are susceptible of improvement. The Orycoccus is a very shy bearer, and in the wild state is not of much value on that account.

FIELD CROPS AND FORAGE PLANTS.

The season on the coast was not favorable to the growth of grain. The spring was cold and late and the fall began early. Nowhere on the coast have grains been a success this year. Nevertheless, a few varieties matured here at the Sitka Station.

It is becoming more and more apparent that the coast region is not well adapted to grain growing. Forage can be grown in abundance, but the difficulty of saving the grain, even when it matures, on account of the excessive fall rain, will render grain growing impracticable except on a very small scale. Hereafter grain growing at the Sitka Station will be limited to the testing of varieties which appear to have special merit.

The following notes were taken on the varieties tested this year. The patchy nature of the growth of all these grains was due to the soil:

BARLEY.

Lapland, seeded May 29. Coming up June 8. June 15, 3 inches high, fair stand, yellow in spots, but on the whole looks well. July 1, patchy; best 15 inches high; good color. July 15, 30 inches high; mostly very good; heading. August 1, 3 feet high; heads well filled; many small ones; a few smutty heads. August 15, heavy heads; stands up well; beginning to ripen. September 1, fine; ready to harvest. September 5, cut.

Success, sown May 29. high; thin, poor stand.

Coming up June 8. June 15, 2 inches July 15, not a success; very thin; a few spots growing well; probably old seed accounts for poor stand. August 1, August 15, heads mostly well filled.

2 feet high, in full bloom.

August 29, well-filled heads, beginning to ripen.

September 15,

nearly ready to harvest. Cut September 21. Sisolsk, seeded May 23. Coming up June 6, germinated slowly. June 15, 4 inches high, half stand. July 1, average 9 inches high, very thrifty. July 15, 2 feet high; has good color. August 1, 34 feet high, good heavy stem, in full head, beginning to bloom. August 15, grain in dough, straw soft, somewhat lodged. August 29, beginning to ripen. September 15, ready to cut. Harvested September 19. Manshury, seeded May 8. Germinated slowly on account of cool weather. Was up by May 25. July 1, 12 inches high, spotted, has good color. July 15, 2 feet high, looks well. August 1, 34 feet high, generally good, in full head. August 15, badly lodged, short heads,

well filled. September 10, ripe.

Finnish barley and Black Hulless barley were also seeded, but were failures, because the soil was not sufficiently subdued to grow grain successfully.

OATS.

Sixty Day, seeded May 23. Came up June 6. June 15, 3 inches high, good stand, looks well. July 1, 8 inches high, very thrifty growth. July 15, averages 20 inches high, looks very thrifty. August 1, 3 feet high, very fine, in full head. August 15, very fine, somewhat lodged, large heads well filled. August 29, nearly ripe, lodged badly. September 11, harvested. This is one of the earliest oats we have tested. It can be depended on to mature, but it has a weak straw and lodges badly. The grain is also small and light. Burt Extra Early, seeded May 29. Came up June 8. June 15, 24 inches high, fine even stand. July 1, 8 inches high, fine even stand and growth. July 15, 18 inches high, good color in best places. August 1, 24 feet high, even stand, fully headed. August 15, medium heads well filled, standing well. August 29, well-filled heads, beginning to ripen. September 15, somewhat lodged, ripening. September 19, harvested.

This follows Sixty Day in earliness and it has a better straw and somewhat heavier grain. It, too, can be depended on to ripen.

Swedish Select, seeded May 7, germinated slowly. June 15, 4 inches high, good stand, looked well. July 1, best 15 inches high, growth spotted. July 15, just heading, poor spots treated with sodium nitrate show no more growth but better color than similar spots untreated. August 1, 34 feet high, general average good, in full head. August 15, fine, stands well, large, well-filled heads. September 1, very fine, nearly ready to cut. September 15, ready to cut and harvested two days later While not an early variety it has nevertheless done well at this station for two seasons. It stands up well under the strain of severe storms, and it has an unusually large, plump grain.

