UMASS/AMHERST 312Dbb DEflS lb31 1 /^^'m f//A Public Document No. 4 FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPOKT OF THE SECRETAKY MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OP AGRICULTURE, TOGETHER WITH THE TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 1909. BOSTON: WEIGHT & POTTEE FEINTING CO., STATE PEINTEES, 18 Post Office Square. 1910. Approved by The State Board of Publication. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE V State Board of Agriculture, 1910, Report of the Secretary, vii Summary of Crop Conditions, 1909, xxx Public Winter Meeting of the Board at Dracut, .... 1 Address of Welcome by Mr. George H. Stevens, .... 3 Response for the Board by Second Vice-President Bursley, . 5 Lecture: Market Gardening. By Mr. H. B. Fullerton, . . . 7 Lecture: The Development of Agriculture by Organized Effort. By Dean Eugene Davenport, 27 Lecture: Varieties of Apples for Massachusetts Orchards. By Prof. F. C. Sears, 42 Lecture: Education of the Dairyman aiid the Dairy Cow, By Prof. H. E. Cook, 67 Lecture: Crop Rotation for the Dairy Farm. By Mr. II. O. Daniels, 85 Lecture: Poultry Keeping on Small Farms. V>y Rev. W. II. Davenport, 99 Eighth Annual Report of the State Nursery Inspector, . . 121 Sixteenth Semi-annual Report of the Chief of the Cattle Bureau, 129 Nineteenth Annual Report of the State Dairy Bureau, . . 165 Sixth Annual Report of the State Forester, 189 Second Annual Report of the State Ornithologist, . . . 245 Essay: The Farmer's Interest in Game Protection. By Edward Howe Forbush, 273 Essay: Economy of Labor in Poultry Keeping on Farms. By Mr. John H. Robinson, . . .280 Essay: Live Stock in Massachusetts. By Prof. J. A. Foord, . 287 Essay: Western Methods in New England Orcharding. By Prof. F. C. Sears, 294 Essay: The Culture of the Pear. By Mr. George T. Powell, . 302 Returns of the Agricultural Societies, 311 Agricultural Directory, 321 Index, 347 State Board of Agriculture, 1910. Members ex Officio. His Excellency EBEN S. DRAPER. His Honor LOUIS A. FROTHINGHAM. Hon. WM. M. OLIN, Secretary of the Commonwealth. KENYON L. BUTTERFIELD, LL.D., President Massachusetts Agricultural College. C. A. GOESSMANN, Ph.D., LL.D., Chemist of the Board. AUSTIN PETERS, M.R.C.V.S., Chief of the Cattle Bureau. F. WM. RANE, B. Agr., M.S., State Forester. J. LEWIS ELLSWORTH, Secretary of the Board. Members appointed by the Governor and CounciL Term expires CHARLES E. WARD of Buckland 1911 HENRY M. HOWARD of West Newton 1912 CHARLES M. GARDNER of Westfield 1913 Members chosen by the Incorporated Societies. Amesbury and Salisbury (Agricul- tural and Horticultural), . . J. J. MASON of Amesbury, .... 1912 Barnstable County JOHN BURSLEY of West Barnstable, . . 1913 Blackstone Valley JACOB A. WILLIAMS of Northbridge, . . 1912 Deerfield Valley WM. B. AVERY of Charlemont (P. O. East Charlemont) 1911 Eastern Hampden, . . . . O. E. BRADWAY of Monson 1912 Essex, FREDERICK A. RUSSELL of Methuen, . 1911 Franklin County CHARLES P. ALDRICH of Greenfield, . 1913 Hampshire, HOWARD A. PARSONS of Amherst (P. O. North Amherst) 1913 Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden, FRANK P. NEWKIRK of Easthampton, . 1912 Highland HENRY S. PEASE of Middlefield (P. O. Chester, R. F. D.) 1911 Hillside W. A. HARLOW of Cummington, . . .1911 Hingham (Agricultural and Hortl), . HENRY A. TURNER of Norwell, . . 1912 Hoosac Valley L. J. NORTHUP of Cheshire, . . . 1912 Housatonic N. B. TURNER of Great Barrington (P. O. Housatonic), 1912 Marshfield (Agricultural and Hort'l), WALTER H. FAUNCE of Kingston, . . 1912 Martha's Vineyard, .... JAMES F. ADAMS of West Tisbury, . . 1913 Massachusetts Horticultural, . . WILFRID WHEELER of Concord, . . 1912 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, N. I. BOWDITCH of Framingham, Middlesex North GEO. W. TRULL of Tewksbury (P. O. Lowell R. F. D.) Middlesex South ISAAC DAMON of Way land (P.O. Cochituate) Nantucket JOHN S. APPLETON of Nantucket, . Oxford WALTER A. LOVETT of Oxford, . Plymouth County AUGUSTUS PRATT of Middleborough (P. O. North Middleborough), 1911 Spencer (Farmers' and Mech.'sAss'n), WALTER C. BEMIS of Spencer, . . . 1913 Union (Agricultural and Hort'l), . SYLVESTER H. PEEBLES of Blandford, . 1913 Weymouth (Agricxdtural and Ind'l), . THERON L. TIRRELL of Weymouth (P. O. South Weymouth) 1912 Worcester B. W. POTTER of Worcester 1911 Worcester East, GEO. F. MORSE of Lancaster, . . . 1912 Worcester Northwest (Agricultural and Mechanical) ALBERT ELLSWORTH of Athol, . . . 1913 Worcester SoxUh, .... WILLIAM E. PATRICK of Warron, . . 1913 Worcester County West, . . . JOHN L. SMITH of Barrc 1911 1912 1911 1911 1912 1913 THE FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OK THE SECRETARY OF THE State Board of Ageiculture To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Year just closed was one luarked with a great deal of advance and improvement in agriculture, and mainly along new lines. The great Fruit Show, held in Boston in October, wuth the months of preparation for it, and the publications of this Board and other interested organizations along the line of information in horticulture, particularly apple grow- ing, did more to call the attention of the outside world, and indeed of jSTew Englanders themselves, to the possibilities of New England agriculture than anything in recent years. One of the encouraging features in connection with this movement was the interest taken by the Boston Chamber of Commerce, both in the Fruit Show and in agriculture in general. This progressive body of merchants, under intel- ligent leadership, and consolidated into a strong organiza- tion, has come to realize, to a greater extent than ever in the past, the importance of agriculture, commercially as well as economically. I am fully assured that it is their purpose to do everything possible to help build up agriculture in l^ew England, realizing that a prosperous agriculture forms the best foundation for a prosperous business interest. The city of Boston forms the natural center for the greater part of l^ew England, and is bound to reflect the conditions in the outlying districts which are feeders to it. This the Boston Chamber of Commerce realizes, and, T am assured, intends to act in accordance with that view. When we add viii . BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. this force, exerted for the first time, to all that the State and United States governments are doing for agriculture and the agricultural population, through the boards of agri- culture, agricultural colleges and experiment stations, and indirectly through a great many other channels, such as the schools, libraries and so on, most of which are supported to a greater or less degree by the State governments, there would seem to be no good reason why the farmers should not take courage, and, in particular, avail themselves more fully of these opportunities. There was practically no legislation of importance during the winter for the benefit of agriculture, other than the pas- sage of the routine appropriation bills, carrying substantial increases in some cases. The session was more noted for what was killed than for what was enacted. Several bills were introduced along different lines, some of merit and others without it, which failed of enactment, and which will be discussed under the proper headings elsewhere in this report. Generally speaking the season was a good one for farmers from the business point of view. The prolonged drought, severe as its effects were upon wells and streams, had sur- prisingly little effect upon crops in general, due in the main to timely showers, which relieved its worst features. Past- urage suffered severely in almost all sections, but cultivated crops came out remarkably well, and prices were good in the main, thus making up for any shortage in yield. Pre- cipitation for the year was but two inches below the average preci]ntation for the past thirty-eight years, and probably the fact that this slight shortage followed the lowest rainfall of that period, that of 1908, had much to do with its effect on streams, springs and wells. The corn crop was a vci-y poor one in most cases, the cool weather of midsununer holding it in check; and but for the extremely late date of the first killing frost it would have been a total failure, so far as grain is concerned. Owners of silos complain thnt the ensilage secured was not of as much value as usual, owing to the absence of ears, or their im- No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. ix mature condition when harvested, and many fields grown for grain gave almost no yield of mature ears. Dairy products brought better prices than ever before, but this was offset, and indeed the increase was mainly forced, by failing pastures, obliging milk producers to feed at the barn and making serious inroads into the winter's supply of roughage. The price of milk is still below what it should be at the farm. Whether the solution of this ques- tion lies with the increase of the price to the consumer or with the increase of price paid by the middleman is a ques- tion. The recent report setting forth the findings of the expert employed to examine into the accounts of the milk dealers of Xew York City, with the great profits shown to have been piled up on eight-cent anilk, would indicate that perhaps it might lie along the latter line. I would urge that the Legislature be requested to consider whether such an examination and general inquiry into the conditions surrounding the production, transportation and sale of milk is not in order in this State. Certainly the farmers would be the last to urge an increase to the consumers, many of whom can ill afford to meet such an increase, if it be sho^vn that too large a proportion of the cost of handling milk between the producer and consumer is in the form of undue profits. I am not prepared to say just what form this proposed action by the Legislature should take, or whether there is not some other method by which this result can be secured in Mas- sachusetts, but I would recommend that the Board and the Legislature consider this matter carefully, and take such action as may seem wise. Butter has brought unusually good prices and dairy sections devoted to this branch of the business were generally prosperous. Grain and hay continue to command high prices, and those growers who depend on feeds which they cannot raise are more than ever at a disadvantage. The dairyman should, under all except the most extraordinary conditions, endeavor to raise all of his roughage and as much of the grain he feeds as possible. Clover hay, either as silage or roughage, will do more towards keeping down grain X BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. bills than any other crop the farmer can raise. If one-half the energy were expended in growing clover that is put into the other branches of the dairyman's work his financial standing at the end of the year would be bettered by many dollars. The apple crop, like last year, was better than was ex- pected in the early part of the season, and brought unusually good prices. Our apple growers, therefore, are in a pros- perous condition. If they will give the attention to pack- ing and sorting that they should, the fancy apple trade will pass from the western growers and remain at home. I hope to see the day when the shipping of Colorado and Oregon apples beyond Chicago shall be a thing of the past, except in times of local scarcity and for European export. Other fruits gave good average yields and brought good prices. Cranberries were a light to medium yield. The problem of damage from wild deer is becoming a very serious one, especially to the orchardist. Approximately $10,000 will be paid when the bills for damage by deer for 1909 are all settled. In many sections it is impossible to plant an orchard with any hope of bringing the trees to bearing age, unless the grower is prepared to go to the almost prohibitive expense of providing a fence high enough to keep these animals out. I submit that deer serve no useful pur- pose in an agricultural community. They furnish a certain variety to the landscape and look very pretty, feeding on some other man's laud, Imt w^e can hardly allow this menace to continue if we intend to attempt to build up the orchard in- dustry of Massachusetts. The Fish and Game Comuiission estimates that there are 8,000 Avild deer in Massachusetts, and that they are increasing at the rnte of 40 per cent Y>cr year. With $10,000 damage money paid the past year, and the immense dauiage caused by the animals which cnunot be paid for in dollars and cents considered, the continuation of the present policy of protection presents, in the light of the above estimates, an outlook that is positively ap])all!ng from the standpoint of the farmer and the orcliardist. T would reoommend that tlio protectirtn now enjoyed by tlu^sc animals be absolutelv -withdrawn. No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xi The San Jose scale, as I have frequently pointed out in the past, is also a great menace to our orchards. The present nursery inspection restricts its spread from the nurseries to the lowest i)ossible ])oint. A serious problem is presented in the spread of the scale from orchard to orchard. l\lany owners of fruit and shade trees refuse to clean up the scale, even when their attention is called to the necessary residt of its presence, and their trees form a breeding groimd from which it spreads to those of their neighbors. There appears to be sufficient authority at present in the hands of the State Xursery Inspector to deal with this ])roblem. The only question is one of sufficient funds to handle the work. I would recommend a sufficient appropriation to employ a permanent inspector, whose duty, it shall be, especially, to look after the condition of orchards and compel negligent owners to clean them up. Market gardeners had a very good year, the best of the last three. Crops were not remarkal)ly good nor prices remarkably high, l)Ut there has seldom been a season when the general average of both was maintained at so uniformly satis- factory a level throughout the year. Onions were generally an average crop and brought very satisfactory prices. Tobacco was an unusually good crop, and was secured in good condition, wilh very little damage from hail, wind or insects. Poultry and eggs were uniformly high in price through- out the year. The high prices of grain led many small poul- try keepers to reduce their flocks or give up the business, Avith a consequent curtailment in the supply of eggs and poultry. Those who had the courage and foresight to stick to the business have generally been able to show as good average returns as before the increase in the ju-ice of grain. Where the farmer can raise his own grain and clover he should find that the keeping of poultry will be his most profit- able branch, where it is retained at its proper limits. Milk Legislation. The change in the milk standard, enacted l)y the IMassa- chusetts Legislature of 1008, did little to quiet the agita- xii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. tion for the abolishment of the milk standard. A large number of bills were introduced into the last Legislature, covering almost every phase of the milk question. Some of these, such as the law relating to milk inspection, were en- acted into law. The committee on agriculture considered carefully those relating to the abolishment or modification of the standard, approaching the question with a great deal of care and giving it an intelligent study, which reflects great credit on the committee. After several months of hearings and deliberations they recommended a bill, the idea of which originated with the general agent of the Dairy Bureau of this Board. In effect it provided that where milk was taken from a producer and analysis of subsequent sam- ples of known purity showed that the first milk was pure, unadulterated milk, as it came from the cow, no prosecution should follow. It also provided for the same exemption from prosecution for the dealer who could prove that the milk was the milk of a certain producer and in the original container. This latter feature I believe to have been a mistake, as it is my opinion that the milk dealer and peddler is amply able to safeguard himself, and that such exemption gives too much of a loophole for escape from responsibility under the stand- ard law. This bill had a somewhat turl^ulent passage through the Legislature, the Senate reversing itself several times on the matter, but was finally killed on the enactment stage, an unusual proceeding. If enacted into law it would have prac- tically removed the principal objection which milk ])roducers have to the milk standard, that they are liable to be brought into court and branded with a criminal record without the slightest intent to do wrong, and in many cases without the slightest suspicion that their milk was not up to legal re- quirements. In my judgment it would, in its working out, have settled the milk standard question for twenty years, if not for all time, and without the least injury to the consum- ing public. I do not believe that the milk standard should be abolished at this time, as it forms the only protection of the consumer and ])r()du('or alike against a cci-laiu amouut of C(uuuier('i:il fraud. There is a widespread iuqiression llint the milk stand- No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xiii arcl is a protection to the piiLlie health. Nothing can be further from the truth. It is simply a commercial standard designed to protect the consumer against fraud by the addi- tion of water and skimmed milk to whole milk in such quantities that they cannot conclusively be shown to have been added, to the satisfaction of our courts. It is exactly on the same footing as the law prohibiting the coloring of oleomargarine to resemble butter, or that prohibiting the sale of renovated butter unless it is properly stamped. Xeither water nor skimmed milk is injurious to the public health, and their addition to whole milk is simply a fraud on the consumer. It is a fraud also on the producer, in that by just so much it takes the ])lace in the market of the whole milk which he produces, and renders his legitimate product less salable. Until such time as the science of milk inspec- tion and analysis shall have advanced to the point that allows of the detection of skimmed milk or water, except in the most minute proportions, when added to whole milk, the standard is necessary to both producer or consumer. ISTevertheless, the attempts to inflame the minds of the consumers against legislation aimed to reduce the evils of this necessary system, on the ground of danger to the public health, are pure buncombe, and cannot be too severely con- demned. The rigid enforcement of the milk standard law would, on the other hand, form a much more serious menace to the public health than a reasonable exemption from prose- cution of honest producers. It is well known that standard milk cannot be fed to infants or to some invalids, but must be diluted and rectified to meet the requirements of their delicate digestive organs. Cartoons which represent that legislation such as that of last winter is an attack upon the health of infants are not only false but absolutely criminal in their recklessness, as they lead the uninformed portions of our cit}" population to believe that milk as now sold in the market is a proper infant food. I would urge temperance, fairness and judgment in the discussion of milk questions, on both sides, and that all the agencies of the State having to do with the milk problem, from any point of view, unite in an attempt to show the consuming public the true situation of xiv BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. the milk standard, and the function which it was designed to serve and should serve, I would recommend that this Board instruct its secre- tary to draft a bill along the general lines of this legislation of last year and present the same to the Legislature as the unanimous action of the Board, and that the Board further, as a body, through its committees and as individuals, do all possible to secure its favorable consideration. I would further recommend that the Board instruct its secretary to again introduce the bill of last year, providing for the payment by the State to the producer for all milk kept from the market as a result of contagious disease on his farm. I urge this measure more in the interest of the public health than in that of the milk producer, as I believe that it would lead to the prompt reporting of all such cases to the proj^er authorities, and thus minimize the danger of the spread of contagion. Further, I would call to the attention of the Legislature that the business of milk production has at present all the burdens that it can bear, and would say that further restric- tive legislation is not at this time in order, but rather that something should be done for the encouragement of the producer, instead of his further discouragement. Dairying in Massachusetts is not on such a profitable basis that we can afford to impose further burdens upon the industry. The only effect of such action will be to drive the business of the production of milk outside Massachusetts, so that the milk supply of Boston will eventually come almost entirely from other States, where the producers are beyond the reach of regulation by our Massachusetts authorities. Changes in the Board. The changes in the mend)ership of the Board during the year came about entirely through the expirations of the terms of various members. Members retiring because of expiration of term of service are: Llenry E. Paige of the Ilani])- shire Agricultural Society, after ten years of service; W. J. ITeffernan of the Spencer Farmers' and Mechanics' Associa- tion, after one year of service; George O. Millard of the No. 4.] R1<:P0UT of secretary. XV Union Agricultural and Horticultural Society, after three Years of service; and C. D. Richardson of the Worcester South Agricultural Society, after twelve years of service. Meetings of the Boakd. On June 5, 1909, the Board held a summer field meeting at the grounds of the Hillside Agricultural Society, in Cum- niington, pursuant to the policy inaugurated last year of hold- ing such meetings in remote sections, where the people, on account of poor facilities of transportation, cannot con;- veniently attend the summer field meetings of the Board. The attendance was drawn from the towns in the immediate section, and was very satisfactory in numbers and interest shown. The points of the dairy cow, and how to select and breed for best results, proper methods of handling and hiving bees, with observation hive, the latest methods in forestry, with instructions as to care of Avoodlands, and the proper methods of planting, budding, grafting and j^runing fruit trees Avere the subjects demonstrated. The regular summer field meeting of the Board was held at AVhalom Park, near Fitchburg, on Aug. 4, 1909. The attendance was the largest ever recorded for one of these meetings, with perhaps the exception of the meeting at the same place two years ago. An entirely new programme was arranged for, three new subjects being taken up, the demon- stration of how to produce and put up certified and steamer milk, the Ix-st method of selecting apples for exhibition, the proper methods of judging fruit and box packing, and the best methods of selecting, breeding and judging corn. The meeting was held with the Massachusetts State Grange, and there was excellent si^eaking in the afternoon under its direc- tion. The public winter meeting of the Board was held at Dracut, on the invitation of the Middlesex North Agricultural So- ciety. The programme was an excellent one, the attendance very satisfactory and the quality of the lectures delivered superior. The Board has often had meetings where there were a numl)er of lectures of merit, but not in recent years one where the matter and form of i)resentation was as xvi BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. imiformly excellent as at Draciit. Tlie Lowell board of trade tendered an excellent banquet to the Board and others attend- ing the meeting on Wednesday evening. The principal speakers were Dr. David Snedden, Commissioner of Educa- tion, who made his first public appearance in Massachusetts on this occasion, and Harold Parker, the chairman of the Massachusetts Highway Commission. The lectures and selec- tions from the discussions at the Dracut meeting will be found elsc\vhere in this volume. The annual business meeting of the Board was held at Boston, on Jan. 11 and 12, 1910, and special business meet- ings were held at the summer meeting at Fitchburg and at the public winter meeting. Agricultural Societies. The agricultural societies generally enjoyed a prosperous year. Only a few suffered from bad weather, and most of them made some money, while a few were remarkably suc- cessful financially. The exhibits were of the customary high standard, the hall exhibits apparently suffering very little from the dry weather. Perhaps one reason for this is that the exhibitors at our fairs are among the more up-to-date members of our farming population, and likely to give their crops and orchards better and more careful attention than their less progressive neighbors, all of which has its effect on the products which they exhibit. The Board, at its last meeting, made certain changes in its rules governing the payment of premiums by agi-icultural societies. It would appear from the reports of the inspec- tors that these rules were fully observed by the several so- cieties. The inspectors report most of the societies to be in good financial condition, with good grounds and buildings, and their criticisms of the management of the fairs are of a very minor character. All report that there were no objec- tionable features or improper shows among the attractions provided for the entertainment of the public. The sociclies deserve great credit for the way in which they responded to the request of the l><>ard for financial as- sistance for the New England Fruit Show. All but a few No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xvii of the sooietios, whii'li fell llmt their finaiieial eoiiditioii would not justify the diverting' of any funds, however small, from their treasury f(U- this ])urj)ose, contributed sums ranging from $ir) to $1()(), and aggregating upwards of $8()(), To that we must add $.'300 from the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, which is represented on this Board, and $800 and the use of their building from the Massachu- setts Horticultural Society. Altogether the societies having representation on the Board contributed about $1,500 in cash towards the funds of the New England Fruit Show. It is no exaggeration to say that without these contributions it would have been impossible to hold the exhibition. The suc- cess of the show reflects credit on the agricultural societies, and should be a source of satisfaction to all their officers and members. I confidently expect that they will be found equally liberal in their attitude toward the coming New England Corn Exposition, and would recommend that the Board make the same request to the societies for the benefit of that organization. Faemees' Institutes. The institute work is one of the most popular and valuable branches of the work of the Board. These meetings were the first forms of vocational instruction for farmers, outside regular educational institutions, which were ever put in force. Massachusetts was in the front rank of the institute work at its beginning, and has remained a State where the work is wisely conducted and has far-reaching results for good. Other States spend many times the amount of money on this work that we do in Massachusetts, but none can show a better return per dollar of expense than can we. Our system necessarily differs from that of the great agricultural States of the west, but is well adapted to the needs of our farming population and our local conditions. Frequent meetings for a single day seem to serve our purposes better than meetings of several days in duration, allowing of a wider distribution of the benefits of this work throughout the State in each year. The societies contribute their full share to this work, providing halls, advertising, etc., and their officers in the xviii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. main show a comnieiidable desire to make these meetings a success. One hundred and forty meetings were held during the year, with 192 sessions. All the societies on the Board held 3 or more meetings, except the Spencer and Hoosac Valley societies, where the holding of more than 2 meetings seemed inadvisable from local causes, and which societies sought and obtained permission from your secretary to omit them. The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture is not required to hold these institutes. Ten societies held 4 or more meetings, while 26 meetings were held in sections not covered by societies represented on the Board, or by organi- zations devoted to special interests in agriculture and with membership covering the State or large portions of it. The average attendance for the year is the largest ever attained in the State, being 137 per session. The attendance in 1908 was 111, in 1907 it was 118, in 1906 it was 127, and in 1905 it was 125. Figures for attendance before that date range from 94 in 1899 to 109 in 1904. The increase from year to year suffered a slight check in 1908, but in 1909 resumed its upward movement with an increased momentum. We do not plan to arrange any circuits of institutes this year, but Dr. Geo. M. Twitchell of Maine will make Boston his headquarters from February 10 to March 15, and will be available for institute work between those dates. The com- mittee on institutes and public meetings carefully revised the list of speakers and subjects this year, with the result that we are offering a better list than ever before. Some speakers were dropped from the list and others added, care being taken that only those of established reputation should be added to the list. We doubt if there is a State in the Union where there are so many good speakers to choose from. This is due in a large measure to the near ])roximity of the agri- cultural colleges and experiment stations of TvTew Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island from which institutions we are able to draw the best of speakers, in addition to those located with the agi-icultural cducatiouMl institutions of our own State. No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xix On Aug. 10 and 17, 1009, your secretary attended the an- nual meeting of the American Association of Farmers' Institute Workers, at Portland, Ore. Being president of the association I felt bound to make the trip, and I may say that I was amply rewarded by the infornuition in relation to agricultural conditions on the Pacific sloi)e, par- ticularly fruit growing, which I was able to glean by a somewhat hurried ins]>ection of some of the important fruit- growing sections, notably the Hood River valley in Oregon. In addition I may say that the meeting of the association was a very interesting one, and that I profited greatly by my association at that time with the institute workers and man- agers from other parts of the country. Beekeeping in Massachusetts. The Board has done everything possible to foster the busi- ness of beekeeping in Massachusetts during the year, holding a number of meetings with associations devoted to the busi- ness, and co-operating with them in other ways. The magni- tude of this industry is little understood, and it does not receive the attention which it deserves. The " foul brood " disease problem is an important one with Massachusetts beekeepers. This disease has wiped out the industry in large areas in other States, and will always do so where allowed to spread unchecked. The disease is present in many sec- tions of Massachusetts. As in every other industry, the intelligent, wide-awake beekeepers are largely at the mercy of the careless and indifferent, and some relief is needed if the apiaries of the State are to be saved, ISTew York has an excellent statute calling for inspection of apiaries, with power in the hands of the inspector to compel the owner to take proper measures to abate the nuisance, much as the gypsy and brown-tail moth superintendent may do with those insects. A bill modeled along similar lines was introduced at the last session of the Legislature, but failed to be reported by the committee on agriculture. The matter did not re- ceive the careful attention which it should have been accorded. I would recommend that your secretary be in- XX BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [PuIj. Doc. striicted to prepare a bill along the same line and introdnee the same at this session, and that the Board urge its enact- ment ui)on the Legislature. NuRSKKY Inspection. As a result of the conference of Governors, held at Boston in November of 1908, a conference of those interested in the enforcement of nursery inspection laws