rapidly displacing other varieties of cane in the State. Considerable progress has been made in demonstrating the possibility of profitably utilizing cane fiber (bagasse) in paper making and in the study of mixed feeds containing molasses. The work of the station with alfalfa has been very successful and is resulting in the extension of the culture of alfalfa in the State. The station has demonstrated the possibility of feeding steers for the Chicago market at a profit on home-grown forage plants, finishing with rations of cotton-seed meal, rice, bran, and molasses, byproducts of the three staple crops of the State. The experiments on the digestibility and nutritive value of rice bran and polish, which have just been completed, show the prevalence of adulteration of rice bran with hulls, and demonstrate that the high percentage of oil in the bran and polish is objectionable because it rapidly becomes rancid. Steps have been taken, with promise of success, to secure the establishment of mills for the extraction of rice oil, which has sufficient commercial value to make its removal profitable. This would result in the production of an improved rice feed which would compete with the corn and wheat products which are now being shipped into the State from the North and West. The experiments in truck growing at the North Louisiana Station are attracting considerable attention and have resulted in the development of truck farming, especially in connection with canning establishments. The inspection work of the station, which formerly included fertilizers and Paris green, was increased by the passage of a law last winter regulating the sale and purity of commercial feeding stuffs. The same legislature also modified the law providing for the inspection of Paris green. Station officers continue to take an active part in farmers' institutes, of which 50 or 60 were held during the past year. The institute workers are now organized in five groups with reference to special interests-sugar, rice, fruits and agriculture, boll weevil, and diversified agriculture. These groups are generally in charge of station men. The appropriation for institutes is $2,500 from the State. The director of the station resigned recently and has been succeeded by W. R. Dodson. |