Improved Ligowa, seeded May 29. Coming up June 8. June 15, 24 inches high, excellent stand. July 1, 8 inches high, good, thrifty, even growth. July 15, best 18 inches high, good color. August 1, partly headed. August 15, medium heads lodged in places. September 1, very good, shows but very little signs of ripening. September 15, lodged badly, nearly ripe. This well-known variety requires too long time to mature to make it a sure crop every year. It has a fairly good straw and large, plump grain. It is a good variety for hay or silage.

Nameless Beauty, seeded May 29, came up June 8. June 15, 2 inches high, looks well but thin stand. July 1, 6 inches high, very good, even growth. July 15, 18 inches high, generally very good. August 1, poorest in head, ranker growth just beginning. August 15, very even, medium heads, standing up well. September 1, very fine, lodged badly, little signs of ripening. September 15, ripening. September 21, harvested. One of the rankest growers we have tested

and excellent for hay and silage, but too late to mature on the coast before the fall storms set in.

WHEAT.

Romanow Spring, seeded May 7 came up May 23. June 15, very uneven stand; on high ground, 6 inches high; on poorer ground, 4 inches high. July 1, best 15 inches high. July 15, 2 feet high, good color, heading. August 1, 4 feet high, in bloom, heads good size, some smut. August 15, badly lodged, on which account development is retarded. September 1, fairly good, grain just in dough. September 15, heads small but well filled, grain plump, ripening. Cut September 19. Seed imported from Russia by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It does not do as well here as did the seed of an earlier importation by the same name. This variety is the best spring wheat

we have tested.

RYE.

Giant French Winter, seeded September 10, 1902. June 10, heading. June 15, 3 feet high, heads 1 to 3 inches long. July 1, 5 feet high, many short stalks, in full bloom. July 15, grain in soft dough. August 1, beginning to ripen, well filled, many small heads. August 15, nearly ripe. August 25, harvested. Of several varieties seeded this was the only one that did not winterkill. They were killed by too much water rather than severe cold. The heads are small but the grain is of fair quality.

FLAX.

Riga (for fiber), seeded June 4. Coming up June 15. July 15, 3 inches high, growing slowly, good color, badly mixed with mustard. August 1, 20 inches high, bloom buds formed. August 15, 2 feet high, in bloom. August 29, nearly through blooming. September 15, 3 feet high, badly lodged in places, seed fully formed, but not ripe. October 3, ready to pull. The ground was too wet for the best results, and not sufficiently subdued. The quality was injured by lodging of the straw. Good fiber flax can be grown on the coast wherever suitable soil can be found.

BUCKWHEAT.

Russian variety, seeded May 23. Came up June 6. June 15, has two leaves, fine stand, looks well. July 1, 4 inches high, growing well. July 15, 18 inches high, in full bloom. August 1, exceedingly fine, bees working on it vigorously. August 15, bloom nearly all dead, seed well formed, will yield well. August 29, nearly ripe. Cut September 12. Early maturing varieties of buckwheat may be depended on to mature in the coast region.

FORAGE PLANTS.

Flat pea (Lathyrus sylvestris), seeded June 8. July 1, no sign of germination. August 1, very good stand, plants small. September 1, making slow growth. This is the second attempt we have made to grow this forage plant. It was first seeded in 1898 and survived for three years, but at no time did but at no time did it grow vigorously enough to make a promising forage crop when compared with clover and vetches. The present patch is located where it is hoped it may do better.

Red clover, seeded in the spring of 1902. July 1, just coming into bloom, very good, 20 inches high. July 15, 2 feet high, fine, full bloom. August 1, heads well filled with seed. August 15, seed yet soft. September 1, early heads have ripe seed. White clover, seeded in the spring of 1902. July 1, 6 inches high, fine, in bloom.. July 15, in full bloom, growing rapidly. August 1, heads well filled with seed. August 15, seed yet soft. September 1, early heads have ripe seed. Both red and white clover have done well at this station. The small patches on which they have been tested would indicate that they may be counted on to yield a large amount of pasture on old ground. On new ground the growth is spotted as in the case of grains. The summers are too wet, however, to cure clover hay except now and then, when the season is dryer than usual.