was held at this office in December of that year. At that meeting a form of bill was agreed upon to be introduced into the Legislatures of all the New England States, to the end that there might be uni- formity of laws throughout the section on this important line of work. Such a bill was introduced at the session of the Massachusetts Legislature of 1909, and passed sub- stantially in the form in which it was presented. I am not informed as to what action was taken in the other New England States, but so far as Massachusetts was concerned the end aimed at was achieved. Our Massachusetts law was largely used as a basis for forming the proposed legislation, and the changes brought about were more a matter of form than substance. The work of the year has been carried on jiuliciously and thoroughly. The work is constantly increasing, both by rea- son of the large number of insect pests and their increase, and by reason of the somewhat stricter interpretation and enforcement of the law so far as it concerned the common carriers. The State Nursery Inspector framed an excellent set of regulations, as he was empowered to do under the act of last winter, defining what is and what is not regarded as nursery stock, and consequently liable to inspection before it can lawfully be shipped by railroads and express com- panies. This did away with much of the confusion pre- viously existing and was of exceeding value. The Board approved these regulations at the special meeting at Fitch- })urg. If the L(>gislature should see fit to go into the matter of compelling owners to clean u]) their ])ro]terty where infested with the San Jose scale, as previously suggested in this re- ]»ort, this work should unquestioual)ly be i)lacrd uiuhn" the No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xxi control of tlio Stato Xiirsery Inspector. The present in- cumbent, Dr. II. T. Fernakl, finds that the physical work of nursery inspection has been such a tax on his health that he must give up the work. As the law now stands he can receive no compensation for any other sort of work. While it would perhaps be possible to replace him so far as the actual field work is concerned, I know of no one who could fill the place that he does in the details of the work, requiring judg- ment and poise. The questions of the enforcement of the law in regard to common carriers and private owners of property, as well as many of those in the inspection of the commercial nurseries, require a man at the head with matu- rity of judgment and experience in dealing with men. That we may not lose Dr. Fernald's services on these points I recommend further that the Board instruct its secretary to draft and present a l)ill to the Legislature providing a proper compensation for other work than that of field in- spection. Dairy Bureau. The details of the work of the Dairy Bureau are given in the annual report of its general agent, which appears else- where in this volume. I need only say, therefore, that the work has been carried on with judgment, moderation and a due regard to the interests of the whole people. The en- forcement of the law should be carried on in the spirit of justice. Where the enforcing authority is certain that the violation of the law was due to ignorance or carelessness, and was without criminal intent, a sharp warning will usually have all the deterrent effect of a prosecution in the courts. IMere technical violations of the law should not be held too rigidly to account. The value of an officer charged with the enforcement of any law is not measured l\v the number of convictions he secures but by the number of offenders who subsequently repeat their offence. A record for judgment is greatly to be preferred to one for convictions. The work of the Dairy Bureau has been characterized by this care in handling the question involvetl, and by a scrupu- lous attempt to h(»ld the scales of justice evenly. The result has been a record during the past year which cannot be xxii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. surpassed, aud has never, to my knowledge, been equalled. Two hundred and two offenders have been brought into court, and every case has resulted in a conviction. That the work has been carefully and well done needs no further assertion. Cattle Bueealt. The report of the Chief of the Cattle Bureau will be found printed elsewhere. The law requires that he report- to this Board, but there is no other relation between the two de- partments, though it is called a bureau of the Board of Agriculture. Its work has been well administered, but the system is an extraordinary one. The work of inspection and prevention of animal diseases should all be under the charge of the responsible agricultural department of the State. To this end I recommend that the Legislature nuike such changes in the law as, in their judgment, will best place this work in the hands of this Board. State Forester. The State Forester is a member of this Board, ex officio, and his report is required by law to be printed in this volume. I am not familiar with the details of the work, but am convinced that it has been carried on in a way to reflect credit on the State and the Forester. His responsibilities and duties have been greatly increased during the year, by the addition of the work against the gypsy and brown-tail moths. This work has been put on a very businesslike basis, and thoroughly reorganized in many important respects. I am glad to note this change, and anticipate that the results in the future will be superior to those of the past few years. The forestry work proper is fully explained in the Forester's annual report, and has been very satisfactory during the year. Statk Ornithologist. The State Ornithologist has come to be a recognized factor in the work of the Board of Agriculture. Elected by the Board, and with his headquarters at this office, he is one of No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xxiii the bu^iet^t menibers of our stall That the salary he re- ceives, $500 per aniiiim, is entirely out of proportion to the work he performs, is entirely clear to any one familiar with the facts. I trust that soon the time will come when it will be felt advisable to i)ut this work on a basis which will re- quire all the time of the Ornithologist, with a salary sufficient to justify him in giving it all his time. lie has been engaged in collecting an immense amount of information on the game birds of Massachusetts. He will soon be in a position to issne a report on that subject, of the same general nature and scope of his recent report on " I^se- ful Birds and their Protection." I would recommend that the Board instruct its secretary to urge the passage of a resolve by the Legislature providing for the publication of this material in book form. The sale of " Useful Birds and their Protection " continues, and there is no evidence that the demand will fall off in the near future. A considerable number of copies of the third edition remain on hand, so that we can supply demands for some time to come without another rei)rint. The State Ornithologist has carried on a careful investi- gation during the past two years of the question whether birds are killed by reason of the heavy spraying with arsen- ical jioisons against the gypsy and brown-tail moths. He has obtained some results which he believes are fairly conclu- sive, and they will appear in his annual report. Gypsy and Brown-tail Moths. The work against these pests has been carried on as well as it could be with the faulty system now in vogue. At- tempted suppression means gradual extension. The only practical suppression is by attempted extermination. This our present system docs not allow for, but the force at work has done the best that it could with the means at hand. That the United States government should take charge of this work is evident. With infestation in four States it has become an interstate matter, and with ]\rassachusctts the only State doing anything like effective work the situation is a xxiv BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. serious menace to the prosperity of the rest of the country. Of what avail is it to promote and protect our forests if the gypsy moth is to be allowed its way with them ? Massachusetts Ageicultukal College. Many improvements and additions have been made at the college during the year. The entomological department has a new building, and the Legislature appropriated large sums for maintenance, repairs and the extension of the curriculum. There is a teaching force at the college to-day that would make the graduate of the early 90's open hrs eyes if he has not been in touch with the developments of the past ten years along this line. Specialization is the order of the day, and with even increased classes the individual attention which the different students receive is greatly increased over former years. This Board will, as in the past, support all appropri- ations asked for by the board of trustees along college lines. The ]^ew Exgland Fkuit Show. The gentlemen gathered together to consider changes in the laws affecting horticulture, at the suggestion of the con- ference of Governors,, held in 1908, went beyond that, and the result of their meeting was the formation of the organization known as the New England Fruit Show, w^hich held the great show at Horticultural Hall in October. That show was an eye opener for a great many people, and I feel con- fident that it was a tremendous impetus to Xew England horticulture, particularly apple growing. Oni' consumers have come to believe that the only good fruit is that from the far west, a belief encouraged by the superior methods of sorting and packing practiced there. A look at the great banks of splendid fruit at this show, all gro%\Ti in Xew Eng- land, would have driven that idea from the mind of any per- son. Here could be seen all the varieties of apples which have originated in ISTcw England and some of the western varieties, the latter attaining even greater perfection than in their native surroundings. The display of plates of fruit showed many splendid specimens, but the greatest impres- sion upon the eye was made by the exhibits of box fruit in No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xxv the main hall. They showed to better advantage than the barrels, though the fruit packed in the barrels was fully equal to that shown in boxes, proving conclusively that the box is the best package for the grower to use, and the coming fruit package in New England as well as the west. It would have been impossible to have held this show if it had not been for the support tendered it by the Board of Agriculture and the agricultural societies represented thereon. Their generous contributions have been mentioned in another place in this report. They were fully appre- ciated by the officers of the Fruit Show, and I have been asked to express their gratitude to yon members who rep- resent the societies. The generous space which the Boston press gave to the reports of the show were also very gratifying. One very pleasant feature of the week was a complimentary dinner tendered to the officers of the Fruit Show, the members of the Board of Agriculture and the exhibitors at the show by the Boston Chamber of Commerce. It was an extremely in- teresting occasion, and one that will long be remembered by those in attendance. It marked also the awakening of this organization to the possibility of their working for the ad- vancement of agriculture, and to their duty along this line. That much good will come of their active participation is assured. I have been asked to estimate the value of the Fruit Show to N'ew England, and have set it at not less than $1,000,000. That is not an extravagant estimate. The advance it gave to apple growing — an industry for which we are peculiarly well situated and our soils well fitted — was not all of the advantage derived. At the same time it showed that an up- to-date, progressive Xew Englander could beat the westerner at his own game, in agriculture at least, and must have a far-reaching effect on the outlook of every person who at- tended the show. The ISTew Englaxd Corn Exposition. The people interested in corn growing in l^ew England wished to hold a show last year, but very generously gave the right of way to the Fruit Show, which was first in the xxvi BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. field. That there was a great field for development in corn breeding and grooving was pointed out in my annual report of last year. Since that time I have come to know of at least two individuals who have worked along this line, and who have made substantial sums of money from their develop- ing early, prolific and valuable strains of corn. That there is room for more of this work there is no question. The Corn Exposition to be held this fall should give this movement a great start, and should show our 'New England farmers the possibilities in corn growing. With the high price of grain something of the sort is necessary, and I think that it comes at just the right time. I bespeak for this Corn Exposition the same hearty co-operation that was gi^^en the Fruit Show, and recommend that the Board request the societies to make the same donations to its funds that they did for the Fruit Show. CeOP RErORTS. The monthly crop reports of the Board were issued as usual, from Maj to October, during the year. The special articles included in these reports were: "The farmer's in- terest in game protection," by Edward Howe Forbush; " Economy of labor in poultry keeping on farms," by John II. Robinson ; " Live stock in ]\Iassachusetts," by Prof. J. A. Foord ; " Western methods in ISTew England orcharding," by Prof. F. C. Sears ; " The culture of the pear," by George T. Powell; and " The farm census for 1910," by Whitman Osgood. The popularity with which these reports continue to be received was attested by the increase in the number of requests for copies received. The edition for September and October was 5,900, as compared with 5,000 for October of 1908. The edition is exhausted for all except the report for October, a few copies of which are still on hand. The enormous demand for the August report depleted the file so quickly, and the subsequent call was so urgent, that it was deemed advisable to have a reprint of 2,000 copies made at once. Reprints of all other artieles will be issued when in print for the annual report. No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. XXVll Publications. The following publications were issued by this office in 1909, most of which may be obtained on application : — Number. Agriculture of Massucluisctte, 1908, Crop Report No. 1 Crop Report No. 2 Crop Report No. 3 Crop Report No. 4 Crop Report No. 5 Crop Report No. 0 Nature Leaflet No. 2 (rei)rinl), Nature Leaflet No. 4 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 5 (reprint). Nature Leaflet No. 8 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 15 (reprint). Nature Leaflet No. 16 u'cprint), Nature Leaflet No. 22 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 23 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 24 (reprint). Nature Leaflet No. 25 (reprint). Nature Leaflet No. 33 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 39 (reprint), Nature Leaflet No. 42 Massachusetts Agriculture, Bulletin No. Farmers' Institute pamphlet, 7201 35 36 38 36 36 41 4 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 8 7 136 14 15,000 5,800 5,800 5,800 5,8(X) 5,900 5,900 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 2,000 800 There were issued in ])am})hlet form the following ex- cerpts from the " Agriculture of Massachusetts," 1908 : " Artificial hatching and rearing of chickens, as applied to ' south shore roasters ; ' " " Renovating old orchards ; " " Strawberry culture ; " " Some sheep topics for INFassachu- setts farmers ; " " Potato-groAving suggestions ; " and " Drain- age;" also, the annual reports of the Chief of the Cattle Bureau, the Dairy Bureau, the State ISTursery Inspector and the first annual report of the State Ornithologist. 1 Including twenty-first annual report of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experi- ment Station, 217 pages. xxviii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Legislation. The legislation of 1909 having reference to the Board of Agriculture or to the agricultural societies was as follows: " An Act making appropriations for salaries and expenses in the office of the State Board of Agriculture, and for sundry agricultural expenses " (chapter 56) ; " An Act to regulate the payment of bounties to agricultural societies " (chapter 133) ; " An Act to authorize the State Board of Agriculture to collect and circulate information relating to idle or partly improved farms and farm lands" (chapter 212) ; "An Act to authorize the State Board of Agriculture to appoint a State Nursery Inspector and to provide for the protection of trees and shrubs from injurious insects and diseases " (chap- ter 444). Extracts feom the Trespass Laws. The demand for these printed extracts from the trespass law was exceeded only by that of 1908. The records show that during the year Y58 individuals applied for coj)ies of the extracts, either by mail or at the office. The number supplied individuals, on request, since the law took effect, is as follows: 1905, 2,234; 1906, 3,468; 1907, 2,439; 1908, 3,715 ; 1909, 3,595. Prior to April 1 last in order to com- ply with the law, 870 copies printed on paper were supi)lied post-offices for public posting. AVhile the law limits to five the uumber that may be sup- plied any one individual in any one year, and makes no pro- vision for the sale of additional copies, and while it would ap])ear that this number would be inadequate to jiropcrly jiost large estates, it would seem allowable and feasible for owners or caretakers of such large estates to have copies to any number made by their local printer. Testimony given at this office goes to show that the posters are considered very efficacious in the })rote('tion especially of kitchen and fruit gardens and other small holdings. Llowever, if properly posted in conspicuous places they undoubtedly act as a deter- rent on large estates as well as small. No. 4.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. xxix Bulletins of Massachusetts Agriculture. The second number of the series of bulletins, of which that on "Poultry culture," published in November, 1908, was the first, was issued in April. This is known as Bulle- tin No. 2, " Orcharding," and comprises a compilation of articles bearing on the various phases of ap})le growing in New England. This and its companion, the August Crop Report on '' Western methods in New England orcharding," heretofore spoken of, have met a strong and timely demand for material on this industry. Bulletin No. 3 Avill treat on grasses and forage crops, and Avill be issued within the en- suing year. Respectfully submitted, J. LEWIS ELLSWORTH, Secretary. Jan. n, 1910. XXX BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pi^ib. Doc. Summary of Crop Conditions, 1909. Vegetation was fully up to the normal in May, but farm work was from a week to ten days behind, owing to unpleas- ant weather. Grass started slowly, but was reported thick at the bottom and promising well. Late seeding did not winter well. The fruit bloom was heavy, except for winter apples, and was not injured by frosts. Very little damage from insects was rei)orted. Planting began early and pro- gressed slowly, owing to unpleasant weather. Farm help was in fair supply, with wages about as in 1908, and rela- tively lower than in preceding years. There was a marked increase in the acreage of corn and a slight increase in that of potatoes. There was a slight decrease for tobacco and a slight increase for onions. Insects were present in the usual numbers in June, with plant lice more than usually prevalent. The acreage of Indian corn was considerably increased, 86 out of 119 cor- respondents so reporting. The crop was planted late and was backward. A normal crop of hay was promised, except on old mowings, which had not recovered from the drought of last year. Potatoes were generally backward, but germinated and promised well ; few early potatoes grown. Early market- garden crops were held in check by cool weather ; asparagus a short crop; later market-garden cro]is ]u-omised well. Dairy products were in full supply, with prices the same, ex- cept for butter, where they were slightly increased. Dairy cows were short and bringing good prices. Feed in pastures was late in starting, but recovered and Avas in av(>rage condi- tion. The strawberry crop was late; the berries bloomed full. Apples and ]iears bloomed light, and plums Avere not more than average. Cherries generally good ; cranberries backward and not in bloom. No. 4.] MASSACHUSETTS CROPS. xxxi Tlicro was less eoiuplaiiit of insects than nsual in -Inly. The eoi-n crdp was backward, but growing fast and proinis- in<2; well. The hay crop was uneven, probably three-fourths of a normal crop for the State as a whole, but it was generally secured in excellent condition. The usual acreage of forage crops was put in, corn being the favorite. IMarket-garden crops suffered somewhat from drought, but prices ruled above the average. Practically no potatoes had been dug. Apples promised a light crop ; pears and plums rather light ; peaches light ; grapes generally very good ; cranberries set well. Pasturage suffered severely from dry weather. Rye w^as a good crop in most sections. Oats were short and badly rusted. The interest in beekeeping seemed to be in- creasing. In August corn promised an excellent yield if it should mature, but was about two weeks behind the normal. There was little rowen, except on fertile, new seeded fields. Very few late potatoes had been dug, and a light crop was ex- pected. There was no rot reported, but much blight. The acreage of tobacco showed a slight but general decrease; re- ports of conditions were almost all favorable, and cutting had commenced. Pastures suffered severely from drought, but were improved by the rains of the 16th and l7th. Apples were even lighter than anticipated; pears better than ex- pected ; peaches light ; quinces a fair crop ; grapes very good ; cranberries small, but a good crop expected. Oats were short, but heading fairly well; barley little raised except as a late forage crop, and not in good condition. Late market- garden crops were backward, and the acreage of celerj' seemed likely to be decreased. Indian corn came forward slowly during Septeml)er, but an average crop was promised, barring immediate and killing frosts. There was very little rowen. The showers kept feed in pastures green, but there was little growth. Very much less than the usual amount of fall seeding was done, owing to droughty conditions. That done in corn developed well, but seeding germinated poorly and made slow progress. Onions were generally an average crop in the Connecticut valley, but late in maturing. The potato crop was consider- xxxii BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. ably better than was expected, backward, but a fair average crop of good-sized tubers. Root crops were hardly normal, also celery, but im2irovenient was expected. Late market- garden croi)s were checked by drought and not in very good condition. Apples a light crop and generally small in size; pears did well ; peaches a good crop, better than anticipated ; grapes generally a heavy crop ; cranberries a light to medium crop on the Cape. There were several light frosts, but not much injury to the principal farm crops in any section. The final report of the season, at the end of October, showed that the value of the corn crop was considerably under the normal in proportion to the acreage planted, especially for grain. Planted late, it germinated well, but was checked by drought and cool weather to such an extent that in many cases the ears did not ripen, in spite of the late dates of kil- ling frosts. The crop grown for ensilage was also less valu- able than usual, because of the undeveloped condition of the ears. The warm weather and fall rains made root crops close to the normal. Potatoes were one of the best crops on record for the State as a whole, but prices ruled .low. Pas- tures were very short and dry, many having practically no feed for a long period, a condition only partially relieved by the fall rains. Young stock, therefore, came to the barns rather thin in flesh. JMilch cows were generally fed both grain and roughage at the barn from the middle of the sum- mer, and were generally in good condition. INIuch less than the usual amount of fall seeding was done, owing to drought, and that put in was backward. Seeding in corn gave the best results, owing to the shade afforded by the corn plants. Prices for farm crops averaged higher than usual, largely because of short crops. Fifty-five correspondents consider prices to have been higher than usual, 57 average and only 7 lower than usual. Milk, l)utter and meat, especially pork, have commanded high prices. Apples brought unusually high prices, owing to scarcity. Concerning which crops have proved most profitable and which crops have proved un])rofitable or least profitable, 51 correspondents, less than a nuijority, considered hay to have been among the most profitable crops ; 43, potatoes ; 40, corn ; No. 4.] MASSACHUSETTS CROPS. xxxiii 0, apples; 8, tomatoes; 7, onions; 7, tobacco; 7, cabbages; G, sweet corn; and 5, cranberries; while 29 corresi)ondents, an ninisnally small leading number, consider potatoes to Lave been among the least profitable crops; 17, corn; 15, apples; 1), hay; 8, squashes; 7, oats; G, beans; G, tomatoes; and 5, milk. There was a marked divergence of opinion as to the profits of the season, but the majority of the correspondents were against the view that it was a profitable year. Among the reasons given are drought, short crops, low prices and the high price of grain and labor. Of the 124 correspondents answering the question, 2 said that the season was above the average for profit; 12, that it was an average season for profit; 5G, that it was profitable; IG that it was fairly profit- able; 7, that it was below the average for profit; and 31, that it was an unprofitable season. PUBLIC WINTER MEETING Board of Agriculture DRACUT, December 7, 8 and 9, 1909. PUBLIC WINTER MEETING OF THE BOARD, AT DRACUT. The annual public winter meeting of the Board, for lectures and discussions, was held at Grange Hall, Dracut, on Tues- day, Wednesday and Thursday, December 7, 8 and 9. The attendance was above the average for these meetings, the lec- tures uniformly good, being both instructive and interesting, and the discussions spirited and intelligent. The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m., on Tuesday, by Secretary Ellsworth, who introduced Mr. George H. Stevens, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who delivered the address of welcome. ADDRESS OF WELCOME, BY GEORGE H. STEVENS, ESQ. It gives me great pleasure, this beautiful winter morning, to greet you here, and in behalf of the citizens of the town of Dracut, the Middlesex N'orth Agricultural Society and the Dracut Grange, I bid you a hearty welcome. It is very pleasing at this time for the farmers and citizens of this com- munity to have the State Board of Agriculture hold its winter session here. It has been said in years gone by that the Mid- dlesex jSTorth Agricultural Society was growing weaker, and was gradually on the decline, but I am glad to be able to say that such is not the case to-day. The Middlesex North Agri- cultural Society is on the gain, and we find that it is now growing stronger ; and that this is so we attribute to the co-operation of the State Board of Agriculture, to the work that is being done by the farmers' institutes, and to the effort that is being made by the various granges, — and we call that part of it very important. Education has been put to the front, and the officials of these institutions by their hard work 4 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. have put the Middlesex North Agricultural Society where it is to-day. At this time I would pay a tribute of respect to one of our late officers, the late Mr. A. H. Cluer, who was a noble worker, a valuable man, a man of high character, and one of the best men we have ever had in the Middlesex North Agricultural Society. His work has always been of the very best. What he did, he did well. And in him the Middlesex North Agricultural Society and the Dracut Grange, and I might say the Commonwealth at large, have lost a valuable friend. A speaker at one of your winter meetings a few years ago said that we were liable to boast of what the grange has been and what the grange has done in the past ; but, he said, what should concern us most is what the grange is to do in the future, — that a good, strong grange would make a good, strong agricultural development ; and we agree with him to- day in Dracut Grange Hall. Dracut Grange is the second largest grange in this Commonwealth, and we are proud of it. We can boast of what it has done in the past, and we are proud of what it is going to do in the future. It is strong because it has had at its head strong men, — men who have done their work faithfully and honestly, and on educational lines. And these men have put a great deal of work into Dracut Grange. The town of Dracut bids you welcome here to-day. We have no millionaires here, we have no millionaire farmers, we have no hundred-thousand-dollar farmers ; but we have a good, clean, clear set of farmers, who have some of the best of farms, well cultivated and well stocked, and whose products are sold in the markets of Lowell and Boston. And they greet you here to-day. In behalf of the citizens of the town of Dracut and the members of the Dracut Grange and the Mid- dlesex North Agricidtural Society, I bid you most hearty welcome, and we hope that your stay with us will be pleasant, as we know it will be productive of much good. Secretary Ellsworth then presented Mr. John Bursley, second vice-president of the Board, as the presiding officer for the morning session. Mr. Bursley delivered the following response, on behalf of the Board, to the address of welcome. No. 4.] RESPONSE FOR THE BOARD. 5 RESPONSE FOR THE BOARD, BY VICE-PRESI- DENT BURSLEY. Mr. Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, in behalf of the State Board of Agriculture I thank jon for your words of welcome, so fittingly spoken. We are sure that we, as mem- bers of the State Board of Agriculture, shall go away feeling this to be one of the best meetings we have ever held. Possibly I may be excused if I touch a little on personal recollections, knowing the Middlesex North Agricultural Society and its people and the people of Dracut Grange. Somewhere back in the early nineties I was associated on the Board with your then delegate, the late A. C. Varnum of Lowell, later with Mr. Joshua Clark of Tewksbury, whose work I well remem- ber, then with the late Mr. Henry S. Perham of Chelmsford, and with your present delegate, Mr. George W. Trull ; and I assure you it is always a pleasure to meet here and see the work that these men have done for the Middlesex North Agri- cultural Society. It was my pleasure within a few years to visit the fair of the society, held on these surrounding grounds and in this hall, and it was a revelation to me that so many people would come to an agricultural fair, where there was nothing that was not purely agricultural. Then I realized, as I never had be- fore, what it was to have an agricultural fair with everything open and everybody coming. These grounds here were black with carriages and people, all interested in the w^elfare and success of the Middlesex North fair. Later it was my good fortune to be the guest of Dracut Grange in this room, with something over half the member- ship of over three hundred present on a particularly stormy night. I then realized what that meant for the encouragement and success of the Middlesex North Agricultural Society. I think it is something over twenty-five years since the last meeting of the Board was held in Lowell, and we appre- ciate your invitation to meet here, and your entertaining us so hospitably. And my wish and the wish of the Board is that you may receive a goodly proportion of inspiration from 6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. this visit and the lectures we shall have on certain lines. You realize that we shall have representatives here during this session from the utmost bounds of the Commonwealth, from the hills of Berkshire and the islands of the sea, who come here to exchange ideas for the benefit of the people present, and, through publication, for the benefit of the people at large. Therefore, thanking you again for your hearty welcome, Mr. Chairman, I beg you to excuse me in favor of others who will give you solid information on various subjects, — men who are leaders in their lines. And now, ladies and gentle- men, it is my pleasure to introduce as the speaker for this session Mr. H. B. Fullerton, superintendent of agricultural development for the Long Island Railroad, who will speak to you on " Market gardening." No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. MARKET GAEDENING. BY H. B. FULLERTON, DIRECTOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LONG ISLAND R.R. CO., LONG ISLAND, N. Y. Market gardening, in the true sense of the term as used in Europe, is but little known in the United States, for only within the last few years has it become a regular business. It is true we have the " truck farmer," and once in a while we read of the '' small farmer," and there are specialists galore in all sections of the United States ; but still the real market gardener or vegetable grower on the intensive plan is very rare indeed. There are a few who practice it on Long Island to supply the great demand of New York City, there are a few round about Boston, and there are a few also near San Francisco. About the city of the Golden Gate it is the China- man who raises big varieties of vegetables and daily delivers them to the consumer. On Long Island it is the European, principally the German, who practices the intensive gardening of the Rhineland. About Boston I understand both German and French people are represented in this work, and inva- riably the results are the same, for these intensive gardeners, no matter whence they hail, make money with astounding rapidity and become well-to-do in a very few years, and all this upon an acreage so small that the old-time farmer generally sneers at them as " little truck patches." The reason for this success is due not to the foreigner, but the principle that he employs, and this principle is invariably successful in every walk of life. Summed up, it is simply the concentration of effort, instead of the scattering of effort which the average farmer pursues. With this concentration is linked another thing, the knowledge that all foreigners bring to the United States in regard to the fundamental necessity for quick growth 8 • BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. and quality, — and that is, an abundance of vegetable matter. ISTot a falling leaf is burned ; not a cast-off cabbage leaf or the trimmed-off foliage of a bunch of carrots is permitted to go to waste ; not a return trip from the delivery of a load of produce is made with an empty wagon. The wagon is invariably filled with barnyard manure, no matter what the labor or cost to se- cure it may be. Concentration and a liberal supply of vegeta- ble matter are the main secrets of success. As an adjunct to concentration comes a possibility of raising two, three and even four crops to each acre, instead of the regulation one crop or occasionally one and a little over, usually secured by broadcasting turnip seed in a slipshod way. Hence this new departure, or old, old story, according to your point of view, oifers an unequalled opportunity for the young men and also the young women of the United States ; unequalled not only from a sentimental point of view, not alone from the point of view of the man or woman who can by following the profes- sion of agriculture be monarch of all surveyed, but the strictly commercial or dollars-and-cents point of view ; for there is no investment of any description which returns the percentage of profit on the dollar invested that intensive or common-sense market gardening returns. In the manufacturing trades large sums of money must be locked up in buildings and machinery, and a market must be obtained at heavy and unceasing annual outlay ; raw material must be purchased elsewhere, and de- terioration of machinery goes on with stupendous rapidity at the present day. In commercial business, high rentals and constant loss from unsalable stock occurs and increases each year. In the agricultural profession alone can a man or woman gain a livelihood, a competence, or riches, in accord- ance with each individual's personal equation. The biggest kind of returns are secured by very inexpensive and simple utensils ; a plow, a harrow, a combination hand seeder and cultivator and a wheelbarrow or two-wheeled truck are all the machinery necessary to carry on a successful market garden. Even harrows, drags and rollers are oftentimes home- made. Two horses are far better than one, for many reasons ; but one frequently is all that the intensive gardener uses. Manual labor has boon boiled down from ten to one by destroy- No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 9 ing the old-time hoe and replaciug it with a Planet Junior or Iron Age hand cultivator. The most successful raisers of high-quality vegetables take no chances on seeds. They care- fully select and perfect the strains of vegetables which they find have the highest quality and are pleasing in shape and uniform in size. They learned long ago not to pin their faith to the quack medicines of agriculture ; hence they use chem- ical fertilizers in exceedingly small quantities, if at all, rely- ing absolutely on nature's gi-eat preventer of abandoned farms, -^ humus or decaying vegetable matter ; and of this they raise every pound possible, keeping horses, cows, pigs and chickens for the extremely valuable animal waste ; and hence the milk, the pork, the poultry and the eggs are practically "velvet," or an extra source of profit. The follower of agriculture alone has a real home. No other walk in life affords the opportunity for man and wife to be real partners, to work together and rejoice with all sincerity in the season's successes, and to bear each other up when the season proves unfavorable for some of their crops ; to have with them children, and see them gain in health, strength and self-reliance as only country children can gain these prime necessities of the truly hapjw life. Regarding j^lant life we are beginning to learn something, but regarding how or why plants grow we absolutely know as little to-day as we do regarding the beginning and end of ani- mal life. Common sense, keen observation and scientific investigation have taught us much ; yet many things once con- sidered definitely settled have been apparently proven abso- lutely erroneous. Analysis of plants in chemical laboratories has proven that they contain many things. Minerals of many kinds are found, and gases likewise. The items found most often in greatest quantities are nitrogen, potash and phos- phoric acid ; hence various compounds of these items have been manufactured and sold to agriculturists as cure-alls, as the only thing necessary; and from this mistaken commercial policy have developed many changes in agricultural methods, the greater part of them extremely beneficial, yet many of them frightfully disastrous, — for minerals and chemicals alone cannot support plant life, nor will the seed germinate 10 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. where only these are present. The coming of the chemical fer- tilizers, in the United States most noticeably, meant the going of fertility. The fertility disappeared gradually ; it hung on until the last vestige of the forest leaves upon which the pio- neers raised their great crops, and the animal waste from the cow yard, the hog pen and the chicken house, with which our grandfathers kept up the humus content or vegetable matter of the soil, had all disappeared by decay, by plant utilization and by washing and blowing away. Then crops began to drop. New Englanders and Xew Yorkers gave up their homes arid went into the west, where the land was new, where the cleared forest land was filled with the leaves that had fallen for count- less ages, or where the prairie was feet deep in humus made up of the grasses which had been laid low by countless winters. As this humus began to run low, and crops in consequence decreased, much money and great physical effort was ex- pended to bring it back by the use of chemicals alone. This failed, and a pilgrimage to the " new lands " further Avest began. This happened in spite of all that man had learned through the writings of Mago, the first agricultural maker of books, who wrote seven hundred years before Christ ; in spite of Columella, whose books, written fifty-five years after the birth of Christ, still exist. Each nation apparently is forced to learn in that very potent but very painful school of learn- ing, — experience. The foreigner comes to our shores lacking knowledge of our language, of our climate, of our ways and of our likes and dislikes. He buys a piece of land in ITew Eng- land or in ISTew York State, paying with alacrity the abnor- mally high price asked him because he is a foreigner, settling- down with little or no capital after his land is paid for, living a life of hardship for one or at the most two years, and then builds a comfortable house, makes his dooryard a thing of beauty with flowers and shrubs, wins prizes at the local fair, and becomes a prominent citizen ; while his neighbors sit around and sneeringly refer to his methods as bound to fail, because he has pinned his faith to manure and used little or no chemical fertilizer. Yet thev do not see that in dodii'ine: weeds which come with manure, in dodging the dirt and diffi- culty in handling it, they are gradually bringing their lands No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 11 to a barren condition, which some modern writer has delicately dnbbed " abandoned farms." After having bronght the land of his birth into a rnn-down, hnmiis-denuded condition, it is nnfortnnately the American method of procednre to move westward, and repeat this performance with other fertile, hnmns-laden lands. In this way we leave great cities, the readily accessible markets of the east, with thonsands of acres of undeveloped land, land just as full of mineral fertility as it ever was, and settle in regions far remote from the market to which our produce will be sent, far remote from transportation facilities, subjected to climatic conditions absolutely new and even atrocious. We are forced to pay as high as $30 an acre annually for the privi- lege of using the irrigation canal without which many much- boomed western territories would remain deserts for all time. The man who remains in the east, in New England, for exam- ple, can purchase, at a far lower figure than he can in the west, acreage capable of producing far finer fruit than the far west, on land which is absolutely unsuitable for market gardening. He can produce grapes or berries, and in the low lands he can raise for his local markets a big range of vegetables and flowers. He can live under conditions normally congenial to him. He can follow, if he will, the example of his ancestors, and subdue the untamed lands with which New England as well as New York State and Pennsylvania are filled. On Long Island alone there are still over 200,000 acres of land suitable for the most intensive cultivation practices of Europe. The soil is without surface boulders, rolling on the north shore and in the middle section, running, by the best of all tests — the spade — from 3 to 4 feet deep, and drained by the most perfect system of natural drainage. It is coarse gravel, filled with sea-wash sand, a combination that brings about a slow drainage, yet holds the moisture so that the sum- mer sun brings it up through the capillary tubes, and, with the great bodies of water lying around the island, giving unfailing nightly precipitation, makes drought an unknown factor. This soil is early and friable, and with rational, natural, over- head irrigation, — a condition which is ideal. Below every square foot of the island's soil runs an immense volume of 12 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. fresh water whicli is reached on an average of about 40 feet, and in the higher sections along the Sound shore at from 100 to 200 feet, — an unfailing source of water of absolute purity, for it is protected from surface drainage of any description by a layer of hardpan. In 1905 these idle acres, long known as waste lands, were tackled by direction of Mr. Ralph Peters, president of the Long Island Railroad Company. Stumps of the big trees once covering it were blown out with dynamite ; and, although only started on the 7th of September, 10 acres were plowed, harrowed and planted to rye in a little over sixty days. In 1906, 380 varieties of plant growth were doing splendidly. Fruit trees, berries, grapes and vegetables of all descriptions known in the LTnited States, and many foreign favorites new to America, were successfully grown. The methods of pro- cedure in bringing this land into the dividend-paying column are shown by the photographs taken as the work progressed, — from the desolate standing timber, destroyed by -fire, through the civilization of dynamite, the modern methods of handling, utilization of Yaid^ee inventions, the growing plants, the crops as they were gathered, common-sense methods of marketing and delivering to the consumer before it becomes stale and unprofitable. No deep knowledge was necessary to turn forbidding desolation into a commercial success ; nor were vast sums of money necessary to accomplish the object. Com- mon-sense methods were the only secret to be credited with this accomplishment. Having made a success with the develop- ment of the so-called " scrub oak waste " on the Sound shore of Long Island, precisely the same method of procedure was followed in the once dubbed " pine barrens," and the success was equally great in the central section of Long Island. The result has been to develop many sections of the island, and all sorts and conditions of men have made a success, because the condition of the soil and the climate are conducive to this success, and to these natural conditions are added the many unsupplied local markets and the tremendously increasing demand of the great cities of 'Now York and Brooklyn, within 50 or CO miles of these market gardens. Many of the new- comers are foreigners, from Gernuuiy, France, Belgium, Italy, No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 13 Norway, Sweden, Poland and Russia. All have been success- ful, *and the descendants of the Slav races settled near the county seat of Suffolk County have inside of five years built a big church and a fine hall, erected fences, reconstructed houses and built barns, until prosperity quickly achieved is marked by even the most unobserving of observers. Fruit trees are being set out by men who recognize the fact that western fruit, while handsome to look upon and big because filled with water, has no flavor, — a fact which is rapidly being discovered by even the city dweller, who has had no opportunity to learn the taste of fresh vegetables or high-class fruits except by an occasional visit to some country cousin or a summer vacation spent in the country. The Long Island Railroad experiment stations have further demonstrated that there are many' extremely valuable vege- tables, well known in Europe and imported from there at heavy expense, that can be grown with ease under Long Island conditions. Sea kale, earlier than asparagus, coming at a time when human nature craves fresh green things, is an extremely valuable addition to the limited number of vege- tables known generally to Americans. LTdo, a Japanese favor- ite, can be cut in the open in December and January, if pro- tected by a mulch. The Sakurajima radish, a mammoth fel- low, as delicate as our best spring radish, with firm, fine flesh, is an excellent addition to our bill of fare, either raw or cooked. There is also Pe-tsai, the most delicate of the cabbage family, more like a solid-headed lettuce in appearance, and with three times the amount of leaves (beautifully blanched) ever found in the finest Big Boston grown. Then we have Saxony potatoes, the only potato that makes real potato salad, sweet potatoes, just as sweet and firm or just as mealy as you wish. The Spanish onion, sweet as an apple, is delicious when eaten raw and equally good cooked, making bulbs from seed weighing over 2 pounds apiece, and selling as high as two for 35 cents. The famous French cantaloupe, sold for $2.50 apiece in the markets of Paris, is one-third the size of the big, coarse Montreal melon, and ten times as good. There are others, many others, for the list is a very long one. So the opportunities presented for the young man or young woman 14 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. are unequalled. Deep scientific knowledge is not necessary, nor is big capital needed to get a start. A living to all 'tillers of the soil is assured for the first season, and beyond that the success of each and every one depends in agriculture, as in anything else, entirely upon the personal equation, which simply means individuality and common sense combined. Let me say that we know very little about market gardening in this country; perhaps you do and I do, but our people as a whole do not. Over in Paris a man on 3 acres of land will dress wife and children well, will send the children to school, and will be able to take trips out into the country on Sunday and drink wine every day. He can do this because there is no machinery in the business ; there is no dispute as to whether 28 inches or 36 inches is the best for corn or potatoes ; their idea is to plant their crops as closely as they can, and so close do they get them that in cultivating the man working among them walks on his toes, stepping over the plants, and not finding room enough to put his whole foot down. Every square inch of his land is working. When cold weather comes, he just covers it with glass and keeps it working. Seven dif- ferent crops a year they take from the same land, — a pretty good rotation. Whenever a European comes to this country, he buys land and pays whatever he has to for it. I always like to watch him when I can, as he has market gardening down fine. What does he buy after he begins to work ? Manure. What does he pay for it ? Whatever he has to. He never says he will not pay over so much ; he gets it, and pays the market price, whatever it is. If he has money enough, he tills 10 acres ; if he has only money enough for 6 he tills 6 acres, because he knows there is no use spreading his manure out over 60 acres just because he has 60 acres. The French- man just outside of Paris raises a melon that he gets $2.50 for, instead of 10 cents, as we do. It is called the Dives melon, and has the big Montreal melon beaten, and anything ever raised at Rocky Ford simply left out of sight. I want to tell you a little more about what we have been doing on Long Island, There is a big tract of land right in the middle of the island that has always been said to be of no value agriculturally. There has been a tradition No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 15 that the soil is only 2 inches deep. When Ralph Peters came there from the Pennsylvania Railroad he found a little tract of land, with no iron, no coal, no wood, or in fact anything of value on it. It depended on two things, — the summer boarder, and a few people who wanted to live in the country and do business in New York. The railroad had not paid expenses since it was built. He called me in and asked, " Don't you think anything would grow out there in Suffolk County ? " I said, " Yes." " What do you base it on ? " he asked. I said, " The growth is there now, a great many mag- nificent chestnuts and white pine stumps, and where they grew I think radishes and cabbages will pull through." He asked me how many acres were needed to make the experiment, and I told him 10 acres were enough; I read a book somewhere that said that, but it was really a great deal too much. We picked out the worst piece of land we could find, — one that the old residents all agreed was absolutely worthless. The people there had let their land burn over for years before the railroad came, and the railroad had started a good many fires since. This tract was near a village settled one hundred and sixty-five years ago, which at one time had 350 inhabi- tants, and now has about 310, with not a house built for a hundred years. The Sound is full of clams and fish, and nobody worked. They never wanted to go anywhere, and so were perfectly contented. They told me there were not over 3 inches of soil there. I knew better than that, for I found a seven-foot chestnut, a 51/^ and a 6 "^^4 foot white oak, and I knew that they grew on that soil. There was really only one thing the soil needed, — humus ; there was no vegetable matter in the soil, it had been burned over every year for years and years. The problem was to get humus into the soil, and this I proposed to do by sowing rye and plowing it under. We made a start on the 7th of September, and to get the land plowed and seeded that fall we had to resort to dynamite to blow out the stumps. We began because it was the quickest way, and kept it up because we found it was the cheapest. The first blast wiped out the tradition of 250 years, for it showed 3 feet of the prettiest market garden soil in the world, barring no spot. 16 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. As fast as we got the stumps blown out we sprinkled wood ashes over the soil, to sweeten it. Then they said, " Now I suppose you are going to use 5 or 6 tons of commercial fer- tilizer ? " I said " 'Not a bit, because the soil is full of miner- als, potash, phosphoric acid, and so on." Somewhere I read that one body of scientists claims that our soil contains enough minerals to last seventeen thousand years, and another that it contains enough to last twenty-four thousand. That doesn't interest me, because, if I live to be as old as my grandfather, who died at ninety-eight, there are still quite a few years left on either reckoning. The trouble with all this mineral mat- ter is, that it isn't available, so the fertilizer manufacturer sells you something that is. When vegetable matter decom- poses, that decomposition generates gas, and that releases the mineral matter, — makes it available. So, no vegetable mat- ter, New England, New York and Ohio abandoned farms, and the boys all gone west. The wonderful, fertile land of the west is just like your land, except that you have eaten up the vegetable matter in the soil. In the first year we planted everything we could think of on that bad land, with the little manure and wood ashes we put on, and that rye that they said wouldn't grow. Never Avould grow, they said ; but it came up in spite of them, and how it did grow ! Then they said, " You ought to sell that for straw ; " but I said, " I can buy straw anywhere, but I can't buy that anywhere." We raised 380 varieties of plant growth on that bad land. One man assured me that there was frost on that land every day in the year, and he never told a lie in his life. He had always heard that, and he believed it ; but we found no frost, but an ex- tremely long season, probably five or six weeks longer than you have. We tried irrigation, with a common garden hose and a 50-cent sprinkler, with an acre of cauliflower, one half watered and the other un watered. We got $4.25 a barrel for the watered lot and the other brought $1.50 per barrel. That irrigation would have paid, in that one year, for the best irrigation plant I could have put in. We watered with the sun on the plants, just as I have seen showers come many a time, and the result was the same as with the showers, — the No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 17 plants thrived on it. We found the same thing with onions. I was shipping spring onions all through July, and getting a low price for them, so I went to sprinkling them, and was able to put them into the market so that thej brought the top price and went into the market as Bermudas. I didn't call them Bermudas, and they were better than Bermudas ; but that is what they were sold for in the market. But I noticed that, while the consumer paid from 2 to 5 cents an onion, I didn't get any such price. I had paid 40 cents a head for cauliflower in Brooklyn, but the concern that handled our crops only allowed $1.50 for a barrel of 22, 26 or 28 heads. The men raising tomatoes in New Jersey were getting 17 cents a bushel for them, and they must have lost considerable every time they shipped. Tomatoes at the same time were selling for 5 cents apiece to the people who ate them. I looked into the matter, and found an agent who was one of five standing between our crops and the ones who -ate them, and all his expenses were for a new hat occasionally, for that was where he had his office. He had no knowledge in particular, no expenses for a stenographer or anything of that sort ; but he had a house overlooking Prospect Park, a bunga- low at Watch Hill, a big steam yacht and three automobiles, — all out of the farmer and the consumer. You know that in a New York apartment they have to buy a little at a time, because they have no place to store things. So we tried to see what we could do for New York. We decided on a hamper we liked the looks of, and filled it with all sorts of things, just enough for a small family. You see this one here. This cauliflower would cost 25 cents a head in New York. This vegetable is used for salad, and the restaurants call it all kinds of names. I should estimate that the quantity we have here would cost anywhere from Y5 cents to $1.50 in the market. All that is sold in the market conies from Belgium in the steamers, and there is a big demand for it. Here is a basket of potatoes, — you know they have no place for a bushel or a barrel, and must buy from hand to mouth. Here is a little cabbage, small, to be sure, but they bring good money this way. That lot of stuff would bring us from 12 to 14 cents in a New York commission house ; we get $1.50 for it this way, and the 18 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. families save from 50 to 75 cents on each hamper. We are giving them good vegetables cheaper than they can get them otherwise, and we are getting the money, instead of the five men who formerly got it. The hamper costs us about 14 cents, and we pay the express ; other expenses perhaps 35 cents ; that makes the cost inside 50 cents. We need one commission man, or one big public market ; but there is no reason why we should support four or five men, who do absolutely nothing, simply because it is the custom to do so. One of those hampers was sent to Fort Wayne, Ind., to a meeting which I attended. It got lost on the road somewhere, was five days out, but fell into the hands of the president of the railroad in some way, and he appropriated the contents. He wrote me a letter, asking if there was any way he could get those hampers each week for his family, because the vege- tables were so good and fresh. The paraffine paper they are wrapped in is the secret. Each one of these vegetables before you is as damp as if the dew were on it, and they were shipped yesterday morning. I undertook, with the aid of the paraffine paper, to ship sweet corn to Paris, and it came through splen- didly. Now all Europe is going into sweet corn ; they didn't believe what we said about it until they saw it, — now they know. We took up the tomato question, and jDut them up in these baskets, 6 to the common crate. They are approximately 4 quarts each, but of course the approximation is always under ; we never call them anything except a package or a basket. I sent the tomatoes in, and followed them. The commission man spent the morning telling me that they couldn't sell them, they must be shipped in bushel crates, and in showing me why. He showed me thousands of crates leaking tomato ketchup or soup. When we got back to his ]ilace of business, M-e found that the crates we sent in had been sold for $1.50 a crate. When I got home he telephoned to ask for 25 crates in the morning, and finally we were shipping him 175 a day, and we were getting $1.50 each, and the other growers from 50 to 75 cents a bushel, according to the sn])ply. You can do just the same as we did. There are plenty of peoi)lc in Boston who will take all the stuff you can raise; No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 19 they are siek and tired of the fruit and vegetables from the far Avest and the far south ; they want the home-grown article. There are a great many other things you can raise. We used to have gooseberries to eat; now you can't get thom. Currants are the same way, and there is nothing better for a dessert or for an appetizer in the morning. They are much cheaper than grape fruit, and much better. There is a big market for celery, and you can make $1,000 an acre from acres and acres. There is no locality that has any monopoly on a particular crop. The grape belt started because some- body wanted to grow grapes there, and found that grapes did well. Down in Illinois they wanted to raise corn, and it did well, and they shouted about the corn belt. Why, we got 92 bushels of corn on Long Island, without an ounce of fertilizer ; but what is the use of raising corn at 50 cents a bushel, when you can raise these other things ? Don't try to sell the poor consumer a Ben Davis apple or an Elberta peach, just because he doesn't know any better; the same with pears and quinces. Raise the best ; the others will not pay in the long run, — you will not get the price. The man who raises Bartlett pears gets any price he asks. Whenever we heard of a new thing that promised well, we tried it, and if it suited our soil and climate, particularly the climate, we kept at it. In Japan we heard of a radish, the Sakurajima, which we heard weighed 30 pounds, and we tried that. The best we could do was 20 pounds this year. It is a winter radish, with flesh like an apple, and is very fine to eat raw. It also cooks beautifully with a little cream sauce, and the tops are used as greens, — three plants in one. My chil- dren and their friends ask for a Sakurajima, just as they would for an orange or banana. We can get 5 cents a pound for all we can raise, and they are as easy to raise as the ordi- nary radish. The Japanese plum is just the same ; it matures in three years, and sells for 5 cents apiece, all you can ship to New York. We heard of the Venetian squash, butter-colored, sweeter and finer than the ordinary squash, and we tried that. A little Japanese friend sent me the seed of a pumpkin which 20 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. is just as good as those I had when I was a boy, — full-fla- vored, sweet and round, small in size. I heard the Gibraltar onion could not be grown this side of Texas, so of course I tried it. It matured in September, and our yield was 1,035 bushels to the acre. It is a tremendous onion, with a very big neck, and far sweeter than any onion I have ever tasted. Many things we thought we couldn't grow until we planted the seed, and then we found they did very nicely. Sometimes we try things that are of no value, but some are extremely valuable. The Savoy cabbage is harder to raise than others, but it brings a great deal more money. You can grow a poor potato, like the Irish Cobbler, or you can get one that is just as good as the old Early Rose, and get whatever price you choose for it. For me, I prefer a potato like the Quick Lunch, for we got $2.50 a bushel for them this year. You see we got them the first of July, and nobody else got potatoes until the first of September. For three years I got cauliflower into the ISTew York market ahead of Maryland. I once attended a meeting in Chicago that was all west. The spellbinders got up and praised their country, and the cry was that they must pull out from under the domination of the east. The man who did the best came from Texas, the most Godforsaken spot on earth, and you would have thought it was the Garden of Eden, Avith the snakes left out. Why, I have cut the spineless cactus in Texas long before Burbank invented it, to get water for myself and my horse, — or rather for my horse and myself, for when you lose your horse down there, you are gone, you can't get out. That was in 1893, so I don't believe Burbank created it in 1907. Man can help along, he can cross animals and plants and improve them, but not create anything, — never, never ! They pay $30 an acre for irrigation in the west, and our boys are going out there to take up that land. They can do better here, if they will re- member to keep the soil sweet with lime, and gTow green crops to furnish the hninus that we lack. The finest crop of cabbages I ever raised was on $1.20 worth of clover seed, but I had a hard time to prevent that clover from being cut for No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 21 the horse. Don't forget wood ashes, either; they are slow, awfully slow, but when the leaves finally come out, the wood ashes do their work, and you have a corn crib full of corn. I think I have given you enough for the present, and I won't guarantee to answer all your questions. I am no expert at all, — I just grow things because I love to. Question. What was the expense of sending sweet corn to Paris ? Mr. FuLLERTON. I just mentioned that incidentally. The expense was no consideration, and I don't know what it was. An American over there wanted to show his French friends what American sweet corn on the cob was, and a friend of his asked me to try and get it through to them. I had shipped ripe raspberries 380 