GRASSES.

The following species were seeded in trial plats in the spring of 1902. The ground was new and the growth uneven, particularly last year. This year the difference in growth in the same patch was less noticeable. None of them suffered in the least from winterkilling, and all matured seed. Tall meadow-oat grass (Arena elatior) is so far the most promising grass of the species here tested. In places it grew to a height of 6 feet and covered the ground densely with leafy forage. None of the grasses were cut until fall in order to watch the development of seed.

Perennial rye grass (Lolium perenne), June 15, 16 to 18 inches high, fair stand, headed. July 1, 20 inches high, fully headed, too stemy for hay. July 15, 2 feet high, in bloom. August 1, in bloom. August 15, seed matured. A lawn grass. The yield is too light for hay, but it will furnish early and late pasture.

Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), June 15, 21⁄2 feet high, partly headed out. July 1, in full head, well leafed, make good hay. July 15, 4 feet high, in full bloom. August 1, heads well developed, seed in dough. August 15, seed in hard dough. September 1, seed ripe. A leafy pasture grass and one which will also yield considerable hay. Timothy (Phleum pratense), June 15, 18 to 24 inches high, fair stand. July 1, just in head, average 2 inches in length, well leafed, make good

hay. July 15, in head, 3 feet high. August 15, seed in dough. September 1, seed ripe. While it has done well, this popular grass does not promise to be as valuable for this region as tall meadow-oat grass or orchard grass.

Red top (Agrostis vulgaris), June 15, 12 to 15 inches high, fair stand. July 1, 18 inches high, just coming into bloom, good stand and color. July 15, in head. August 1, no bloom yet. August 15, in bloom. September 15, ripe seed. Only the earlier promises to mature seed. Tall meadow fescue (Festuca elatior), June 15, very thin stand. July 1, 2 feet high, in head, poor stand. July 15, in head. August 1, in bloom. August 15, seed in dough. September 1, seed ripe. A fairly promising grass.

Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis), June 15, 12 inches high, very poor, heading out. July 1, headed, fairly good. July 15, just past blooming. August 1, seed getting hard, good heads. August 15, seed mature. This plat happened to be seeded on a spot of poor soil. The chief merit of blue grass is that it is ready to cut for hay early in the season before the unsettled weather begins.

Tall meadow-oat grass (Arena elatior), June 15, heading out, excellent. July 1, 3 feet high, in full head, heads 4 inches long. July 15, 6 feet high, in bloom. August 1, heads and seed well developed. August 15, seed in dough. September 1, seed ripe. In point of yield ahead of any here tested. This moist climate stimulates it to very luxuriant growth.

Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis), June 15, 2 feet high, in bloom. July 1, 2 feet high, in bloom very good, heads 24 inches long. July 15, 34 feet high, in full bloom. August 1, heads well filled, beginning to ripen. August 15, seed mature. Will have value as an early hay grass.

COPPER CENTER STATION.

Last year a few acres of ground were cleared near Copper Center and some winter grain seeded preparatory to opening an experiment station in the Copper River Valley, and Mr. J. W. Neal, formerly connected with the California Agricultural Experiment Station, was placed in charge. This year more ground was cleared in the spring, so that an area of about nine acres was seeded to spring grain.

The result this season has been quite encouraging, although as the weather reports from the station indicate, there has been frost in every month of the year, nevertheless Manshury, Lapland, Sisolsk, Royal, Trooper, No. 6175, Black Hulless, and No. 9133, barley, and Nameless Beauty, Burt Extra Early, Sixty Day, Finnish Black, No. 2800, and Swedish Select oats matured. Hardy garden vegetables grew well, as did also grasses and clover seeded this spring. Spring wheat did not mature. A frost on August 27 killed it before it was fully ripened. Plate V shows samples of the varieties of grain which ripened there.