miles, with, nine transfers, each box wrapped in paraffine paper, and the. pint boxes came through perfectly ; so I thought I could do the same thing with sweet corn. I was afraid it would heat in the paraffine paper, on account of the long time; so I made a cylinder of blotting paper to go around each ear, put about seven ears in a basket, and wrapped each basket in paraffine paper. I had it put in the cold room, where the temperature is kept at from 36° to 40°, instead of in the ice box, where it would have frozen. It took time to get it through the custom house, but the man giving the dinner was so enthusiastic that he cabled, " Amer- ican sugar corn arrived in excellent condition; just as sweet as it used to be when I was a boy." All over Paris they are preparing to raise sweet corn this year ; it has gone all over Europe and all over England, just because somebod}' in this country had nerve enough to ship some American sweet corn to France. Mr. T. F. Palmer. From what I have heard, I gleaned you are not a great believer in commercial fertilizer. Mr. FuLLERTON. No, sir ; I am not. Mr. Palmer. Do you believe plowing rye under and culti- vating will take the place of manure ? Mr. FuLLERTON. No ; it will supplement it. I should get all the manure I could, and supplement it with the green 22 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. crops. What you don't get in your green crops, you do in the animal waste. Plow in your green crop, and supplement it with your animal waste, and you will get your nitrate of soda. Mr. Palmer. Then you think plowing in rye or clover and applying some nitrate of soda would do the work ? Mr. FuLLEETON. I know it would ; 1 don't think, — I know it. Mr. Palmek. Suppose you plow in rye ; does that have the same effect as clover ? Mr. FuLLERTON. No ; it is not a legume. Use rye one year, and the next clover or cow joeas, or something of that description. Mr. Palmer. You don't use any fertilizer alone ? Mr. FuLLERTON. Exccpt for a test. I have tested it every year since I have been in business, some twenty-six years. I use it if they want me to try it, but buy none. When I find I need it, I will buy it ; but it will be after the twenty-seven thousand years have gone by. Mr. W. C. Jewett. How much lime do you use to an acre ? Mr. FuLLEETON. I have never found that more than 800 pounds was necessary. You can always tell whether lime is needed, by use of the litmus paper. I sometimes forget my money, and often my watch, but never my litmus paper. Half the failures with crops are because the grower did not know the condition his soil was in. Way back in the time of Cato, who wrote one hundred and seventy-five years before Christ, and Crescenzi, thirteen hundred years after Christ, they knew that they must sweeten their soil with lime. They knew also that by plowing in a green crop, particularly the legumes, they could raise any crop they had. There are only two plants I know of that will thrive on a sour soil, and they are rasp- berries and Lima beans ; and I believe they will fail, in time. Speaking again of chemical fertilizers, I have never han- dled them, and never intend to. If I wanted to get a quick crop, I should use nitrate of soda; but I should not let the hired man apply it, for I have seen more crops killed by the careless use of that strong chemical than by anything else. And put it where the plants can get at it easily; there is no No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 23 use in sprinkling that high-priced stuff between rows 3 feet apart, and leaving it to dissolve and disappear. Question. How can we tell where and how to get pure seed? Mr. FuLLERTON. I am glad you brought that up. We have our experiment stations, testing seeds and analyzing fer- tilizers, and then they publish that No. 16 contained so and so. Well, who is No. IG ? Why isn't it published in every newspaper that Bill Smith sold dodder and called it alfalfa ? If he sold rat poison, it would be. I have been told foxtail is a good thing. Perhaps it is ; but when I buy alfalfa I want alfalfa, and not foxtail. I*once wanted to plant 10 acres of alfalfa, and I got seed from all over the world and from Europe. I had it tested by three separate institutions, and their results tallied wonderfully.. Then I published the re- sults. I said " Bill Smith's alfalfa seed contained not alfalfa, but 9 parts dodder." I was asked if I was not afraid of being sued for libel; but, as I had 30 pounds of that seed left, I wasn't badly scared. That should be done with all seed. Let the world know what Smith's seed really is, and he will make it better, and give you what you order. You want to raise all round-headed cabbage, not some flat and some loose-leafed and some nothing. Let them guarantee everything. It can be done. I have done it ; Burpee did it. The present condition has grown out of the fact that a great many want to get rich about three years sooner than they are entitled to. Mr. Thomas Barnard. I would like to inquire if you have a remedy for stump root on cabbage ? Mr. FuLLERTON. The only remedy I know of is to stop raising cabbages on that ground, and stop for j^ears. The long-continued raising of any particular thing on any par- ticular soil will fill that soil full of the enemies of that par- ticular plant or vegetable. Whole communities in the south have been put out of condition for potato growing, with in- fected tubers. Our main trouble is lack of rotation. In the south certain sections have been ruined for celery. On Long Island we are planting more cauliflower and leaf crops on our ground, to get rid of the stump root. But you can't always 24 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. account for it. For instance, I plowed a 6-acre field adjoining the farm on which I was born, and so far as I know there had never been a cabbage on it, but I got less cabbages than I should ordinarily get on an acre. Mr. Barnard. What I am after is the remedy. Of course lime will do it sometimes, but not always. Mr. FuLLERTON. We can prevent disease on beans by spraying with Bordeaux mixture as soon as the bean opens. The trouble is that the microbe is in the seed. Probably you could do the same with the cabbage seed, if you could get inside of it. When your first leaves come up, perhaps if you tackle it then and there you can head it off by the use of Bor- deaux. I will try it myself next year. Mr. BuRSLEY. We would like to hear from Mr. Hitchings. Mr. Hitchings. I came to listen. Our work is mostly fruit and greenhouse work, and we can't get a rotation of crops very well. We have one house we have been growing lettuce in for the last twenty-three or twenty-four years, and it grows a fine crop to-day. Mr. FuLLERTON. Is it the same soil, and do you sterilize ? Mr. Hitchings. It is the same soil, and we have not steril- ized. One thing we are very particular about is not leaving any of the old vegetable matter that comes off the plants there. By keeping it cleaned up, we keep out the fungous diseases. If you put it in a pile and let it rot, it is all right, and does finely under the fruit trees. I think it is all right on our high land, but letting the vegetable matter from crop after crop lie on low ground does a great deal of injury, I believe. I know we plowed in a lot of burned celery one year, and where that celery was, the seed would hardly come up the next year. You can't follow any set rule ; things vary from year to year ; but in greenhouses we try to get things about in one way, as the days are short before we get weather for out-door crops, which throw out our greenhouse stuff. I have never sterilized much, because throwing water on the soil in bad weather knocks us out. Mr. H. S. Turner. I live in a locality called the South Shore, where a great many fowl are kept, and' a good deal of No. 4.] MARKET GARDENING. 25 their droppings is used as iiuiinnv. Some say if you use it for potatoes it makes the potatoes scabby. What I want to ask is, if there is any harm is using the droppings for any crop ? Mr. FuLLERTON. In the old times all the fertilizer we got w^as from the cow stable and bird droppings, which were called guano. It is the best of fertilizers, and can't be beat, but, like everything else, it should be supplemented with green crops turned under. I don't believe there will be any trouble with it then, as it is one of nature's own fertilizers. Mr. Fos.TiiR. Has anything been discovered that will pre- vent the fly from laying the egg the maggot from which at- tacks the root of the cabbage ? Mr. FuLLERTON. No ; he is the hardest of all to deal with. We have the best success with the use of wood ashes and lime combined. He is the hardest creature to fight that I have found. Question. Is there any way to kill wire worms in the earth ? Mr. FuLLERTON. They are very difficult. As a rule, the only way really to do it is to stop growing any crop, and starve them out by constantly turning the soil over. Question. How about the fly that stings your grapes ? Mr. FuLLERTON. We shall have to do just as they do in Europe. There, every bunch of grapes, every peach, every pear, every plum and every quince is bagged with a common paper bag. They run a fine wire through the bag and draw it tight, so that it keeps everything out. We will come to it here, because it pays ; it paid us last year. There was a ques- tion whether you should bag them before the grapes set, or not ; so I bagged half before they set, and left the others un- bagged. Those I bagged were magnificent. The others I bagged later, after the rose bugs had blighted some of the blos- soms, but they were never as good as those bagged in the first place. It seems wonderful that grapes will mature after being bagged ; but they will, and you will get more money for the perfect fruit. You can't have the old-fasKioned 75-foot or 80-foot apple trees ; you will have to bring them down where you can get at them. 26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Question. Do you leave them on after the rose bugs go away? Mr. FuLLEETON. Yes ; all the way through. Question. One year I spent three days bagging, and it was so much work I thought it would be better to let the bugs have them. Mr. FuLLEETON. You would be no man to bag grapes. Mr. Tower. I notice the lecturer spoke of forwarding cauliflower fourteen days by irrigation. I would ask if he had the same success in forwarding other crops ? Have you tried it on sweet corn and potatoes ? Mr. FuLLERTON. We have only tried it experimentally. Next year I shall have 5 acres under irrigation. We have tried it on carrots, onions, radishes, lettuce, cabbages, cauli- flower and celery. The effect on celery was tremendous, over three weeks ; on onions, nearly three weeks ; on strawberries it increased the yield nearly three times. I think it would be particularly good on tomatoes. There are a great many crops I haven't tried. This year I shall try the Skinner irrigation system. But of course there is a great difference in people; not all will do well with the same methods. I have planted onions one morning which proved a success, and with the same seed and same soil planted some the next morning, and had no success. Question. Do you believe in signs ? Mr. FuLLERTON. Why, yes ; out west, if a man pulled a 44 gun we always put up both hands. Afternoon Session. The meeting was called to order at 2 p.m. by Secretary Ellsworth, who presided throughout the session. Seceetary Ellsworth. I am pleased to introduce to you Prof. Eugene Davenport, dean of the College of Agriculture of the University of Illinois, and director of the Illinois Agri- cultural Experiment Station. No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 27 THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE BY ORGANIZED EFFORT. BY EUGENE DAVENPORT, DEAN OP THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, AND DIRECTOR OF THE ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. American agriculture is rapidly assuming proportions which call for much more than individual industry, frugality and skill. It has become in essence one vast manufacturing enterprise, and many of the methods and principles of the manufacturing business must be employed for its further and final development. Among these, I take it, none will rank higher or be productive of more substantial results than co- operative effort, through organized bodies of practical farmers and business men. That agricultural prosperity is based upon something more enduring and far-reaching than mere individual success, is a principle long ago recognized; and much has been accom- plished by boards of agriculture, by State, district and county fairs, by the farmers' institute, by the farmers' alliance and by the grange. The object of these organizations, however, has largely been to stimulate individual activity and skill, to improve the social conditions of the open country, to secure a defensive alliance, or to reduce the cost of commodities by shortening and straightening the road between the door of the farm and the warehouse of the manufacturer. All these are good in their way, and all have benefited agriculture; but it is strange that so little has been done, especially in the east and the middle west, toward stimulating and developing trade in the products of the farm, — in other words, toward educating and stimulating the buying power of our constituency. I repeat that it is passing strange that thirty years ago we attempted to regulate the handling of goods that we purchase, but we have not yet done much toward 28 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. systematizing the handling of goods that we sell. We have only commenced what all successful manufacturers must accomplish, namely: develop the selling end of the business, and establish such settled practices and channels of trade as shall constitute what might be called a permanent asset of the business, insuring the individual a kind of initial guaranty of profit. Let me illustrate : thirty years ago the people of southern California undertook the production of citrous fruits upon a large scale ; but they soon learned that something further was needed beyond producing large crops of high-class oranges and lemons. Their nearest market of adequate dimensions lay in the Mississippi valley and eastward, 2,500 to 3,000 miles away, over difficult mountain railroads, and with 1,000 miles of unconsuming but burning desert haul between. It is not strange that under conditions such as these a car of fruit was largely rotted by the time it reached Baltimore, Boston, or even Chicago or St. Louis, and that what was left would rarely sell for enough to pay the freight. If this were true of car lots, it was doubly true of small shipments ; and under condi- tions such as these all but the largest growers were put out of business before they had fairly begun. And so they learned their bitter lesson, these fruit growers, namely: that it is one thing to grow a crop, and another to market it ; one thing to anticipate a demand, and another thing to cater to it profitably. They were literally forced into co-operation of some sort, and ultimately the so-called fruit growers' exchanges were organized. They each employ a man- ager,— not at $1,000 a year, but at $4,000 and sometimes $5,000 or $G,000. This manager is an expert salesman, who knows and can invent ways of reaching the consuming public and of stimulating its buying power. One of the first results of co-operation was the rule that no man should sort his own fruit, whether he had a car load or a wagon load of fruit. His responsibility ends when it is delivered at the warehouse, where it is sorted, packed and shipped by the officers and employees of the association of which he is a member. It is therefore at once standardized and the quality guaranteed to the consumer, whoever may No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 29 hiivc grown the fruit ; and the fanner gets his share of the returns, according to the amount and quality of his contribu- tion. These returns are immensely increased not only by the fact that the final market is developed as no individual could aiford to develop it, and as few would have the skill to develop it, but by the further fact that from the moment the car leaves the track at Riverside, for example, until it is delivered in Pittsburg or Boston, it is in the hands of the agent of the ex- change, who controls its icing in transit, knows where it is every day, and, furthermore, may change its destination while en route, as market conditions fluctuate. Three points are involved in a business so established : first, it increases the net returns for any given year, making enormously profitable a business that under the individual basis brought only loss and eternaL vexation of spirit; second, such an organization, with its established reputation and set- tled business methods, constitutes a kind of permanent asset or perpetual annuity to every member ; third, the existence of such an organization in any locality insures to every new man seeking to engage in fruit production a market and an assured profit from the first, — all of which is an additional asset to the community and a substantial addition to land values, for who would not pay a higher price either for a bearing orchard or for raw land in a neighborhood where such an exchange is established, than in one where none exists ? It is not strange that in certain localities, therefore, orchards sell for $1,000, $1,500 and even $2,000 per acre, where without the exchange and its methods they would be an expensive luxury as a gift. I have taken this as a convenient illustration of a general principle that should be made to figure more largely in our affairs. Each of us begins his farm life de novo, and works alone, putting his products upon the open market, organized, if it is organized at all, in the interest of parties other than the producer. It is as if the maker of shoes should put them up at auction, or dump them upon the market for what they would bring. Do they do this ? No. How long would they be in the business, if they did ? Instead, they exhaust human ingenuity in inventing new and attractive styles, and they 30 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. employ another and a special kind of ability to sell the pro- duce ; for, mind you, the manufacturer sees to it that his goods go upon the market to the best advantage, and to this end he handles the selling himself, through his own agents. In contrast to this, the majority of farm products are put upon an unorganized and undeveloped market, and the farmer parts company with his product as quickly as may be, avoid- ing as much as possible all responsibility as to quality or guaranty. In this way he absolutely surrenders his best ad- vantage, — a business opportunity that no manufacturer could surrender and live. I do not undertake to say that all the business of the farm can be standardized and organized on the larger plan, but much of it can be, and our failure to do it wherever possible is a tribute to our business shortsightedness, which is the natural heritage and consequence of our intense individualism overshadowing the larger vision. For example, I know a dairy association that has for years been devoting its energies to missionary work, trying to induce more men of the State to engage in the dairy business. Long- ago they affirmed as a fundamental fact that milk would never go above 4 cents a quart, or butter over 25 cents a pound. I am sure that the energies of this association would have been better exerted long ago in the effort to study the con- sumers' needs and buying power ; to put milk and its products upon the market of better quality and in more attractive con- dition. There is no better illustration of the business shortsighted- ness of the protective as against the development policy than in the history of the anti-oleomargarine legislation of a decade and more ago ; because, if the makers of butter had shown as much skill and determination in making a good and uniform product, putting it upon the market in attractive forms and developing demand, as did the manufacturers of butterine, the interests of the two would never have collided ; for no substi- tute or compound ever did or ever can successfully compete with the best butter, and any attempt by main strength to prevent competition with that brand of axle grease in the back No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 31 room of the country store that by courtesy is sometimes called butter is not only unfavorable to the public good, but in the long run not favorable to butter itself. I do not say that the makers of butterine and other substitutes should be permitted to sell their products as butter, but such a thing was possible only in the presence of so much poor butter dumped upon an undeveloped market with nobody to vouch for its pedigree. It is to be remembered that when we buy a box of exchange fruit, every apple or orange is what it pretends to be and what the label says it is. That is the chief reason why you eastern consumers often pay 5 and sometimes 10 cents apiece for Hood River apples. We raise as good apples as these in Illinois, but we do not pack them that way, nor has butter been handled on that plan. It was aggressive and not protective measures that were needed a decade ago, and are needed yet, in the butter busi- ness ; and everything that offends or disturbs the public sense about butter, or about anything that looks like or is used for butter, directly and indefinitely injures the price and the demand for the genuine article. I call your attention to another agricultural situation that is little short of pathetic, and which, because of its lack of organ- ization, has never yet been put upon a business basis. I refer to the certification and sale of improved live stock for breed- ing purposes. Associations for most of the breeds exist, it is true, but what do they do ? Receive and record pedigrees which in substance assert the sex, age and ownership of the animal, and state that its blood is not mixed. But the asso- ciation guarantees nothing as to the quality of the individual, nor does it touch the selling end of the business, or even give information on which the prospective buyer may base an opinion. For this he must go to records of sales and show- rings, and to all sorts of unauthorized sources, for the infor- mation which he needs in order to make an intelligent pur- chase. Much of the traditional history of not a few famous animals is little else than the idle gossip of herdsmen and stable boys. AVhat an unsubstantial basis for values in an important business ! 32 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. !N^o wonder breeders are suffering from a surplus of unsold stock, and no wonder that the herds of the country are so largely headed by scrubs. No sales business on earth could prosper with this lack of organization for selling purposes. Of course a few individual breeders, by the employment of modern business methods, do push sales and make money; but their sales are for the most part to smaller breeders, and not to the farmers, where, after all, the breeding stock is most needed. Why do not the breeders in their organized capacity go after this undeveloped market for sires, which, if developed, would absorb and put to use at good prices every worthy pedigreed* male in all the herds of the country ? Why do they not develop this market, instead of selling back and forth to each other at prices which the farmer from his stand- point cannot understand, and which represent in many cases not so much the earning power of the individuals, as the prices which men of means are willing to pay for the satis- faction of ownership ? With all that can be done by the most able and progressive individuals, it does not take a modern financier to understand that, if organized effort were devoted to the selling of bulls, for example, as it is to boots and oranges, both the breeder and the farmer would be better off, and the cattle of the country would suddenly and sub- stantially improve. The rule of the commercial world is that the seller seeks the buyer, and agriculture is no exception. Many a man, however, can raise, feed and condition good cattle, horses, sheep and hogs, who cannot sell them except upon the open market. Such a man should look to his associates to make his sales. What the breeding business needs is not a few sales at fabulous values, but rather a steady and reliable market at compensating prices. To secure this, the selling side should be put into the hands of professional salesmen who arc re- sponsible to the association. The stock may be o\vned, as now, by individuals, and consigned to the association for sale; or in some instances the association may own the sires, and pay No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 33 the iiulividiials for furnishing approved females and raising the young to the selling age. Another co-operative feature in the live stock business is what might be called community breeding ; meaning by this that the people of a given community should largely engage in breeding the same class of animals, — whether horses, cattle, sheep or swine, — instead of as now, each man raising what fancy may dictate or caprice or chance may inspire. The advantage of this would be twofold : first, the community would learn this particular enterprise thoroughly, as have the two little German villages where practically all the good canaries of the world are bred. The second advantage is the reputation which such a community can acquire for high quality, and the certainty that within a narrow region the buyer can find what he wants. Such a reputation constitutes an attraction to purchasers, and it means dollars to every member of the community. For this reason it is better that a given individual should breed horses, if all the rest are breeding horses, than that he should indulge his personal preference, perhaps, and breed cattle. There is another way in which the assets and profits of farming may be substantially increased, and that is by what may be called a general increase in agricultural values and prosperity, through legitimate agitation and the increase of general interest. This principle is being recognized in towns, and every village, not to say city, that counts itself at all progressive, has its live commercial club or chamber of commerce, whose business it is to do any and all things that shall increase the business prosperity of that particular town. These clubs mean that the commercial w^orld has learned that the business interests of a city demand some- thing more than good order and municipal government, or even individual success, and that is, business organization of an aggressive character. These clubs go beyond what their members can do each in his individual capacity and busi- ness, and they occupy that larger field of common interests, on which, after all, the prosperity of the whole very largely depends, — a field, moreover, that cannot be occupied and developed by individualistic interests. 34 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. We of agriculture have a lesson to learn from all this. The peojile of the far west have commenced to learn it, and we of the middle west and you of the east will do well to begin to sit up and take lessons. If we do not, it will be the worse for us and for the interests we represent. All over the west there is the most thoroughly organized attempt to boom the country, and it is backed by apparently unlimited means. I asked why it is done, and the answer invariably was, " We want more people here, so as to develop the country and increase both its producing and its buying power." The people of the Pacific slope understand that their present population is not enough for the highest economic efficiency, and to bring more people there is not only to afford an oppor- tunity for them, but it is also to increase the profits of those already there. Hence the Alaska- Yukon Exposition; hence the acres of literature published; hence the attractive views; hence many things that we of the east may well copy. If one- tenth the attempt had ever been made to develop New Eng- land agriculturally that has been made to develop it in manu- factures, or that is being made to develop the agriculture of the far west, it would now blossom as the rose, abandoned farms and all. There is an undeveloped agriculture of the east. There are some things that can be done in close proximity to popu- lation centers more advantageously than elsewhere; and whenever the older portions of the country undertake their agricultural development in an organized way, they and everybody will be astonished at the results. I commend to your attention, therefore, the development of the agricultural interests of the east by the employment of modern business methods through organized effort. The Cjiaiuaiax. Perhaps President Butterfield of our Agricultural College will say a word on this line. President K. L. Pur rKKFiKLD. It seems to me that Dean Daven])ort has struck a l)low which should come home to us here in New England with s])(H'ial force. I have been won- dering, while he was talking, why we cannot here in Massa- chusetts begin to act immediately on these suggestions. It No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 35 seems to me that so far as the general proposition is con- cerned the case is perfectly clear. Dean Davenport, very fortunately, I think, has used the apple illustration con- stantly thrctngh his lecture. The testimony of the State Board of Agriculture, the agricultural college people and the agricultural committee of the Boston Chamber of Commerce is that the recent New England Fruit Show has stirred an un- wonted interest in the development of the commercial apple orchard all over New England. It is very evident that to get best results from that fruit show, and others that are to follow, it is necessary to organize the movement that is to result. At the college we are already having more inquiries than Professor Sears can answer, and more applications than we can respond to, for men to go out and advise with respect to locations for orchards. These inquiries naturally come as to the location of orchards and their care and methods of protection. Perhaps the time has not come when we can emphasize to the full this question of selling; and yet it has been pointed out again and again, as Dean Davenport has done to-day, that if we confine our efforts merely to the question of production, we have not fought even half the battle. And so I have been wondering if the time has not come when we should do something. Is it not possible for the Board of Agriculture, w^ith the assistance of our boards of trade — we have forty of them in Massachusetts — and the help of the agricultural societies and colleges and ex- periment stations, to work out during the next few years a progressive plan for handling the apple product of New England i It seems to me that what Dean Davenport has said has a very definite application here. Tens of thousands of apple trees are going to be set out in the next few years, and if they succeed they will be followed by tens of thousands of others. If we neglect this market end, then the impetus that is given by the work already started will be discounted, be- cause it will result in the failure of a great deal of indi- vidual effort. This can be done with apples, — perhaps not in the same way, — as it can be done with other things. It seems to me that we are on the road to a more complete or- 36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. ganization of our industry, — an organization that is neces- sary, if Xew England agriculture is to be what it ought to be and what it may be. Mr. WiLFKED WiiFJELEE. I would like to ask how the asso- ciations of the west were started, — whether they were started by an individual, or by a community ? Dean Davenport. A connnunity entirely. That leads to another proposition, — that organization works best where the whole community is interested in one thing. Such a com- mon interest is desirable, from its own standpoint. We have pushed individualism so far in this country that each farmer does the things he desires to do, without regard to what his neighbors are doing. A saddle horse is worth more money if bred in a region where other saddle horses are bred, than another horsQ raised in a different locality ; for when a region gets a reputation, it is all the better for the individual pro- ducer. If this region is raising apples, you have fifty or a hundred men all interested in having this crop sold to the best advantage ; therefore, they meet and organize. Two things must then be provided ; a man who can sell fruit, sell fruit to a graven image, make him think he must have it ; and a man to standardize that fruit, and assort it so care- fully that no man can tell what orchard it comes from. Put 120 apples into a box, and maybe they all came from one farm, and maybe they didn't. And the men who sort them don't know where they came from, and don't care. I used the apple as an illustration, because it is convenient, and I thought it was one of the coming things in ISTew England, The Hood River apple is said to be the only apple sold in the London market without opening the box. If you get that reputation, you can make any demand. It is only occa- sionally that a man can make his own name known by mere strength ; it must be by organized effort. When they get a barrel of Illinois apples in the market, they knock in the head with a hatchet to see what they look like, and they find they are not the same in the middle as at the to]) and bottom, and that reduces the value. The community is the first thing, and when the label goes on, it has back of it the guarantee of the association of that No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 37 community. An individuiil's guarantee doesn't carry much weight, but an association's does. I know a big orange grower who was in the habit of throwing away his ill-shaped oranges. Others had tried to work them oif under fancy names, but he conceived the idea of calling them by a plain name, and he then put on the label, " These oranges are just as good as any and just as bad-shaped as any; if you eat one, you will want another." That year he sold them for two- thirds the price of his good-shaped fruit, and the next year found he had quite a special demand for them. You see the buyer is satisfied if he knows what he is getting ; he doesn't always want the first quality. There is a German village in the Ilartz Mountains where they have been raising canaries for thousands of years, and have learned more about canaries than all the world knows ; and we pay $4 apiece for those canaries, because we know that they know about them. Everybody raises canaries, and the children learn as they grow up, because everybody talks about them. Nearly all the violets in this country are raised along the Hudson River ; it is done by the women and chil- dren, and they all learn how to do it. In the Rocky Moun- tains they are giving up violets, because they say they cannot raise as good violets, and certainly cannot compete in price with the Hudson River growers. That is what we can do by a community going into one thing. It applies to fruit, flowers, vegetables, saddle horses. Jerseys, — anything. Mr. Wheeler. How do you start in ? Dean Davenport. It is hard to get started, but after that it is easy. If you find a good orchard location and go into apples yourself, in a little time you get the people around you interested, and they get their friends interested, and you soon have enough to form an association. The Salem people sent a man to France to study up the subject, where it is done in the best way ; and that saves time, for you get the benefit of years of other people's experience. It is better to get the information second hand than to take years to learn it first hand. Mr. Wheeler. Do you suppose it could be done any- where ? 38 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Dean Davekpoet. The natural nucleus is essential, to do it successfully. In the communities where this is done, they can't do general farming, — they are driven to special- ties; and that is what we should do here, only we can get along without it, but not as well. I visited a farm in Kansas City where a man is making a name for a community with the White Orpington. Very likely his next-door neighbor raises Buff Cochins. What they should do is, to all go into White Orping-tons, for that man will die some day, and that community ought not to lose the reputation he has made for it. The community should specialize, rather than the individual; the individual is too small, and doesn't live long enough. The Chairman. Perhaps Mr. John II. Robinson will give us a word about poultry. Mr. RoBjNSON. We have here in ISTew England two poul- try-producing communities, that to some extent furnish illustrations of the conditions Dean Davenport has described. They are the South Shore section in Massachusetts about I*[orwell, Rockland and Hingham, and the section of Rhode Island about Tiverton. The South Shore section produces what I believe to be the best chickens that go onto the market anywhere, and they retail at from $3 to $4 apiece. There are just two middlemen, instead of four or five, practically all the product of this locality is handled by two firms, and the producer gets all he is entitled to for his product, which is taken at his door alive. There are more poultrymen mak- ing money in that section than anywhere else. In the Rhode Island section the production end has been developed, but the selling end is still in the hands of the individual; each man's product goes into the general market, and he gets an ordinary price for it. Question. Suppose Jones's apples are inferior to Smith's, — does he get the same mouey as Smith ? Dean Davenport. No; they are haudled carefully. Every box Jones delivers is credited to him, and is assorted. He has so many boxes of firsts, running 120 to the box; so many boxes of seconds, running 00 to the box; so many boxes of firsts and seconds, running so and so to the box. Ilis No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 39 a])plcs are credited to bim for Just what they will make. lie doesu't do the sorting, however. It is written in the Scrip- tures that no man can sort his own fruit. The sorters are hired to do the work, and don't know one man's product from another's. I know of one man who did something to his strawberries that couldn't be detected by the sorters, that gave him an unfair advantage. He was expelled from the association, could not get into the other local association, and was obliged to sell his farm and leave that district. If these people on the South Shore had an association and elected their own seller, it could be perpetuated, and they would not be subject to their present buyers going out of business, or anything of that kind. Mr. B. W. Potter. I would like to ask whether there is more than one association in the Hood River valley, and whether there are not some individual growers ? Dean Davenport. There is only one exchange in that valley, though there might of course be two. The individual in these localities almost always belongs to the association, except where he is big enough to be an association himself. I know of one such case at Riverside, — a firm of three or four men, who have developed such a large business that they can get along by themselves. Mr. JoHx BuRSLEY. As you know. Cape Cod is one of the largest cranberry sections in the country. A company was organized to sell the crop direct from the growers to the peo- ple, and the man at the head of it was one of the smartest fruit salesmen in Chicago. Cranberries must be assorted near the place of growth, and they are packed and inspected by an inspector, who receives a small sum per barrel, and each barrel is marked with its grade. This took the crop away from the commission dealers of Boston, !New York and Phila- delphia, and placed it right at the distributing points, largely in carload lots. This was very successfully done last year and the year before. All the growers got the same price for the same grade of berry. So successful did this scheme prove, that the cranberry king, who is packing 50,000 barrels, has organized a smaller sales company, and these two companies have frozen out most of the commission houses. We have a 40 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. great many small growers, but practically three-fourths of them are in this scheme. Oue of my neighbors last night said he didn't think he could get here, as he had to get off a car of berries he had promised to have shipped to San Fran- cisco on Tuesday or Wednesday. He is getting something like $5.50 per barrel, f.o.b. The first ^^ear one car went to Texas, another to the British Provinces, a third to California and a fourth to the middle west. These sales companies have been a great help to our large growers. Dean Davenport. I wondered why it was we can get cran- berries now, and a few years ago we couldn't. The dealers would say, " No ; we can't get them ; " but now you can get beautiful berries anywhere. Question. How do these questions apply to the retail milk proposition ? Dean Davenport. I do not see any reason why the milk producers shouldn't manage the selling end of the product just as well as the selling end of any other ordinary product is managed by the producers. If any of the big milk companies should go to pieces, if they ever do, the business must be read- justed again. The milk producers' rules and regulations are made by another compan}^ and they have to follow them. If they make their o\^ti agreements and appoint their own sales- men, then they are nearer the consumer. It seems to me that the same principle applies to any thing that can be standard- ized close to the producer. The same is true of the butter bus- iness; the producers can manage it themselves, if they will. Of course it is another question whether they want to do it. Evening Session. Secretary Ellsworth. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you the man you tried to equal dur- ing the ISTew England Fruit Show, and who represents the Massachusetts Llorticultural Society on the Board, Mr. Wil- frid Wheeler, who will preside this evening. The Chairman. Mr. Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, this afternoon Dean Davenport tried to impress upon us that we were to educate the consumer to take the best quality, and in order to do that, we must have the best varieties in all lines. No. 4.] ORGANIZED EFFORT. 41 Professor Sears is here this evening, to tell us the best varie- ties of apples to grow in New England. He is very well qualified to speak on this subject, having not only taught pomology for many years, but being also in the apple-growing business, and I take great pleasure in introducing Prof. F. C. Sears of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. 42 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. VARIETIES OF APPLES FOR MASSACHUSETTS ORCHARDS. BY F. C. SEARS, PROFESSOR OF POMOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICUL- TURAL COLLEGE. I wish to disclaim at the outset any notion that the follow- ing list conii^rises all the varieties of apples which ought to be grown in Massachusetts. There are doubtless many others which might be added, and no doubt some people will think that some which have been included might be omitted in favor of some which are left out. But, in general, I believe the list includes most of those varieties which are most suitable either for commercial plantations or for private orchards within the State. Arranged in approximately the order of their ripen- ing, the list which I propose to discuss is as follows : Yellow Transparent, Red Astrachan, Williams Early, Oldenburg, Gravenstein, Wealthy, Fall Pippin, Mcintosh, Hubbardston, Westfield, Blue Pearmain, Palmer Greening, Sutton, Rhode Island Greening, Baldwin, Spy, Roxbury. Arranged as nearly as may be in the order of their commercial value in the State, they would stand as follows: Baldwin, Mcintosh, Rhode Island Greening, Wealthy, Hubbardston, Williams, Oldenburg, Roxbury, Red Astrachan, Sutton, Gravenstein, Fall Pippin, Westfield, Spy, Yellow Transparent, Blue Pear- main. Before taking up this discussion of special varieties, I should like to call attention to some general points or princi- ples on the subject which I think ought to be carefully con- sidered by the intending planter before he makes his selec- tions. If the orchards are to be grown for commercial pur- poses, the precise type of market to which it is the intention to cater ought to be considered and its demands studied, in No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 43 order to nioct the requirements. As a general principle, wo may say that markets are of two types, and that a very dirter- ent list of varieties would be selected for these two types. There is first the general or wholesale market, where the apples are handled in large quantities, and where the pro- ducer never conies in touch with the consumer. The orchard- ist growing for this market perhajis sells his fruit to a buyer in the orchard, or loaded on the car, or he may ship it to a connnission num. In any case, it is very much to his advan- tage to have a large quantity of fruit of each variety. If he has five hundred barrels of Baldwins, buyers are going to hunt him uj) and bid for his fruit ; whereas, if his five hundred barrels are distributed among the seventeen sorts mentioned above, there would not be enough of any one kind to interest the buyer ; and this same general consideration would hold in any type of general market. If he is shipping to a commis- sion man, one hundred barrels each of five sorts will sell for more than five barrels each of one hundred sorts. As a rule, a man chooses this type of market if he is some distance from his market. If he is going to plant an orchard to cater to such a trade, he ought, in my opinion, to select not over five, and preferably about three, varieties. A less number than this does not provide for cross-pollination, and does not allow for the years when certain of his varieties will not bear. I believe that for a steady income from such an orchard a man is better off to have at least three varieties. The second type of market is the special or personal market. Here the producer comes in direct or nearly direct communi- cation with the consumer, — that is, he either peddles his fruit, or at most sells it to the man who sells it direct to the consumer. The grower perhaps runs a wagon of his own, or, if he docs not do this, he sells to a grocery or fruit store which sells to the consumer. In either case he is so near the con- sumer that he gets the benefit of the good quality of his fruit, or the blame for its bad quality. He gets personal customers, who may say, " Yes, Mr. Jones, those apples we got last week were fine ; I want some more like them." Or, to the grocer, " When are you going to have some more of Mr. Jones's apples ? " In either case Jones wants to be in a position to 44 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. supply the demand ; in other words, he does not want to work np a market for his Yellow Transparents, and then drop it when Williams Early are in season, and allow his customers to foro-et all about Jones before his Mclntoshes come on. I have known a man, and a good business man, too, who refused 50 cents a barrel more for his Spies than he could sell them for to his regular customers, merely because he did not want to break the connection. For such a grower as we are now con- sidering, I do not believe that ten or a dozen varieties are too many. This may sound like rank heresy, but if the varieties are selected with the proper care and consideration, I am sure that it is right. But, whichever market one is working for, there are certain characters in fruit and tree which ought to be considered, though their relative importance will vary somewhat. I have a great weakness for score cards, because it seems to me that they will help us to reduce our judgments to a more definite basis, and help one who lacks experience to give more nearly proper weight to each point. I have therefore worked out the following score card, which T have used in my classes with good results, and which I believe will help the intending planter to give the proper rating to each variety : — Score Card for a Commercial Variety of Apples. Tree, .... 1. Heavy bearer, 2. Early bearer, 3. Healthy and vigoroua, Fruit 4. Fair size, 5. Good Color, 6. Good quality, 7. Keeps well, . 8. Ships well, . Special Market. 100 This is by no means an ideal score card, but it represents fairly accurately my notions as to the comparative value of the different points. To discuss each of these points briefly : — No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 45 Tree. (1) Heavy Bearer. — I have rated this higher for the general market than for the special, because we do grow varieties for the latter which are not especially heavy bearers, because their quality is such that it pays to grow them. In any case it is important that we get the fruit ; nothing is more discouraging than an unproductive orchard. Tree. (;2) Early Bearer. — This needs little discussion. One of the great difficulties in getting men to set apple or- chards is the length of time it requires to bring them into bearing. If they came in in two to four years, as peaches do, we should see far more apple trees planted. Those varieties which do come in relatively early are correspondingly wel- come. I have rated this the same for both markets, because it seems to me that it is almost equally important. Possibly we could aiford to plant for the special market varieties which are a little slower in coming into bearing, if their quality warranted it. Tree. (3) Healthy and Vigorous. — This is certainly equally important for both markets, and needs no discussion here. The connnon ailments which would lower the standing of a variety here would be susceptibility to canker, to apple scab on the twigs, a tendency to winter-kill, etc. Fruit. (4) Fair Size. — I have given this double im- portance for the general market, as we frequently grow special varieties, as the Lady, Fameuse and Pomme Grise, for the special market, if their quality warrants it, when their size would condemn them for the general market ; but it is cer- tainly a fact that a fair-sized apple has the advantage, other things being equal. Fruit. (5) Good Color. — I suppose this is practically equivalent to saying " red color," but not quite, as some yellow apples are more attractive than others. It seems to me that the craze for red apples is just as insane a notion as that for red Short-Horn cattle, or for Jerseys with a black tongue. But the craze is here, and the red apple sells better, particu- larly in the general market, than any other color. Fruit. (6) Good Quality. — This is a crucial point with the special market, and I believe that it ought to be given more weight than is usual with the general market, particu- 46 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. larly here in Massachusetts. We can grow apples of the highest quality ; some other sections cannot. If we must com- pete with those sections (and we certainly must), why should we throw away this advantage by trying to grow Ben Davis ? Even in the general market quality is appreciated, as any one will see by watching the market prices and observing the rela- tive difference in price of Mcintosh and even as good a variety as the Baldwin. Fruit. (7) Keeps well. — There is undoubtedly a market for early apples, and yet, as a rule, the price rises as the season advances. In years when the crop is large and the jirice is low it is frequently the late winter sorts which bring the bal- ance out on the right side. This is less important now that cold storage has become more perfect, but certainly it is still worth considering. Fruit. (S) Ships ivell. — This is also less important than in former years, for methods of packing and shipping have improved greatly; still, it is even yet important, for if a variety ships well it requires less time and expense in hand- ling, and it is more likely to come on the market in a uni- formly good condition. Let us now turn to a consideration of the individual varie- ties listed, considering them on the basis of the above score card. {!) Baldivin. — The Baldwin is a chance seedling which was found at Wilmington, near Lowell, Mass., and there are few things which Massachusetts has more cause to be proud of than having originated the Baldwin.. The tree is a strong grower, long-lived and vigorous, making a round-headed top of excellent shape, and is in most respects an ideal tree. It is hardy except in very severe climates. It does not come into bearing early, ranking about with the Gravenstein in this respect. As a rule, seven or eight years are required, under even good conditions, to bring it into ]irofitable bearing. The tree is somewhat subject to canker, though not very seriously so. It bears very abundantly in alternate years, and little or nothing in the odd years. Whether this tendency can be over- come by thinning, or by some other treatment, remains to be settled. The fruit is finely colored when well grown, of good No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 47 size, regular in form, and runs as a rule very uniform, with comparatively few culls. It keeps well, the season being from JSTovoniber to ]\rarc'h in ordinary storage, and it stands hand- ling very well indeed. The quality is usually ranked from good to above, when well grown, but a poorly grown Baldwin is a poor thing. This point I think needs decided emphasis, as some of our well-grown Baldwins are the equal in color and attractiveness of anything grown in the famous northwest. On the other hand, some of our poorly grown Baldwins are the equal of almost anything disreputable in the apple line. The Baldwin is undoubtedly the most popular and profitable apple in New England and New York. A point worth con- sidering is that it is one of the best export apples, particularly to England, where American-grown Baldwins stand very high. This means that in years when there is a large crop here we would have an outlet to foreign markets. To sum up its good and bad points : — Bala ^win. Good jjoints : — Bad points : — 1. Well known. 1. Rather slow in coming into 2_ Long-lived tree. bearing. 3. Good bearer. 2. Overbears in alternate years. 4. Uniform gxade of fruit. 3. Not high quality. 5. Good color. 4. Cankers. (2) Mcintosh. — Perhaps no other apple is more popular at the present time, or more largely planted, than the Mcin- tosh, and in my opinion it deserves all its popularity. It be- longs to the Fameuse group, having originated in Ontario, Canada. The tree is a strong grower, hardy and healthy, one of the finest that I know. The side branches come out at al- most right angles, so that the tree will bear an immense load of fruit without breaking down ; the branches are well distrib- uted; altogether, it forms a beautiful tree. It comes into bearing relatively early, and bears well, though not over- abundantly. It has a strong inclination to be an annual bearer when well cared for, which I consider a decidedly im- portant point. The fruit itself is very attractive in appear- ance, being a bright, handsome red, with a waxy texture to the 48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub» Doc. flesh, which is white, tender and very highly perfumed. The aroma of a good Mcintosh is something to be remembered. Its season is from the first of September to perhaps the middle of November in ordinary storage, but it will keep in fairly good condition much longer than this. It is particularly good for holding its color and attractive appearance well, which is a very desirable quality. It is not an uncommon thing to find good specimens of Mcintosh as late as January or February, which, though they have lost something of their quality, are still very good eating. The fruit ripens unevenly, and has a considerable tendency to drop, so that picking should be done twice and perhaps three times. It is a very desirable variety for local or special trade, but will not stand rough handling. I believe that this last point is being overlooked, and that a good many men are planting the Mcintosh who will not give it the type of handling which it demands. At present it is probably the most popular variety in Massa- chusetts. Mcintosh Red. Good points : — 1. Hardy tree, good shape. 2. Highest quality. 3. Finest color. 4. Uniform grade. 5. Annual bearer. Bad points : — 1. Tender, requires careful hand- ling. 2. Scabs. 3. Ripens unevenly. 4. Drops. (3) Bhode Island Greening. — The Rhode Island Green- ing is thought to have originated in the State whose name it bears, and probably near Newport, although the records are not very definite. It would certainly stand next to the Bald- win as a commercial apple in New England, though the Mc- intosh is undoubtedly far ahead of it in the number of trees being planted at the present time. I believe, however, that the Rhode Island Greening deserves more attention than it is receiving at present from those who are planting commercial orchards. The tree is reasonably hardy, winter-killing only in rather severe climates; it is long-lived and generally healthy, though it does not come into bearing early. Prob- ably eight or nine years woiild be the usual time required to No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 49 bring it into bearing. It makes a characteristic tree, being strong and vigorous, and, as already noted, healthy, although the fruit and foliage are both liable to scab, and in some sec- tions the apple canker attacks it. The form of the tree is decidedly drooping, and for this reason it might be headed somewhat higher than the varieties of more upright growth. Its season is a little earlier than that of the Baldwin, and it is a good companion variety to plant with the Baldwin in com- mercial orchards. The fruit is a bright, handsome green in color in the autumn and early winter, but changes to a yellow color later in the season. It is undoubtedly one of the best cooking apples grown, and a Rhode Island Greening pie is fit for a king. It is by no means to be despised as a dessert apple. It is more nearly an annual bearer than the Baldwin, though not strictly annual, and the fruit hangs very well on the tree. The season is from late October until March, though varying somewhat with the culture and storage conditions ; but it ripens very rapidly when subjected to heat, and is very liable to scald in storage, particularly with large, overgrown specimens. Good points : — 1. Well known. 2. Productive. 3. Good quality. 4. Fine cooker. Bhode Island Greening. Bad points : — 1. Sometimes scalds in storage. 2. Color. 3. Scabs. 4. Not as hardy as Baldwin. (^) Wealthy. — This variety was originated b}^ Peter Gideon of Minnesota, from seed of the Cherry Crab. The tree is very hardy indeed, and a good, thrifty grower while young; but as the trees get older the rate of growth becomes more moderate, until when they reach middle age the growth is very slow, and careful cultural treatment is often required to keep up its rate of growth. The tree never reaches large size, and, for that reason and others, is very useful as a filler. It comes into bearing very early ; frequently fruit will be found on the trees in two or three years, though of course only scattering specimens. The fruit is of good quality and finely colored, being a light straw-yellow, splashed and striped and 50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. sometimes almost covered with a handsome crimson. It at- tains good size on younger trees, but on older trees, where, as noted above, growth has become slow, the fruit is apt to run small. This has to be overcome by severe pruning and high fertilizing. The fruit also needs to be thinned to get the best results. In any case the fruit runs very uniform both in size and shaj)e, and for that reason it makes an excellent variety for boxing. The flesh is tender and juicy, and requires care- ful handling in order not to injure it. The season is Septem- ber and October, slightly before the Mcintosh ; but it can be kept until December in good storage. The fruit drops badly from the tree, and the trees should be picked over two or three times. It is at present being quite largely planted, more so than many other varieties ; but, as already noted, its special field is as a filler. Good points : — • 1. Bears very early. 2. Hardy tree. 3. Good quaHty. 4. Uniform grade. 5. Good color. Wealthy. Bad points : — • 1. Drops badly. 2. Ripens unevenly. (5) Iluhhardston. — This is another variety which orig- inated in Massachusetts, having been found at Hubbardstou, Mass., very early in the history of the State. The tree is vigorous, particularly when young, and comes into bearing early, frequently giving a fair scattering of fruit from the orchard at four years. The tree is only moderate in size, but bears heavily, at least biennially and sometimes annually ; it is therefore a good variety to be used as a filler. It is apt to overbear in a productive year, and for this reason should receive careful attention, to keep the soil in a good state of fertility and the foliage free from fungous diseases or insects. It will often be necessary, also, to thin the fruit, in order to keep it up to the proper size. The tree is considerably subject to canker where that disease is prevalent, and the fruit to the railroad worm. Tlie fi'uit is of oxcolbnit quality, being finii, fine-grained and rich, aud when well grown it is finely colored, No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 51 with handsome appearance and attractive texture, which makes it sell well. As a cooking apple it docs not rank so high, and ought to be used fairly early, as after it has become more mild it is not nearly as good for this purpose as when it has more acidity. The fruit is uniform and of fair to good size, except when it overbears. Its commercial limit in ordi- nary storage would be December, and, as with many other varieties, the large-sized, poorly colored specimens do not keep as well as smaller, firmer and better-colored ones. When this variety is well grown it has proved a profitable market sort, standing at present close behind the Greening; and I should have no hesitation in setting it as a market variety, particu- larly on light soil, where it does especially well. Hubhardstqn. Good points : — 1. Quality excellent. 2. Early bearer. 3. Handsome when well grown. 4. Good bearer. Bad points : — 1. Overbears and runs small. 2. Railroad worm. 3. Loses quality as cooker. {6) Williams Early. — This is another of our Massachu- setts apples, and, like a great many things which Massachu- setts has done, this is a good job. It originated in Roxbury, Mass., more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and in my opinion is one of the best and most profitable of the early va- rieties. The tree is rather a poor grower, and is therefore often best top-worked on some better-growing variety, as Pewaukee or Spy. It is a fairly good cropper, and has a decided tendency to be an annual bearer when it receives the right treatment. The fruit is only medium in size, but a beau- tiful bright red, with a very fine though mild flavor. Its strong point is for dessert, but, contrary to the opinion of some others, I consider it a very fine cooking apple. The fruit ripens unevenly, so that it needs more than one picking ; and, as it is tender both in skin and flesh, it ought to be han- dled with care and packed in boxes. It is a prime favorite in the Boston market, and I should not hesitate to plant it as a commercial variety. 52 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Williams Early. Good points : — 1. Fine color. 2. Fine quality. 3. Annual bearer. 4. Favorite in Boston markets. Bad points : — 1. Ripens unevenly. 2. Tender flesh. 3. Poor ei'ower. (7) Oldenburg. — This is one of the Russian varieties which has " made good " in America. It is especially val- uable where extreme hardiness is required, but I believe it is worthy of a place in our list of commercial varieties for Massachusetts. As suggested, the tree is very hardy, but is of only moderate size. It grows vigorously while young. Its most valuable character, however, is its early bearing. Fruit is frequently borne on trees at three and four years, and fairly good crops are often borne at four and five years. It is also a reliable cropper, often yielding annual crops, and the fruit hangs well to the tree. The foliage is fine and healthy, and altogether it is a fine tree for a filler, where this system of planting is used. The fruit is of good size and very attrac- tive, being a fine light yellow, with stripes and splashes of handsome red. It runs very uniform on the tree, with few culls, and is altogether a very good commercial sort. The flesh is firm but juicy, with a sprightly, sub-acid flavor, and, though not high in quality, is still passable. Oldenburg. Good points : — 1. Hardy tree. 2. Very early bearer. 3. Reliable cropper. 4. Hangs well to tree. 5. Handsome color of fruit. Bad points : — 1. Fruit perishable. 2. Ripens unevenly. 3. Only moderate quality. (8) Boxhury llusset. — This is still another of the fine old varieties which have originated in IMassachusetts, and goes l)ack to the seventeenth century. From a commercial standpoint it is undoubtedly ihe best of the russets, and is espeoially valuable as an export variety, the English market being particularly strong on russets, and esi^ecially the Rox- No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 53 burj, since it is iiuirketed late in the year. It is perhaps being phmted less since cold-storage facilities have improved, but 1 believe it is still worthy of a place among our list of" market varieties. As a cropper it is somewhat variable, but has a strong tendency to annual bearing when well cared for, as it does not tend to overbear. The tree is medium to large in size, and rather a vigorous grower, making usually a flat top. Its princii)al weakness, so far as the writer knows it, is a tenclency to European canker where that disease is common. It makes a characteristic twiggy growth, being full of short fruit spurs, and easily recognized by one familiar with the variety. The fruit is medium to large, being rather variable in both size and shape. It is sometimes oblate, sometimes somewhat conic, and almost always irregular in cross-section. For this reason it is not a good .variety for boxing, though these objections apply less to the fruit on well-cared-for trees than on those which receive less care. The flesh is yellowish in color, very firm, but reasonably tender and juicy, with a sprightly sub-acid flavor. In quality it would rank, in the writer's opinion, as good to best. There seems to be con- siderable objection to it as a commercial variety for our Amer- ican markets, but I believe that this objection is going to dis- appear as people become accustomed to attaching less im- portance to the red skin of an apple. Eoxbury Russet. Bad i3oints : — 1. Canker. 2. Russets not wanted. Good points : — 1. Reliable bearer. 2. Keeps late. 3. Good quality. 4. "Well known. 5. Handsome. (9) Palmer Greening {or Washington Royal). — This is still another Massachusetts apple, having originated at Ster- ling, Mass. The tree is only moderately vigorous, even when young, and attains at full age only moderate size, not nearly as large as the Rhode Island Greening. It comes into bear- ing reasonably early, from six to seven years, bears good crops biennially, but has very little fruit in the off year. The 54 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. fruit is greenish in color, or yellowish when fully ripe, and usually has a distinct blush on the sunny side, making it a decidedly attractive apple to any one who is not wedded to a red variety. There is an indication of quality to a good Palmer Greening that is very attractive, particularly to one who has ever eaten it. It is especially valuable as a dessert apple, as its quality ranks from good to best. Professor Dickens of Kansas wrote recently of some Palmer Greenings which had been sent him for his class in pomology : " Two out of eight in my senior class pronounced it the best apple they had ever eaten, and they know Grimes Golden and Jonathan pretty well." It will keep till December, or even till March, in good storage, and its medium size and very uniform shape and size make it an ideal box apple. In my opinion, it ought to be grown more extensively in Massachusetts. Palmer Greening. Good points : — 1. Extra quality. 2. Attractive appearance. 3. Size and shape. 4. Fairly early bearer. Bad points : — 1. Not well known. 2. Biennial bearer. 3. Rather a poor tree. (10) Sutton {Beauty). — The Sutton is supposed to be a seedling of the Hubbardston, and originated in Sutton, Mass. The tree is vigorous and healthy, and very upright in growth. One who had become familiar wdth the Sutton tree would always be able to pick it out. It has a nuirked tendency to bear biennially, which is an objection. While as yet not at all well known as a market variety, I believe it is one of the coming market varieties. Beach says of it : " In color, tex- ture, quality and season the Sutton is intermediate between the Baldwin and the Hubbardston." It is very uniform in l)oth size and shape, being rather above medium in size, and of a fine conic shape. It is excellent in quality, and of fine red color. It seems specially suited to the fancy box trade, but its flesh is a little too tender for the general market, though it is all right in barrels if handled carefully. I believe it is the type of apple which ought to be grown here in IMassa- No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 55 chusetts, luul inn i;Ia(l to note that Beach reports it as one of the coming coninicrcial apples in .New York. Good points : — 1. High quality. 2. Good color. 3. Hangs on well. 4. Productive. 5. Even in size and shape. Sutton. Bad points : — 1. Scabs some. 2. Not so well known. 3. May develop other faults. (11) Gravenstehi. — This is a German variety, introduced into the United States about 1826. Its very attractive appear- ance and excellent quality make it popular, even in spite of the fact that as a rule it is not very productive. For cooking it is not excelled by any variety of its season, and when fully ripe and not overripe it is an excellent dessert variety. The tree is a very vigorous grower, in fact, too vigorous unless handled carefully, having a tendency to grow too late in the fall and to be damaged by the severe weather which follows. It is liable to sun-scald and to canker. It comes into bearing fairly early, usually from seven to eight years, and is a relia- ble cropper, though not a heavy one, with a considerable ten- dency to bear biennially. The fruit ripens quite unevenly, and ought to be picked twice or even three times to secure the best results. The season is from the middle of September until November. It may be kept later than this in good stor- age, but the color fades badl}^ if it is kept much beyond its season, far more than the Mcintosh does. It is apt to grow a good many culls, particularly in the off year, running very variable in both shape and size. Where it succeeds, no other apple of its season can compete with it in the market. In quality it ranks from good to best. Good points : — 1. Fine quality, cooking and eating. 2. Handsome appearance. 3. Tree needs little pnaning. 4. Well known. Gravenstein. Bad points : — 1. Shy or biennial bearer. 2. Winter-kills. 3. Collar rot, rank grower. 4. Fades in storage. 5. Sun-scald and canker. 56 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doe. (12) Red Astrachan. — This is another of the Russian apples which has achieved success in the United States, and which I should include as a commercial apple for Massachu- setts. It is very early in season, following the Yellow Trans- pai-ent, and heing fit for cooking in July. It is consequently a profitable variety for local markets and for home use, while its attractive color combined with its earliness make it popu- lar. It is, however, very tender in flesh, and will not stand shipping well. It is principally valuable as a cooking apple, though well-grown, fully developed specimens are very good eating. The tree is medium in size, coming into bearing very early, and is reasonably productive, though inclined to bear biennially. Its tendency to be irregular in both size and shape is rather a serious drawback to a commercial variety, making quite a loss from unmarketable fruit. The fruit dro^js considerably, unless several pickings are made. Good points; 1. Fine color. 2. Very early. 3. Productive. 4. Hardy tree. Bed Astrachan. Bad points : — 1. Irregular in size and shape. 2. Very tender in fruit. (13) Fall Pippin. — The origin of this variety is some- what in doubt, but it is good enough so that its origin does not much matter. It ought to have originated in Massachusetts. The tree is large and rather vigorous, making a roundish, rather dense top. Both leaves and fruit are seriously subject to the apple scab fungus, which is a decided drawback where this disease is troublesome. The fruit ripens very unevenly, which is another objection, as it means repeated pickings, which add somewhat to the expense. The fruit is large, of a fine, clear yellow, and decidedly handsome, having a clean, attractive appearance which makes it sell well. The flesh is fine-grained, tender and juicy, rather aromatic, and ranks as good to best in quality. It is a fine dessert apple, but is espe- cially strong as a culinary variety. In storage it is a variable keeper, but in any case has a long season, owing to its uneven No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 57 ript'iiiiig, beginning in September and lasting well on towards Cln-istnuis. I should consider it among the best of the fall varieties for home use, and a good commercial sort. Fall Pippin. Good points : — 1. High quality. 2. Popular in the market. 3. Attractive yellow color. Bad points : — 1. Subject to scab. 2. Ripens unevenly. {U) ^Vestfield (Seelc-no-fmiher). — The Westfield, or Westtield Seek-no-further, is still another of the Massachu- setts contributions to the list of fine varieties of apples. It originated at or near Westfield, in the neighborhood of Spring- field, Mass. The tree is very hardy, healthy and longdived, though inclined to be a biennial bea^rer. It is nevertheless a very reliable cropper. The fruit is of highest quality, with a nutty, aromatic flavor which one who has once known it cannot forget. It is not particularly attractive in appearance, being a rather dull, brownish-red, but when well grown, and espe- cially when grown on sandy or gravelly soil, where it suc- ceeds best, it often attains a fine, handsome red, which makes it really attractive. It runs very uniform in both size and shape, making it a good box apple, and, as it is principally used as a dessert apple (not being a very good cooker), this is the way it ought to be marketed. Its season is from about October to February, but it will often keep in good storage much later than this. It stands handling and shipping well, and in a limited way I believe it would be profitable as a commercial variety. Certainly it ought to be in every family orchard. Westfield. Good points : — 1. Fine quality. 2. Hardy. 3. Productive. Bad points : — 1. Poor color. 2. Not good as a cooker. (15) Northern Spy. — The Spy is one of the few imported commercial apples which Massachusetts cannot claim, as it originated in Xew York. It is one of my sincere regrets that 58 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. the Spy does not succeed better in Massacbusetts. Tbere are certain sections where it does admirably, particularly in Franklin County, but as a rule it has the reputation of not being a success with us. Whether it altogether deserves this reputation is a question, but certainly we do not grow good Spies in many sections. The tree is all that could be desired in health and vigor, making a fine-shaped, large tree, and living to a good old age, but it is very slow indeed in coming into bearing, in this respect standing at the foot of the list of reputable varieties. The fruit when well grown is about all that could be desired, being a fine, bright, pinkish-red in color, with a smooth, waxy skin, making an extremely attractive apple. The flesh is firm and crisp, but tender and juicy, and has a flavor that no one will forget, once he has eaten a well- grown, well-colored Spy. Both fruit and foliage are decidedly subject to the attacks of the scab fungus where this disease is prevalent, and its tender skin and flesh make careful hand- ling necessary. But, with all its faults, I should say that in sections where it is known that the Spy succeeds it ought to be put down as one of our leading varieties. In other sections it had probably better be tried only on a small scale ; but even here, unless it has been tried under favorable conditions, with modern treatment as to sj)raying, etc., I believe it is worth experimenting with. Northern Spy. Bad points : — Good points : — 1. High quality. 2. Fine appearance. 3. Healthy, hardy tree 1. Slow in coming into bearing. 2. Often does not succeed well. (16) Ydlow Transparent. — This is the third Russian in the list, and is included principally because of its very early season, ripening in July, when every one is apple-hungry. The tree is very hardy and healthy, and conies into bearing- very young indeed. Grafts often bear th(> second year, and sometimes even the year they are set, the trees usually bearing a reasonable crop the third and fourth years. It is a good, reliable cropper, but ripens so unevenly that it requires two or three pickings to secure the fruit in the best condition. The No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 59 fruit is a very liaiidsonie, clear vcUow, but both the flesh aiul skill are tender, and it therefore bruises easily and shows the marks of careless handling. It is a fine cooking apple, and good specimens are not by any means bad eating. Wherc^ early fruit commands a good price, and for near-by markets, it will prove a profitable variety. Yellow Transparent. Good points : — 1. Very hardy tree. 2. Handsomely colored fruit. 3. Early bearer. Bad points : — 1. Easily bruised. 2. Does not stand up well in transit. {17) Blue Pearmaiu. — This is a fine old variety, but is not very generally grown, and it is not recommended here except for the family orchard, or in' a limited way in commer- cial plantings. To one who knows and likes the good old- fashioned sorts the Blue Pearmaiu is always very acceptable. The tree is a good, strong grower, and long-lived. The fruit is mild in flavor, but aromatic and fine, with a rich appear- ance in well-grown specimens which is attractive. The skin is a little rough and rather thick. The color is deep orange- yellow, splashed and striped and shaded with very dark red, and the heavy w^hite bloom over this gives a bluish appearance. The flesh is firm, yellowish, moderately juicy and aromatic. Good points : — 1. Health}', vigorous tree 2. Handsome fruit. 3. Good quality. Blue Pearmain. Bad points : — 1. Not genei'ally known. Mr. Drake. Do I understand that there is some method of making the Baldwin bear every year and of making the King- bear more freely ? Professor Sears. 'No; the trouble with the Baldwin is overbearing one year and not bearing at all the next. The theory is that if you thin and reduce the amount of fruit one year you increase the probability of getting a large crop the next year. The trouble with the King is that it has a tendency 60 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. to overgrow. I know a few men who grow the King and make it bear very liberally every year, and they are great believers in it ; but for the most part they are located on light, sandy soil, where it does not overgrow. Question. Is there any way to make the Williams fit to eat, and not woody and full of brown chunks ? We have tried spraying with different formulas, but it may be that the tree will not bear good fruit. Professor Sears. I usually find the trouble is with the man, and not with the tree. Usually, if the tree is properly fertilized and sprayed, say with arsenate of lead and Bor- deaux mixture, it will do well. We have given up the Bor- deaux mixture at the college, because we found, on such varie- ties as the Mackintosh Red and the Wealthy, and even the old Ben Davis, that the apples rusted when we used Bor- deaux; and we intend to use lime and sulphur, or something of that sort. The Chairman. We would like to hear from Professor Rane. Prof. F. Wm. Rane. I have been exceedingly interested in this subject to-night, because it brings me right back where I used to be. This question of varieties is one of the biggest I ever tackled. I have done a great deal of work making out lists for other people, and I do not feel any surer about it to-night than I ever did. There are so many varieties of apples, and they all have their good points. The flavor of the Baldwin never appealed to me, and I have tried to find some- thing to take its place, but the more I looked into it the more I got back to the old Baldwin. The IvTorthern Spy is another that I think a great deal of. People ask what varieties of forest trees to plant. We plant the white pine, because it is easily grown. They ask what is to be the more valuable in the future. We do not know. But the Baldwin is always pretty sure to win. It is the biggest money-producer we have had, with no care whatsoever. Some towns put in 5,000 barrels of Baldwins every other year, that have not been sprayed, fertilized or taken any care of. That shows what they will do without care. We have sometimes found, in S2)raying as a pre- ventive against the gypsy moth, that one or two trees that were No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 61 sprayed would produce more fruit than the rest of the or- chard. Some good varieties have not been mentioned this evening-. There is the Porter, grown on every farm. It has the railroad worm, and so on, but spray it a little, and there is no trouble in selling it. We should get authority from the Legislature to make owners look after their old trees, or cut them down. Take the Baldwin on the old stone wall, fertilize one side, and you will have beautiful Baldwins for a few years, until the grass takes the nourishment from it. I was out west this summer in the apple country, and the conditions they have to contend with and the places they have to live in are terrible. In an automobile you have to keep your hands over your eyes to prevent them being filled with dust. But there is a market for all the apples grown, enough for each of us to get our share. Nearly all the varieties mentioned to- night, together with several others, are certainly, with proper care, very profitable indeed. The CiiAiKMAN. We all know that early apples are usually annual bearers, and I want to ask if this is not because the crop comes off so early that the tree has a chance to recuper- ate ? Also, if by thinning the later varieties so that they would not bear so heavily we could throw them into annual bearers ? Professor Seaes. I do not know about that first theory ; I never heard it advanced, but it certainly seems reasonable. As to the second, the tendency in thinning any kind of fruit is to make it bear the next year ; if you reduce the crop one year, you increase the crop the next year. Any of our crops that pretend to be annual bearers will run lighter and heavier, like the biennial bearers. Professor Rane. I tried some experiments in New Hamp- shire on that line, and they were very unsatisfactory. We took young, fruitful trees, about fifteen years of age, and picked off all the fruit when small one year. The next year they came into active bearing, but the following year we had a frost when the trees were in bloom, and there they were right back in the same year. The Chairman. I think if the experiment were tried with 62 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. trees when they first began to bear, you might have better success. Prof. Wm. p. Brooks. I know a man who had a large orchard of Baldwins that had been neglected, and none of them bore. He plowed and cultivated half the orchard one year, and the following year it bore heavily. That year he did the same with the other half, and the result was that he had half his orchard bearing one year and half the next. As he had about 40 acres, he regarded this as an advantage, as he could handle half so much easier than the whole. That went on for a few years, but then from some natural cause, either a frost or a very rainy season while the trees were in bloom, he got very few apples, and the next year they were all in bearing together, so it does not seem to be a very easy thing to manage. I want to ask Professor Sears if he thinks that by giving the Baldwin much better care than it ordinarily receives, careful fertilization and tillage, you can make it bear considerably more apples every year ? Professor Seaes. The tendency would be that way, and also to get a better apple. The Chairman. I came across an orchard that had for years been bearing on one side of the trees in one year and on the other side the next. Perhaps some condition destroyed the bloom that way one year ; but it seems like a pretty good way to have an orchard bear. Mr. Drake. I have seen trees where only one limb would bear, but it is a pretty hard matter to explain or secure. Professor Brooks. Some of us have noticed that Professor Sears did not mention the Sweetheart. Doesn't he think some families would like sweet apples back ? Professor Sears. I shall plant 100 Pearmaius next year. I came across an excellent orchard, where they were ship- ping the Yellow Transparent to Euglaud. The apples were shipped in crates, ten of which imuh a barrel, and brought $12 per barrel in that way. It seems as though we would find a ready market for these early varieties in Eng- land, as there are no a]iples there. It seems to me that there is a tremendous market abroad in the summer for apples grown in the northern United States. I know of no variety No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 63 better adapted to that tlian the Williams ; it will carry splen- didly if picked early, and is a splendid-colored apple when picked in its season. Secretary Ellsworth. There is one variety Professor Sears reconiniended very highh', — the Eoxbnry Russet. I have quite a number of trees, and I think I have got the least out of the Roxbury Russet of any variety I grow, and they are the last variety I should think of setting out. I think that since we have had the improved storage facilities there is less demand for them. Professor Seaes. Of course there is considerable in that. Still, my experience has been that any good apple you have along the last of March and first of April will bring you a good price. There are few apples that rank ahead of the Roxbury Russet for shipping. ]\Ir. . The German people are very fond of Russets. I have handled quite a few, and have no trouble in selling Russets in Philadelphia ; can sell a whole carload even early in the season. The Chaiemax. The Chicago market will take any num- ber of Bellflowers, and pay a good price for them. I know a man in Maine who grows the Bellflower almost entirely, sell- ing them wholly in Chicago, and last year he realized better than $5 a barrel for them. There are varieties that we have to ship to diiferent places. In western Massachusetts apples seem to grow as naturally as weeds, and the people there, in- stead of planting orchards and cultivating them, go out into the pasture and gTaft these natural seedlings, and get splen- did apples from them. We would like to have Mr. Gerrett of Greenfield tell us something about that. Mr. Feaxk Geeeett. We were pleasantly disappointed in our section this year ; we had a much better crop than we expected, and received much higher prices. I hope Professor Sears will have good success with the early varieties he is setting out; but I live in a town of 10,000 people, and early varieties are simply a nuisance with us. We give them away to any one who wants them ; the stores will not take them, even hand-picked from the tree, and half of them go to waste. There are years that you cannot sell them in Boston for 64 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. enough to pay the freight. Perhaps nearer the Boston market the conditions may be different. We have about thirty varie- ties. The Baldwin was in great demand this year ; they took everything we had, and paid us the price. Some years they will not take them at all unless you have remarkably nice Baldwins, or one or two other varieties to go with them. With Baldwins selling at $2 a barrel, they will beat the Russet to death selling at $4 a barrel. My best trees are in my pas- ture, seedlings that came up themselves. Last spring I staked out about 150 trees that had come up in the pasture, driving a stake and taking a piece of poultry wire and putting it around the trees, to keep the cows away. As soon as they get big enough, we will graft them, and they will yield in a very short time. Mr. John Anderson of Shelburne has an orchard scattered around his farm, and he had three trees this year that yielded him 30 barrels of apples, which he sold for $2.50 a barrel. A vast amount of money came into our little town this year from this source. They took every Baldwin, and they brought from $2.50 to $3.25 per barrel, depending on how they were packed. We had buyers from Illinois, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, I^ew York and many other places. Our apples were not colored quite as well as usual this year. We began picking on the first of October, and then we had no frost to take off the leaves. If we had known what the conditions were to be, we might have waited two weeks longer, and then the apples probably would have had a better color. We had another condition this year ; the apples didn't drop at all, but stayed on the trees. Even cider apples sold for 35 cents a hundred, and you would be surprised to see the amount of money the farmers got for cider apples. If you see an apple tree coming up on your farm, stake it up and graft it; it will be better than any tree you can buy. I su]ipose there are some conditions under which the Northern Spy can be grown, but not with us. I am grafting all my Spy trees over, as fast as T can. We cannot grow the Bellflower, either. But the apple business is a good business ; at $2.50 a barrel they are a good side issue to ordinary farming. We have a man who takes charge of the packing and assumes all the No. 4.] VARIETIES OF APPLES. 65 responsibility, we furnisliing all the rest of the help. The buyers all conic into our section for the Baldwins. Other kinds grow well, and we like to have them, but it is a question with me whether we can grow anything to beat the Baldwin. Other kinds are desirable for home use and for show pur- poses, but not to grow extensively for market. Mr. S. H. Reed. Does it make any difference in the flavor of fruit, what stock it is grafted on ? Professor Sears. We do not know; the whole question is yet to be worked out. There have been cases where it seemed to be pretty definitely shown that there was a decided differ- ence in color. A friend of mine set out a dozen Baldwin trees. The first to come into bearing bore a very handsome red apple, small, but very fine. All the others came into bear- ing except one, which was the last o.f all, and that finally bore an apple very large and overgrown, with very little color. He let suckers grow from both those trees, and the first one made a short-jointed, dark growth, with leaves and bark dark, and the leaves fell off long before frost ; those of the tree bearing the large apples made a green, rank growth, the leaves being ])right green, and hanging on until killed by frost. I remem- ber a row of grafted Gravensteins. One was an old Spitzen- berg, a dark-red apj^le of medium size, but the Gravensteins which grew on it were perfectly red all over, like the Bald- win, — no spotting at all ; those that grew on the other trees Avere normal Gravensteins. Now, in these instances the color was evidently influenced, but I cannot say as to quality. The Chairman. One point that has not been touched on is the selecting of strains of different varieties. We know per- fectly well that in flowers, carnations, for instance, we can improve the variety by selecting the best types. I think the same thing can be done with apples, and in fact I know of such a strain of Baldwin apples. I think a great deal of work can be done by individuals along this line. Professor Sears. These questions have been handed in on paper : first, " What three peaches are best for a commercial orchard ? " Mr. Chairman, will you answer that ? The Chairman. I would choose the Greensboro, the Carmen and the Elberta. 66 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Mr. . I would add the Belle of Georgia and the Champion. Professor Sears. The next question is : " What is the best cure for the scale ? " We have been fighting the scale at the college in various ways, having one orchard we keep for ex- periment purposes. We have sprayed with lime and sulphur, and have succeeded in keeping the scale down fairly well. This year we started to wipe out the scale in the experi- ment orchard. Every tree was cleaned and scraped, and then we sprayed with one of the soluble oils, and we are going to spray next spring with lime and sulphur, and I think we shall clean it out. I think that is the treatment, — either the lime and sulphur, or the soluble oils. The third question is : " In setting out a large block of Baldwins, is it necessary to set others to alternate ? " I should answer Yes. Almost any fruit will bear better, and certainly all fruit will be better, if given an opportunity for cross-pollination. In strawberries even the perfect flower will bear a good deal better if you have it crossed, balanced with some other variety; and that certainly holds good with tree fruits. Second Day. Secretary Ellsworth. It is my pleasure to introduce, as the presiding officer this morning, Mr. John L. Smith of Barre, who rej)resents the Worcester County West Agricul- tural Society on the Board. The Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, the subject before you this morning is one of great importance to every man, woman and child in Massachusetts. I have the pleasure of introducing to you a speaker who says that he has come to visit with you, not to lecture to you, — Prof. 11. E. Cook of Canton, ^. Y. No. 4.] DAIRYING. 67 EDUCATION OF THE DAIRYMAN AND THE DAIRY COW. BY PROP. H. E. COOK, DEAN AND PROFESSOR OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY OP ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY, CANTON, N. Y. I had a plan laid out for this address, hut I am going to change it. I wished to discuss with you at considerable length the organization side of our dairy business, but Dean Davenport yesterday gave a very important lecture on that line. I never heard a better address on the organization of the farm business. It is my opinion that on this the future success of agriculture depends, the fundamental prin- ciples set forth in his address, and I wish that you could have all heard it. Just a word about dairy organization. I think it is the most poorly organized business that I know anything about in this country, and it is safe to say that most milkmen will agree with me. I sj^eak from the standpoint of the milk pro- ducer. When I was eighteen years old I commenced making butter and cheese, and for twelve years I did not go outside a cheese factory or creamery except to take some part in the management of a farm. I have been interested in cows ever since, and I think I know something about the hard side of the dairy business. Most men will agree that if all the expenses incident to the production of milk were charged against the business, — all expenses of labor, interest on the investment, cows and food, and losses in the dairy, no inconsiderable item, — nine dairies out of ten would be found insolvent. There is a reason for this, which I wish to discuss for a few minutes, and my opinion is the result of a great deal of study and care. The soils of the country, with a few exceptions, have become im- poverished by continuous use without fertilization, so that 68 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. men have gone into the dairy business, as in Wisconsin, for instance, as a means of securing the necessary plant food for their soils. They have followed the dairy business because they needed manure first, and have made that the essential product, with the milk second. Does not that answer the question of why milk will not j^ay the cost of production ? By- products have no relation whatever to the cost of the raw material that goes into them ; by-products have no relation in their selling value to the raw material that goes into them. There was a time when wheat bran had no value, and was run into the rivers to get rid of it ; and you can all remember when cotton-seed meal had little or no value, and was piled by thousands of tons behind the cotton gins of the south. Now you pay $28 a ton for wheat bran and $35 a ton for cotton- seed meal. More recently distillers' wastes had no value except for feeding immediately around the plant where they were produced ; and to-day you pay $32 a ton for dried dis- tillers' grains. The price of wheat and cotton and the price of corn and rye, from which the distillers' grains come, have not changed a great deal since the '60s and 'TOs. You buy a pound of digestible matter in all these by-products, and you pay the same price for it, whatever it is, — and a high price, because the genius and ability of man have given those by- products a standard and fixed value, where formerly they were waste. I am not going to discuss the feeding of these by-products in dairying; I am simply using this as an illus- tration of the reason for the comparatively low value of milk, because it has been a by-product, and bears little or no relation to the cost of production. Have you ever thought it out in that way ? I ask you whether this is not the solution of the question why the dairy- men all over the land are not getting paid for their labor ? The great bulk of the milk produced is produecxl by the fam- ily, — it is a family business, and no account is made of the labor; there are a few exceptions where it is produced en- tirely by hired labor. Whatever nuiy be your thought as to the economies of milk production, whatever may be your skill and ability to act, if ninety-nine men around you are working on the old basis, with no regard to the cost of production, they No. 4.] DAIRYING. G9 will fix tlie price, and will bold the dairy businef5f? wliere it interferes with the profits of the man who understands and has the finest organization possible for the production of milk. Perhaps this does not i)icture the dairy business as radiantly as /ou would like to ha\-e it pictured. As Dean Davenport said 3'esterday, the business of the Illinois Dairymen's Asso- ciation has been to get men into the dairy business. That is all right if you want manure, but it is all wrong if you want milk. The result has been that we have cheap cows and cheaper men all over the country producing milk for butter and cheese and for the market ; because, when you put a pound of cotton-seed meal through a $30 cow, the manure is worth just as much as when it is dropped by a cow worth $300. The result has been that the whole milk business, from Maine to the Pacific coast and from north to south, has been a cheap, perverted business. There has been too much manure at- tached to the milk business all the way through, from the economics to the milk pail. In New York men have rebelled almost to the point of the shotgun against taking the manure off the flanks of their cows ; and I presume there are just such men in Massachusetts. The next thing is a panacea for this trouble. It is a slow process to work anything out. First, in my opinion, is the study of the individuality of the cow. A good deal of time has been spent in an efi^ort to control the price of milk shipped into the cities. Most of that time has been wasted. If it has shown any sort of fruition anywhere, it is in the business of shipping milk to Boston. In New York it was an absolute failure. It built milk stations and sent trains into every nook and corner of the State to get milk for New York City. I have taken this ground for a dozen years in my State, and have been mangled and pummeled and punished for it. The organization that tried to control the price of milk shipped into New York is gone, — dead and buried. Peace to its ashes! It was organized on the wrong basis; most of the men who composed it had never been able to organize their own business. The man who cannot manage the business within his grasp will never be able to handle a business 300 miles away, with sharp, shrewd, keen men to deal with on 70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. the other side. We may succeed in smashing the milk trusts, if we have them established contrary to law, and in mak- ing them change their methods and let us understand some- thing of their work; but so far as organizing the country people to control the price of milk shipped to the cities is con- cerned, we shall not be able to do it until we get our own busi- ness in our own stables under our control. And that takes us right down to the individual cow. A great many of us do not like to think that we must study the individuality of each cow as thoroughly as the head of a large department store studies the individuality of each de- partment. A friend of mine, who has charge of one of those large department stores, once said to me: " Each department in this business has to stand on its own feet; the grocery de- partment has to pay its own expenses, and the dry goods de- partment the same, and so on." " Well," said I, "^ you ought to go into the dairy business; we do not have that trouble; we put the brindle cow, the white cow, the black cow, the Jersey, the Holstein, and the Shorthorn, into a stable, and we say, ' Here you are ; God bless you, give milk ! ' " This friend said : " That is so ; I do not understand it, but the dairy business will stand what no other business will stand." We have been able to carry on business in that way because we took no account of our labor. The husband, wife and children all put in their time, and no charge was made for it. In lookir.g for students for our school at Canton I have had young men tell me that they could not afford the neces- sary $150 or $200 a year for expenses. I have told them that they could earn enough in the same length of time on any farm to pay their expenses at the school, and they have said that they worked for their fathers, and got no money for it. Here was a business organized so that it was depend- ent on the family working for nothing to support it, for most of these young men were on dairy farms. x\ny remedy for this condition must come by slow, steady stages. If we are to study the individuality of the dairy cow, we must have in every stable a weighing sheet, and know just what each cow does. I found that method had more to do with developing good hired men than anything I have ever No. 4.] DAIRYING. 71 done. One man in particular made a good deal of fnn of weighing every cow's milk; but be bad to do it or quit, and he had sense enough to know that be bad better stay. That man developed into one of the best men I ever had. lie be- gan to study, and see the difference between two cows, one giving a pailful weighing 18 pounds and another 24 or 2G pounds. Then he went further, and saw the difference in cows in regard to their milk, one milking fast and one slow, and he developed into a very fine man. He is now tak- ing charge of one of my farms. Through this weighing we learned of two grade cows of quite ordinary ancestry, one of which made a record in two successive years of over 43,000 pounds of milk, and the other a record for maximum daily yield of 93^ pounds. The ability of the cows to do this was very largely the result of the training which they had; and their training was very largely dUe to the fact that the man who had immediate charge of feeding them got his first edu- cation in being forced to weigh the milk from individual cows. To take up another question, another trouble with our dairy business is that we are buying too much. When we began purchasing enormous quantities of foods and grains, they were very cheap. With the high price of labor and our small families, and the difficulty of hiring labor, we began of necessity to buy. Now it is entirely different, — $35 for what you can carry home in your buggy is an awful prob- lem. By buying these foods we are keeping down the crop- producing power of our dairy lands. The cheapest lands in the east, when we consider the lands that have care and atten- tion, are the dairy lands. The trucking lands of the State of New York had an average value in 1809 of over $100; the dairy lands had an average value of $40. I can take you to lands that are renting for more money every year than the average dairy farm will sell for, live stock thrown in, and including the farmer. While the dairy farms have made manure their first and essential value, they have not kept pace in productivity with the trucking farms, where they have to buy all their manure from the cities. The truck farmer had to learn how to till and fertilize, or he could not exist. The 72 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. dairyman is a poor tiller of the soil. We are spending enormous amounts of money; the farmers of the county of St. Lawrence, where I live, last year sjDent over $1,000,000 for cattle foods. When I wanted the granges in that section to send $5 apiece as a part of an organization movement to further the business in its every detail in northern New York, they said they were too poor ; and yet those men are even ship- ping alfalfa hay from Colorado. We must stop buying so much. I think there are two methods of escape, depending upon the individual. One is the production on the farm of every- thing which the cow eats ; that will be the method for one class of men. Another, and the way that works best with me, is the production of some crop of such high value per acre that it will help to purchase some of the better and more val- uable concentrates with which to feed, and so increase the production of milk. But wdiat do both methods mean ? Bet- ter soil care, higher crop production, better tillage. A few weeks ago I had a tillage plow shipped to me at the college, which proved to me how poor our methods are. It turned up 15 inches of as fine, loose soil as you would wish. I do not wish to discuss the machine at present, for we have not yet attained results. We harvested 400 bushels of potatoes to the acre this year, but our methods were out of date. We ought to take a lesson from the Germans ; they get 500 to 600 bushels of potatoes to the acre, because they till the soil. The dairyman must learn this, and it matters little whether he learns it by growing crops especially adapted for the production of milk, or by growing other crops. Alfalfa is one of the best crops for milk production, and it is not at all a climatic proposition. It can be grown as well in Massa- chusetts as in the west or south, except that the warmer the season the better the opportunity is for a large crop; but it is a soil question, and you and I must study soil questions. Just a word of caution: the fruit men and truck farnun-s are getting more money than the dairymen, and on higher- priced land. The only reason for one class of agricultural industry making more profit than another is that the individuals back of the business are better organized, and do No. 4.] DAIRYING. 73 their work better. Go where you will, the people are talking apples, aud about the Hood Kivcr Valley organization. In my opinion, if the business would put the same organized ability, care and skill into dairying, we should find in a dec- ade or two that it would offer just as great opportunities as the apple business, because it is necessary to have milk, and it is not necessary to have apples. Set apple trees, but set the right sort of cows, also. Now, to go back to the method of growing oats, and peas, and alfalfa, and other crops of that sort, and taking the cows off the pasture system. I wish that pasturing could be banished from the earth; it just means that we expect to get something, and do not get it. I wish every man who depends on pasturing would next year fence off a square rod in his pasture, where the best feed grows, and then watch to see how much feed grows in that pasture. If it is anything like our pastures, you would wonder what the cow eats to make milk of. The pastures in the east as a whole have gone, in my opinion, never to return. I doubt whether we shall ever be able to establish pastures like those of England, because of our climate. We certainly shall not so long as cows are per- mitted to graze the pastures until there is nothing left; for that means the production of a plant that will stand that kind of grazing, and the plants that will stand it are the ones that have a very small, meager growth. I tried the experi- ment of fencing off a plot in the pasture, and it changed my method. I thought there was a good deal growing there, but the cows did not, and they were right. What shall we do to make our lands better worth while ? We are saving our stable manure, and taking care of it quite well. I think the best method is to get it right into the field, for I would rather trust nature than most men. The only way that we can supplement this in the east, as I believe, is by the intelligent use of chemicals. I bought 150 tons of chemicals for the neighbors about our school last year, and only two came back with any complaint. They had been buying mixed goods before, because they were cheaper per ton ; but they were so poor in quality and so high priced that they had been fertilizing with money instead of fertilizers. 74 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. ISTo man can afford — certainly no dairyman — to bny a sin- gle ounce of organic nitrogen, because you all have any amount of it on your farms now. Through poor tillage, you have failed to make it available. The roots of quack grass, or witch grass, make one of the best fertilizers you can have. They contain a large amount of organic matter and nitrogen, and a pound of that nitrogen is worth as much as a pound of cotton-seed or dried blood or bone. You can kill the grass and put the nitrogen into circulation in the soil with one-tenth the money it takes to buy nitrogen. The way to do it is to plow the witch grass in in September, turning up 6 or 7 inches, — not more than that. Take a field on which you wish to plant something about the first of June. Cultivate it immediately after plowing, using a disk harrow, and thoroughly cutting up the grass and roots. If your ordinary harrow will not do it, load it down until it will. Follow it up from time to time through the fall and early spring, often enough so that no green stuff shows above the ground. That treatment will kill any plant. The roots are in a condition of semi-coma ; and when a fellow is going down hill, it is easier to kick him a little farther than when he is going up hill. Then plow again in the spring, going a little deeper than before, about 8 or 10 inches. If you have done the work well, you will not have more than 2 or 3 inches of sod left, and by plowing in that way you will turn the sod in between two films of nicely pul- verized dirt, and with ordinary cultivation and treatment that will all disappear. Why buy dried blood and cotton-seed meal, when we have so much valuable material right there ? One thing which I wanted to say I have not had an oppor- tunity to say as yet. My subject is " Education of the dairy- man and the dairy cow." Up to the present time we have been educating the dairyman, and there is not much use in trying to educate the dairy cow until we have educated the dairyman. Every man's cow, sooner or later, will be just about what his ideal of a cow is. If a man buys cows with a capacity of 500 pounds of butter, and his capacity is 150 pounds of butter, those cows are as sure to land within a short time on a 150-pound basis as the sun is to shine, the grass to grow or No. 4.] DAIRYING. 75 the water to run. That is why I spent so much time on the first part of the case. Now for the latter part. In order to obtain the best results, we should raise our cows. For a certain average production, I believe we can buy cows cheaper than we can raise them. If we wish to get 5,000 or G,000 pounds of milk, averaging 314 per cent butter fat, we can buy cows cheaper than we can raise them ; but if we wish larger results, the 10,000-pound cows, — and that is what we ought to have, — we must know what their ancestry is, we must breed them and feed them and develop them. One critical time in the development of our dairy cows is the feeding, after they are a year and a half old, until they have passed through one year of milk. It is just the time when we are fixing the habit of the cow. We want this milk machinery developed and enlarged; we want it to be ideal. Develop her digestive ability, see that it is strong, and then develop a milk-producing function in that animal, so that she will take her food and deposit it in the milk pail instead of on the manure pile. You cannot do this in a minute. Y"ou cannot take a cow that has been educated for the first three or four years on other lines, and by any means, after that, make her what she would have been if you could have had her at the outset. We all understand that, but not all of us practice it. If there is a time in the life of the individual mother when she needs the best care and full feed, it is when she calves for the first time. Just what that full feed is to be depends on the individual cow with which you are dealing, and must be worked out individually. Generally in dairy sections the practice is to feed light at that time, because it is thought that if the animal has full feed she will have caked udder and all sorts of trouble. If we feed her properly, she will have nothing of the sort. We should give the heifer at that time just the ration she will need as a milk producer. There are a great many combinations, and we could discuss them for a long time and not get anywhere. Some cows need a wider ration than others ; you must adapt the ration to the individual. Why should not the animal have full feed ? She 76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. is developing her own body — or would, if slie liad enougli to eat — faster than at any time in her life after babyhood. Probably it would be a good thing if she did not come in until two and a half years old, and had a little more time to develop ; but when nature steps in to freshen for the first time, and says, " Here is a great task ; you must not only go through the ordeal, but you must give milk," the animal is developing faster than at any other time. That is when she needs her food, and just the same food that she would need if she were giving milk, only not quite so much. Balance the ration a little more carefully than you would when she is giving milk. This danger of caked udder is an old tradition. Of course if you feed an unbalanced ration you will be likely to have trouble with the udder when the heifer freshens. That is because the food and care are not such as to produce milk ; when she has a quantity of milk she will have no trouble. That is the business of the heifer, of her udder and of every function of her body ; it isn't to cake and swell, — that is due to lack of care on the part of her owner. Ten days or two weeks before the heifer freshens, be care- ful; do for that heifer mother just what you would do for the human mother ; diet at that time ; have energy, vitality, and enough fat on the body two weeks before she freshens so that you can diet her for two weeks and she will still have enough vitality to go through that trying ordeal. That is the way to avoid caked udders and retention of the afterbirth, and all those kindred troubles which injure the animal for that year. She cannot get back to where she originally was, if she has any of those troubles at parturition. IsTow feed her light for the next four weeks. I do not like the Holstein scheme of testing cows within two weeks after they freshen. That is the time they will make the most milk, but I believe it is fundamentally and constitutionally wrong. We put enough fat onto the animal prior to her calving so that we can let her shrink for a month. The man who has allowed his heifer to calve when she is poor, is forced to feed her to save her life, and trouble frequently follows. She ought not to be returned to her full feed until she has been in milk a month. T want to give my remedy foi* almost everything, at parturi- No. 4.] DAIRYING. 77 tiou or at any other time, — it is hot water. I would rather have a teaciipful of hot water than the contents of all the drug stores. I am against all kinds of patent medicines; if you want to take them, it is all right, you will soon pass on ; but I beg of yon, do not feed those things to your cows. You wouldn't try to clean a clogged sewer with quinine and whiskey ; and the inside of a man's body, or a cow's, as I see it, is a sewer. Elush it out with hot water ; give the cow all the hot water she wants, and she will drink it, and wash the poisons out of her body. Also, have a clinical thermometer, and anticipate trouble by determining her temperature. If it goes up to 102° or 103° in the morning, look out, for there is something the matter. Use hot water and blankets. We blanket our horse when there is anything the matter with him, and turn our cow out of doors. The temperature may be as high as that in the afternoon, of course, and not be serious. A woolen blanket and a teakettleful of hot water, repeated if she will take it, constitute all the medicine, outside of being well cared for, that a well-organized dairy institution needs. If the cow is normal — and I am speaking of the period at parturition — she has acquired a thirst, and she will drink the hot water; she would rather have it than four quarts of oats, to start the afterbirth. There is only one animal that can stand really cold water, and that is a man with a strong heart action. He can drink ice water, and seems to live and thrive. With any other animal it reduces the temperature and stops secretion. Any secretion organ is in danger when cold water or cold applications are applied. For a severe case of stoppage, if you have a veterinarian at hand, or the individual skill, I would not stop with the hot water; but with this method of feeding and treatment that danger is reduced to such a small factor that it is not worth reckoning. It is part of our law of breeding to get into trouble, and then find something to get us out quickly. We might well study the Japanese, — they hire doctors to keep them well. A strong, muscular, vigorous cow may be able, just as soon as she is normal, to take cold water, say about 40° or 45° ; it ought not to go below that. If a cow of a different make takes it, it might bring on trouble the very first thing. We have not sufficiently studied the indi- 78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. vidualitj of the cow. It enters into lier ability to digest and make milk, and into her every movement. These $30 cows do not offer very much for a $200 man to spend his skill on, but I think they are better to experiment on ; certainly better than to put a $30 man at work on a $200 cow. There is not much danger from cold water before parturi- tion, as there is a tendency to fever and a high temperature ; I think the danger will be limited to a month before that time. After parturition you have an entirely different condition, with a tendency to a temj)erature below normal. The cow has spent her strength, and is weak, and suddenly the blood flow is changed from the uterus to the udder ; and then some one comes along with a shovelful of feed. They do not want to make blood then; they want to do the things that will not make it. Question. Would you ever milk before parturition ? Professor Cook. If there is any tendency to inflammation or gargeting, I would milk, but not if the bag is normal. If there is a tendency to deposit poisonous matter in the udder, you must get rid of it as quickly as you can. I think the practice is to be condemned, unless absolutely necessary. Question". Is it not sometimes possible to have a cow that you cannot dry up ? Professor Cook. Yes. Do not ask that animal to freshen every twelve months. Just carry her period of service over from one to six months, and nature will restore that animal, dry up her milk-giving organs, and she will have a chance to go dry for a month or two. It means the salvation of many a highly organized, highly bred dairy cow. If you want con- tinuity of milk, do not give full feed under a month. A cow should give her full flow for six or eight months. Of course after you have educated your cow to come in in the spring and go out to pasture and give a lot of milk for a month, and then gradually dry off until you can milk six in one pail, simply because they have nothing to eat, they will not do that after a while; but if normal, they should give a full flow for six months. I want to thank the audience for its very kind attention. No. 4.] DAIRYING. 79 We have all been goodnatiired, but I hope not at the expense of some serious consideration of this dairy question. I tried at the outset to deal with some things that I believe are fundamental to our success. We have discussed some of those fundamental questions, and a body like this, strong men, strong in body and strong in mind, ought to give at least some of their energy in the direction of some of these fundamental questions that enter our business. Question. What kind of feed would you suggest after parturition ? Professor Cook. I dislike to discuss the food question without a good deal of time. If we have clover hay, I would not put a pound of wheat bran into a ration, — it is not needed ; the jDhosphoric material will be good for the cows, if you have not clover hay, though you will pay more for it. A good mixture would be something like this : 200 pounds of gluten or distillers' grains ; 200 pounds of corn meal, which is always safe in a ration, as 90 per cent of it is digestible ; 50 pounds of cotton-seed ; 50 pounds of linseed ; and 100 pounds of white wheat middlings. Question. Is that what is called red dog flour ? Professor Cook. No; that is a good feed, but is usually pretty expensive. Question. What do you think of molasses ? Professor Cook. Molasses is all right in its place, but molasses feeds should be put in the same list with patent medicines. Question. If you have no clover hay, would it not be better to buy it, rather than to put in the bran ? Professor Cook. Ordinarily, it would, providing the clover hay had been well cured and was in good condition. Question. You advise feeding all she will eat of clover hay? Professor Cook. Y^es ; if her other feeds have been propor- tionally related, there will be no danger in giving what she will eat. If they have not been, and the cow attempts to get the amount she ought to have, she will probably have indigestion. The Chairman. We have received a very instructive and 80 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. interesting lecture. The lecturer has not told us all he knows, but he certainly ought to have a little rest. We have with us some large dairymen from whom I know you would like to hear. We would like to hear from Mr. Ellis of ISTewton. Mr. George H. Ellis. I am in perfect agreement with nearly all that Professor Cook has said. But there are two or three " don'ts " which I want to interject. In the first place, on the ordinary Xew England farm don't buy nitrogen by cultivating witch grass ; your nitrogen will cost you a great deal more than if you buy it. What crop is the dairyman going to raise with us that he doesn't put in until after the first of June ? You must figure in your crops the cost of labor in cleaning out the witch grass, if you have it. Of course if you have it you should get rid of it. But I do not think you get enough out of your witch grass roots to pay you for your time and trouble, although the more cultivation you put in to kill the witch grass, the better the following crop will be. I am more of a believer in pastures on our New Eng- land farms than is the speaker, — perhaps from necessity. Most of us have a good deal of land we cannot cultivate, and it is worth more in pasture than to let it grow up to wood. The test which the speaker offered is not a fair one. You get a great deal more out of the grass to have it fed over several times than when you allow it to make the full growth it will. Change your cattle from pasture to pasture, having three pastures, and allowing each two weeks' rest between grazings, and you will find that the amount of grass you have grown is immeasurably beyond that which the test offered by the speaker would indicate. With what he has said as to milk being a by-product I have good reason to be in full accord. I started to manufacture milk, not manure, and undertook to retail a high grade of milk at 8 cents a quart. To be sure, a high grade costs more to produce than the ordinary milk ; but I found it absolutely necessary to go to 9 cents, 10 cents and 11 cents per quart; and my profit in 1908, on $75,000 of sales, was $36. I shall do somewhat better this year. My home farm is in the center of a city, and my cattle are fed at the barns the year around. My hay is purchased hay, and that makes it cost me very No. 4.] DAIRYING. 81 much more tlian it costs the ordinary farmer. But I believe that the farmer should receive at least 5 cents a quart for milk, if he is to make a living profit. Whenever there is a question of raising the price of milk to the consumers, a howl goes up and monopoly is cried. The raise doesn't amount to anything to the consumers, — 30 to GO cents a month is not much to them. The Boston Chamber of Commerce is taking an interest in New England as a whole, and one of the next moves of its committee on agriculture will be, I believe, to try to convince the people of Boston, through the newspapers, that they must pay a higher price for milk. The regulations governing the production of milk are not too strict, and should be lived up to ; but the consumer, and not the producer, should pay the cost. It is bad for New England to force a part of her people to live under such conditions that they cannot educate their children or live properly themselves. The labor unions claim that the laboring men and their families are entitled to better conditions, and that is absolutely right ; but these same people come up and say, " The farmers are rob- bing us, and it is a sin and a shame." The Chairman. We should like to hear from Mr. Potter. Mr. BuKTON W. Potter. It occurred to me, as Professor Cook was talking, that possibly we could accomplish the same result by weighing our milk three times a month and averag- ing the results, as suggested by Professor Hills of Vermont. This is an approximation, but accurate enough to accomplish the purpose of showing us whether our cows are profitable or unprofitable; and if we can establish substantially the same thing with nine times less labor, it seems to me it will be worth while to save that labor. In regard to witch grass, I have discovered by accident how to kill witch grass ; you know all great discoveries are made by accident. It never occurred to me that witch grass was an asset; if it is, my farm is worth a good deal more than I thought. I planted potatoes on a field where there was a good deal of witch grass. It was soon evident that the potatoes would cost three or four times what they would bring, if we fought that witch grass; so I plowed them under, witch grass and all, and sowed Japanese 82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. barnyard millet. The result was that the witch grass dis- appeared, and I presume it would frequently result in that way. On the question of pasturage I am with Professor Cook, against Mr. Ellis ; but 1 am not with Professor Cook on the theory that it has disappeared for good. I found out how little actual growth there was in pastures by mowing a pasture on a deserted farm which I secured a few years ago. When Mr. Ellis thinks by taking the top off three or four times he is getting twice as much as if he let it grow, he is much mistaken. Mr. Ellis. Did you ever try leaving a lawn, that was usually cut twenty different times a season, each time a couple of inches ? Mr. Potter. I do not believe if you tried it and weighed it that you would get any more than if you left it until ripe and then weighed it. We think our cattle are getting a good deal, but it is not there. You cannot get something out of nothing. But I do not believe it is time to give up our pastures. We must fertilize that land. Some of our pastures have not had a particle of new seed or manure for a hundred years, and this is a system of robbery. We must put some of our fer- tilizer on our pastures. If we plow our pastures where they are smooth enough, and harrow and fertilize, we shall soon have some feed that is worth while, and that will help amazingly in getting milk cheaply. Mr. Dodge. I am connected with the United States Department of Agriculture, and one of our men has been giving his time for a good many years to the study of grazing property. Pie has worked in the west and the central States, but is now and will be for some time to come studying the question of grazing in the eastern States. He believes that the most serious difficulty is from overgrazing, both by too heavy a stock per acre and too long a season. lie believes that two weeks' delay in turning the cattle out in the spring would make all the difference between good and poor pastures, as it is needed to give I ho grass a start. He points out that many pastures cannot be plowed. We must find some other way' there, — the scratch harrow, or the use of chemicals or addi- No. 4.] DAIRYING. 83 tion of seeds. He is trying to get in touch with as many peo- l)lc interested in the qnestion as possible. Those of you who wish will have an opportunity of getting in touch with what experiment work is being carried on. Professor Cook. The question of pasturing involves a good deal. I believe it is better to grow feeds for the soiling system, and let our cows have the pasture as well. They will clean the pastures, and take all you feed them besides. Probably Mr. Ellis may be right with some grasses. The grass that has a short growth would produce more by frequent grazing than it would to allow it to come to its full maturity ; but it is so small in either case that the lesson will remain, and that is the point I wish to make. No man should under- take to change at once from the pasturing system to the soil- ing system, or he will find himself in trouble. After you get your cow up to the full feeding and full flow of milk under the soiling system, and suddenly turn her away from it, you will have all sorts of trouble. Where she gradually shrinks down in the pasture, the cow takes care of her body, and we don't think anything of it. But begin plowing as fast as you can. Don't try to do it all in one year, but plow up what you can conveniently and apply chemicals and get a good crop, until you have turned all the pasture you can. I want to thank you for criticizing me so little. The question of pastures I did not really discuss at all, but the problems I tried to discuss you did not criticize me on, so I think we must agree. Afternoon Session. Secretary Ellsworth. At the request of members of the Board of Agriculture and others, Mr. P. M. Harwood, general agent of the Massachusetts Dairy Bureau, has arranged an exhibit of butter of various grades and its imitations, together with some utensils for making clean milk. He will tell you some of the things the Dairy Bureau is doing for the dairymen of Massachusetts. General Agent Harwood spoke for about twenty minutes, explaining the work of the Dairy Bureau. Most of the essential points in his address are covered in the annual report 84 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. of the Dairy Bureau, wliich is printed elsewhere in this volume. At the close of the meeting the audience had an opportunity to inspect the exhibit mentioned by Secretary Ellsworth. It appeared to interest the audience, and was certainly valuable and instructive. Secretary Ellswokth. It is now my pleasure to introduce the member of the Board from the Deerfield Valley Agricul- tural Society, who is also a member of the Legislature, Mr. William B. Avery, who will preside this afternoon. Mr. Avery. Ladies and gentlemen, on your programme you see the topic for the afternoon, " Crop rotation for the dairy farm." As a rule, we save as good as we have until the last, and I think we have done so to-day. I will introduce Mr. H. O. Daniels of Middletown, Conn. No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 85 CROP ROTATION FOR THE DAIRY FARM. BY H. 0. DANIELS, MIDDLETOWN, CONN". I feel that a great honor has been accorded me, in the opportunity to come to your meeting and talk to you to-day ; and I need not say it is also a great pleasure, as you must know it is such, from my accepting the invitation. I believe it is good for men in all kinds of business to meet together at times and to study their needs ; and what is true for other lines certainly is true for the agi-iculturists or farmers, if you please, of our States. While I am accepting your good wishes and the glad hand of fellowship, I in turn wish to extend to you the greetings and best wishes of the hundreds of dairymen and farmers of my own State, Connecticut. I feel a good deal of hesitancy in coming before you, as I real- ize the fact that many of you are better fitted to talk to this audience, knowing their needs, than I am; but in the hope that what I may say may help some brother over some of the rough places, I am going to tell you some of the experi- ences I have met and some of the problems I have solved in my work on my own dairy farm. Mr. James J. Hill, the great railroad promoter and student of our country's needs, contends that the time is at hand when our population will call for all the agricultural products of this country for home consumption, and that in the near fu- ture we shall be obliged to import wheat, corn and other staple products, unless we practice more thorough, intensive meth- ods of farming than we use to-day. I think in a measure this is true ; and when we look back for a few years, and study our systems of growing crops, we can see where we have been very wasteful of the soil we own, in allowing tremendous losses by leaching and washing. With your permission I will try to outline a plan for conserving the soil fertility, at the same time adding to what we already have, so 86 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. that when we pass our heritage to our children it will be better and more profitable than when we received it. Mv plan for conducting a dairy farm is based on dairying as the principal business, raising only such vegetables, fruits, etc., as are needed for home consumption. The system can be modified to take in a cash field crop as well, if one is so situated as to have a paying market at hand. With us at Millbrook Farm we can keep busy in the production of milk, the raising of stock for our dairy, and the care of a flock of poultry. The latter branch goes well with dairying. For convenience as an illustration, we will suppose that we have a 50-acre farm, all conveniently situated near our farm build- ings. In our own case I regret to say that we are not so fortunate, as some of our land is three-fourths of a mile, and some one mile, from the home farm. In nearly all farms certain fields are adapted to growing corn, rye and clover or wheat and clover, and some fields are adapted to growing only hay, on account of the water level in the soil. In this 50-acre farm we will suppose that 30 acres will grow corn, and the other 20 acres will grow only hay. Let us divide this 30 acres into three fields, or, if this not just according to the lay of the land, make four or five fields, but use the 30 acres in a series of three crops. We will say that we are just beginning, this coming season, our system of crop rotation. If we do not care to plant all this 30 acres in corn, we can gain one year's time and make most excellent silage for the coming summer feeding by sowing a portion, say 10 acres, to oats, about iVpril 10 to 15, sowing only II/2 to 2 bushels of seed to an acre, at the same time sowing 8 quarts of mammoth or medium red clover seed. If your soil needs lime, as most land docs, broadcast one-half ton fresh ground lime to an acre, preferably a few days in advance of sowing the seed, and mix thoroughly with the soil. We tried this method on one field the past season, and had most magnificent results, the second crop of clover growing 20 to 24 inches high, and coming into full bloom. Six acres of this second-crop clover furnished sixty head of cattle all the green feed needed for a full month. The first crop of oats and clover we placed in the silo for sunnner feeding, and it gave excellent results. I^ext year avc are looking for No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 87 a maximum crop on this field, ready for the silo about June 1 to 10. Starting a field of clover in this way, one can get quick results, thus making the first cycle in our three-year rotation. After we have harvested our corn by placing it in the silo, — you see I advocate the use of the silo, which we consider very essential to profitable dairying, — we harrow the corn stubble with a cutaway and spring-tooth harrow, api)ly one-half ton of lime, sow a bushel and a quarter of rye, and harrow it all in as early as possible, which with us is usually about the 1st of October. In the spring, early in April, if the soil is ready, we will take 10 acres of this remaining 20 where we have sown the rye, and harrow over thoroughly with a spike-tooth harrow or heavy weeder, sow 8 quarts of mammoth or medium red clover seed, and roll, after going over once more with the weeder to cover the seed. I think at this time if we use lime instead of ashes in our soil treatment, that we shall need to apply 150 to 200 pounds of muriate of potash to the acre. Clover is a lover of potash, and we must supply it in some form other than in the manure from our stables, if we wish to grow the maximum crops of clover. This treatment with the harrow may at first seem a little harsh for the rye, but it will soon recover and make a splendid growth, and the clover, if the season is right, will be ready to take posses- sion as soon as the rye is removed. A portion of the rye we place in the silo, cut into half-inch lengths and mixed with the clover from a previous year's seeding. We find the best en- silage is made by using one-third rye and two-thirds clover, so that the balance of the rye crop can be cut for hay or left to grow for grain. With this latter practice, liowever, there is risk of not having a good clover growth if the season is dry, as the rye takes too much water from the soil. There is still another chance for a clover growth on that field this season, if we find the rye has killed out the clover, and that is to plow after the rye is harvested, spread 10 or 12 loads of manure to the acre, and sow 8 quarts of clover and 2 ounces of turnip seed to the acre, at any time from July 20 to August 1. A fine crop of turnips can be harvested, with the possibility of a magnificent crop of clover the next season. I think the practice of some dairymen, of cutting the rye with the reaper 88 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. when in blossom, before the seed is formed, and selling all to the liveryman as straw, can be commended, as it makes a profitable cash crop, used in this way. We are experimenting this year with wheat sown on a small portion of our fields, and if we find the spring-sown clover in this crop will come out successfully, after harvesting the wheat for grain, we shall adopt that plan, and depend on clover alone for our summer silage. The price of wheat and the need of it in poultry feeding makes this plan worthy of a trial, and we hope to make a success of it in this connection in our crop system. We now come to the last year of our rotation system. We have one-third of our tillable area in clover, one-third in rye and clover or wheat and clover, if the latter proves successful, and the balance of our fields we need for corn. In the fall or winter, or as early in the spring as possible, we spread 10 loads of manure per acre on our clover fields, and late in April or early in May we spread 15 loads of manure per acre for the corn crop. After we have once gone over our fields with this three-year rotation, we have a clover sod to plant our corn on, and this makes an ideal soil for our corn crop. We plant about May 15, if the season is right, with Eureka or some other large-growing corn, using 12 to 14 quarts to the acre, planted with a two-row planter. We advise applying at this time 150 to 200 pounds of a high-grade fertilizer, with the planter. This starts the corn along with a rush, and makes easier the work of keeping the weeds down early in the season, before the rush of other work. After the corn is harvested we again sow with rye or wheat, using one-half ton of lime, as previously stated, and make all snug for the winter. This completes our three-year system, and we then go on the follow- ing seasons planting corn on the second-year clover sod, and so on each year until we find some better way. If alfalfa could be grown on these tillable fields, we could extend our rotation s_ystem two or three years, and also ]>rovide the most valuable of all forage crops for our dairy herds. I think we can apply to our crop system the philosophy of Saint Paul to the Thossalonians, where he said, " Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." Lot us study fen- a moniont the No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 89 possibilities this system of crop rotation offers for "the dairy farm. With one-third of our land in clover, one-third in rye and cloxer or wheat and clover and one-third in corn, we may reasonably expect to harvest 10 tons of clover ensilage, 10 tons of rye and 25 tons of corn ensilage per acre. Basing our estimate on 30 acres of tillable land, we find that we can harvest 200 tons of rye and clover ensilage, 250 tons of corn ensilage and 10 to 20 tons of clover rowen, making 400 to 450 tons of fine ensilage and from 10 to 20 tons of hay, on our 30 acres. A word in regard to growing our hay on the other 20 acres of hay land. We spread with the manure spreader in the fall or winter, as is most convenient, 10 loads of manure to the acre on these grass fields. Early in April we take our cutaway harrows and go over these grass fieMs with the harrow set at a good angle, going in half-lap lengthwise of the field, and then diagonally once or twice, until the field shows some little new dirt. Then, if the sod is getting thin, we sow 3 or 4 quarts of alsike clover seed and 1 or 2 quarts of red top, scratch it in with a sulky lO^^ foot weeder, and then roll. If you have never tried this treatment for a grass sod, you will be surprised at the wonderful change which takes place. The lifting action of the cutaway harrow opens up the sod, lets the manure down to the roots of the grass, and also lets in sunlight and air and germinates this new seed. Where one or two blades of grass would grow without this treatment, five or six will now spring up ; and, with the fine new grass at the bottom, a splendid fine hay is produced, which, supplemented by our ensilage, furnishes a feed through the winter and spring equal to June pasturage, keeping the dairy herd on full feed the year round. I beg you will not consider this all theory. We are keeping as many as fifty Cows through the year, twenty head of young stock during the seven winter months, and six horses all the year, on 50 acres treated in this way. Of course we have to buy grain to balance the ration. For winter feeding we find 100 pounds of wheat bran, 100 pounds of middlings and 100 pounds of cotton-seed meal make a very good, economical mixture, analyzing about 20 per cent digestible protein. By 90 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. using from 6 to 10 pounds of this grain mixture for cows milking 20 to 40 pounds daily, we can keep up the milk flow economically. Perhaps this year we shall need to look for some other form of protein, as cotton-seed meal is rather high. If we could get alfalfa to grow in place of our native grasses, we should think we had reached the ideal rotation for a dairy farm. Let us now look for a moment at the benefits derived from this system : — ■ First. — After we have the system established, we have to plow but 10 of these 30 acres of tillable land each year, or one-third of our tillable area, as this system is adaptable to a greater or less acreage. We thus reduce the labor required to a minimum. Second. — We have "a good sod to run all our machinery for spreading manure, sowing potash, lime, etc. Thi7'd. — The work is spread over nearly every month in the year, in seasonable time to do it easily. Fourth. — The tillable fields are covered nearly all the year, thus preventing soil washing and loss of fertility. Fifth. — The soil is constantly becoming richer in nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. Sixth. — The only outlay for fertilizer is for the half-ton of lime and 150 to 200 pounds of potash used per acre on the rye and clover, costing about $6 per acre, or $G0 for the 10 acres; and $3 per acre for the small amount of fertilizer used on the 10 acres in corn ; making a total of about $90 per year on the 30 acres of tillable land. If we find that it pays to use lime on our grass fields, this would cost something more, but not exceeding $10 or $12 more per year, as doubtless one-half ton per acre, used once in four 3Tars, would be found sufficient for the ordinary grass plants. In this way we can fertilize and improve our 50 acres at a cost of about $2 per acre, or $100 for the whole farm, as the large herd of cows, young stock and horses will make manure enough to cover all these fields each year. Serenth. — There is no opportunity for weeds to go to seed and make trouble the following year in the eovu field, as the two and sometimes three cuttings of rye and clover prevent thnt, and finally pnt the soil in the very best possible condition No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 91 for plowing for the corn crop. Witli the treatment I have outlined for the grass field, 1 believe a good maximum crop of hay can be grown for a good many years without plowing up and reseeding, certainly for ten or more years, as we have a iield at home which proves that this can be done. These grass fields ought, and do, on our farm, to produce at least three tons of hay the first crop, and nearly a ton of rowen the second crop, if the first crop is cut early enough to give a chance for a good second crop. With this system, a 50-acre farm handled as I have outlined would produce from 400 to 450 tons of prime ensilage and 95 to 100 tons of hay each season, and grow better each succeeding year. Of course grain must be bought; but when one considers the manurial value of this purchased feed, as well as the feeding value, and makes the very best use of it by saving all the manure and applying it to the land, I believe the dairy herd, if it is well selected and bred for the purpose for which it is kept, can be made to pay. In conclusion, allow me to say to those of you who are dairymen that I believe there has never been a time in our history when there has been so much need as at j)resent for us to own and feed only profitable dairy cows. It becomes us to study to be true dairymen, breeding and raising our own cows, and once more covering our hill pastures with a class of cattle that will be a credit to us as breeders, and a heritage to our children worthy of their best thought and endeavor as they go forward in the path we have chosen. QuKSTiox. I want to know a little about the lime question. Do you use lime for its fertilizing qualities, or its corrective qualities ? Professor Clinton held that it was simply correct- ive, and that a great deal more importance was placed on lime than it deserved. You have put a great deal of emphasis on treating land with lime, and that is why I want you to explain more fully about it. Mr. Daniels. It certainly has corrective qualities, — takes the acid out of the soil, and liberates plant food which is otherwise unavailable. Tf I had a stomach ache, I should take something to correct it ; I have found Jamaica ginger 92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. good for that. I have found that the use of lime is a cheap way to correct the ills the soil sutfers from, and when it is used, those troubles do not occur. Until I know better, I am going to use lime, and attribute to its use the increased crop growth that follows. Mr. Wm. H. Bowker. What does the lime cost, delivered at your farm, and where is your farm ? Mr. Daniels. The farm is at Middletown, Conn. Lime costs about $4.25 a ton delivered loose at our railroad station in carload lots, $2.25 per ton at the kiln, and about $2 per ton for freight charges. Mr. Dodge. What do you consider the most satisfactory stage of development in which to have your corn when it goes into the silo ? Mr. Daniels. With Eureka corn it should make its full growth and begin to ear, and it will ordinarily do that if we plant as early as the 15th of May. Eureka corn will ear very well, but we do not allow our corn to develop the ears too much. We know the protein is a good element in making milk, but with too highly developed ears there will be less foliage. Whatever goes into the ear is taken out of the stalk. If the plant has not tried to reproduce itself by seeding, the nutrients are distributed more through the plant ; and on that theory the corn is better for ensilage with small ears than with larger ones. We have it matured onouoh so that it is sweet, and not rank. Mr. Williams. On grass land where you use nothing but chemicals, would you cultivate in the way you have recom- mended ? Would it pay to go over grass land with the harrow, where it had not been treated for two or three years, and you secured a ton and a half of hay to the acre, if you had nothing to put on ? Mr. Daniels. It would pay in one way, as it would put new life into the roots ; but still you must feed the soil. Mr. George M. Clark, the noted grass grower of our State, had as one of his mottoes that a plant would never die if it had any- thing to live for ; and if we feed that plant, it is going to grow to its fullest development. The harrowing would have some effect, but not as much as if you used manure and chemicals. No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 93 One thing wliicli I meant to tell you in regard to rotation is, that it simplifies the amount of actual labor which you have to devote to this branch of farming. You must plow these fields only once in three years. Where you plant corn con- tinuously you must plow every year. Of course in the rotation you must plow for the corn crop, but the rest of the work is done with harrows and cultivators, and it is done at a minimum amount of strain on our farm teams. In plowing for corn, spread the manure on the sod the last of April, and let the clover grow until the first week in May, when it will perhaps be -i or 5 inches high ; then plow and harrow three or four times before you plant the corn. Question. It is claimed that there is more magnesia in some limes than in others, and that the magnesia is poisonous to plant life. Is that your experience ? Mr. Daniels. We have recently changed from ashes to lime; but from what I can learn, any fresh-ground lime is very good stuff to buy. Question. If you could get air-slaked lime, would it be of less value than fresh-ground lime ? Mr. Daniels. I think so; but they are usually sold out pretty well at the kilns, and do not have much on hand. Question. Do you use fertilizer on your corn ? Mr. Daniels. This year we used on one field 200 pounds of high-grade fertilizer; and I think it an advantage, as it starts the corn rapidly, and pushes it up out of the way of the weeds and makes it easier to care for, I think there is suffi- cient plant food in the soil without purchasing fertilizer. Another advantage of the rotation system is, that you do not have many weeds to contend with ; they are entirely destroyed by the clover, so that the land is practically free from them when the corn is planted. Question. Is not your corn too large to cut with a harvester ? Mr. Daniels. I have seen a harvester cut corn 16 feet high. We have eliminated the corn harvester, because we believe it is more expensive than cutting by hand. Question. Have you ever had any experience with sowing soy beans with your corn for ensilage ? 94 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Mr. Daniels. We tried it once, but I do not like to grow two croj)S at the same time. Both growing together, neither develops to the fullest maximum growth, and it is a hard job to cut them by hand. I think a harvester would cut them all right. Mr. S. H. Reed. Taking into account the difference in season, would you advise Eureka corn for our use for the silo ? We cannot plant until May 20. Mr. Daniels. I do not think your season is very different from ours ; we expect frost about the 15th of September. Mr. Reed. We expect it from the 6th to the 8th, — never later than the 10th. Mr. PoTTEK. I want to ask the lecturer why he prefers rye to wheat ? My experience has been that it does not last very long, gets woody, and does not do as well as wheat. Mr. Daniels. We are trying to introduce wheat into our system, so as to have it to feed to hens. Wheat is a new thing with us, and rye is one of the things you can almost always bank on as a staple crop. You can sow it in the fall and get good winter covering, and it is sure to do well in the spring. I understand wheat winter-kills on certain soils. If wheat will do as well as rye in the spring, I certainly advise planting it, because it is as good in the green form as rye, and if grown to maturity, so that you can have the grain for poultry and the straw for bedding, it is certainly more valuable. Question. Do you eliminate the pasture in this system ? Mr. Daniels. Very nearly so. We let our milking herd remain in the home pasture for a month or six weeks, expect- ing them to get the equivalent of what we feed as hay. About the first of July we feed them hay as well as ensilage, and they remain in the pasture a little longer, going into the stable about the 1st of September and remaining there the rest of the year. The advantage of turning them into the pasture is that it keeps them in good condition. If they are confined all the time, their feet get out of shape. The young stock are turned into another pasture every day through the season. Mr. DoDCJE. I think this is the most thorongh exposition I have ever heard of the producing of dairy crops on the two different types of land most of us own, — one where we can grow tillage crops, and the other where we are obliged to grow No. 4.] CROP ROTATION. 95 hay alone. I have studied farm conditions a good deal in the last five years, and I believe the average dairy farm in New England is depending too much on the hay crop. 1 find that the successful dairy farmers are following a rotation plan very much like the one described by Mr. Daniels. One thing is })articularly striking, — when the percentage of land kept in hay gets above 50, the number of cows that can be kept is decreased. A great many people are applying manure in too large quantities. They do not get around the farm often enough. I find one result which illustrates what I mean very well. With a rotation once in corn and once in wheat, an application of 12 tons of manure to the acre gave a return of $2.16 per ton, an application of 16 tons to the acre but $1.66 per ton, and an application of 20 tons to the acre but $1.44 per ton. The more they put on .the greater was the part wasted, and the less they got back to a ton. By planting to corn and manuring heavily, and then letting the land lie for a long time without attention we have too much land in hay and a great rush of work through haying, which results in some of our hay being cut late. You will find that Mr. Daniels' hay is cut at the right time, and is sweet and full of milk-making qualities. When land is allowed to stay in hay and is not broken up often enough, it suffers unduly from drought. We are stripping the land of hay and putting nothing back. One thing we have to contend with here is the high price of corn, and many of our farmers are meeting it by raising their own grain. One man whose methods I have investi- gated is making a profit of about $10 an acre on the peas and oats he grows, and about $15 an acre on his corn. I do not know what his yield of milk is, but I assume that he is making a profit on that, as well as on his grain crops, and as he should if he bought the grain. In that way he is getting two profits, whereas the man who buys his raw material — and a great many are buying too much of it — can make but one profit, no matter how good his cows may be. Professor Sanborn, one of the leading agriculturists of New England, said that it is not so important how much milk or butter we can produce per cow, as how much milk or butter we can pro- duce per acre of New England land. 96 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Question. Would it pay to plow our laud ouce in three or four years, if we had plenty of dressing to apply to it, or would it be better to let it lie, and top-dress it ? Mr. Daniels. I think it would be better to let it lie, and top-dress it. If you can feed the plant so as to continue its life and growth for a number of years, you can do it cheaper than to plow and reseed. Once get your grass land properly seeded, and you can maintain it for ten years, and perhaps fifteen, by cultivating and feeding the plant. I was glad to hear what Mr. Dodge said about operating a farm. We have just 72 acres of tillable land on our farm. The farm is in three portions, one with the buildings, another half a mile away, and a third a mile and a half away. That third portion is too far away to till, so that we are actually reduced to about 35 acres of tillable land ; and we are carrying a herd of about one hundred head of cattle on the farm, and producing all the roughage except what little the cattle get in the pasture. We used to have one field that was in corn con- tinuously for sixteen years. The land got so hard that when it was plowed it would break up in lumps like stone or brick ; and the crop would never reach its full growth, because there was not enough humus in the soil to carry it out. Our system of crop rotation has changed all that. We probably get a third better yield per acre of corn than under the old system. We have not the whole farm working yet, but we are working into it. We keep five Italian men, and your humble servant, who is supposed to be a Yankee, is there all the time, and my brother is there a part of the time. He has two boys, ten and twelve years old ; and I have one, ten 3^ears old. They help a great deal in the summer, as they can mow and rake the hay as well as a man. I should say that we had seven men at work on the farm, and count the boys as good as half a man each. We carry about sixty milking cows and about thirty young stock. We wholesale our milk in the city, four miles away, delivering twice a day in the summer and once a day in win- ter. Our herd tM'elvc years ago was a purchased herd, and averaged 5,280 pounds of milk per cow. We have since begun to raise our own stock, raising almost all of it in the last four or five years, and the herd has come up to 6,000 pounds per No. 4.] DAIRYING. 97 cow. ]\[j idea is to get down to fifty cows, and a herd rate per cow that is greater. My ideal is a fifty-cow herd, with an average yield of 8,000 pounds of milk per cow. Question. Do you raise grains on your farm ? Mr. Daniels. No; we have no room. When our father left us the farm, twenty years ago, we kept only five cows and a pair of horses. To-day we are carrying, as I have stated, about one hundred head of stock, and all the money we have, we secured in the business. Question. Are you getting the same returns from the cap- ital invested in your farm as you would expect from a manu- facturing business ? Mr. Daniels. I do not think we are getting as much as some. When we took the farm, we thought that we would like to sell it and buy another, which seemed to us to be better suited to the business. We had the place in a real estate man's hands for a year at $2,800, and could not find a purchaser. A short time ago we thought that we might sell the farm ; and, in figuring up to find out what we should ask for it, I found that we would have to get at least $28,000, in order to get back the money we had spent on it; and that money all came out of the farm itself. Mr. Reed. How much protein do you use ? Mr. Daniels. We use an average of a ton and a quarter protein feeds per cow. I believe in feeding the young stock just as well as the mature cow, and getting them into such shape that when they go into the milking herd they are ready to do business. While we cannot grow our grain, we can buy it and make a profit at present prices, with the class of cows we keep. I believe it is all right to buy our grain if we have learned how to feed what we buy, but not for the $30 cow spoken of. Mr. Reed. From what you have said, we had better put all our corn into the silo. All through the State they are saying we ought to husk our corn and thresh our grain ; but the farmer of experience knows it is hard to get rid of the corn stover and the threshed grain. Mr. Daniels. Perhaps I could illustrate the system of husking your corn, paying the miller for grinding it, and then 98 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. feeding it to the cow, by a story told by a friend of mine in advocating the silo. He said it was just like the country boy who went into a restaurant and saw some cheese on the table. He took some bread, spread it with butter, and laid some cheese on it, saying, — Come together again, you two, — What poor fool ever sepai-ated you? In the evening a banquet was held at the Hotel Richardson, Lowell, under the auspices of the Lowell Board of Trade. The guests of the evening wex^ Hon. Harold Parker, chairman of the Massachusetts Highway Commission, who spoke on the State highways ; and Dr. David Snedden, Commissioner of Education, who spoke on vocational education, and what the State Board of Education has in mind to do in that line in Massachusetts. Other sj^cakers were Charles E. Ward and Secretary Ellsworth, for the State Board of Agriculture ; and Hon. Alonzo G. Walsh, for the business men of Lowell. Henry A. Smith, Esq., president of the Board of Trade, pre- sided. Third Day. Secretary Ellsworth. It gives me pleasure to introduce to you the member from the Middlesex I^orth Agricul- tural Society, to whom we are so much indebted for the enter- tainment which we have received, Mr. George W. Trull, who will preside at the morning session. The Chairman. I am sure that you will all agree with me when I say that I have enjoyed the lectures very much, each and every one of them, and I am glad to say that that of the next speaker will be no exception. I have the pleasure of in- troducing Rev. W. H. Daven])ort of Colrain, Mass., Avho will talk to you on " Poultry keeping on snudl farms." No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 99 POULTRY KEEPING ON SMALL FAEMS. BY REV. W. II. DAVENPORT, COLRAIN, MASS. The agriculturist of New England must of necessity exercise liis talents on a small parcel of ground, as compared with the farmer of the great west, where machinery plays so important a part in the tilling of the soil. But the area of the plot to be tilled need not in any sense curtail the caliber of its owner, and the occupant of a small farm is under no obliga- tion to be, in mind, in business acumen or in success, a small farmer. Years of experience in both the east and the west had led us to the conclusion that, while success may smile on one in either locality, still to a certain extent machinery on the large farm is pitted against manhood on the small one, and true success with the latter implies greater maidiood. Of the various industries adapted to thrive on a small farm, and to utilize to good account all or any part of the time and talents of any man, no matter how able, who shall wish to undertake it, poultry keeping would appear to be — in a State like Massachusetts, where it is said that last year alone over seventeen million dollars worth of poultry products had to be imported to supply the local demands — a business well adapted to, and within easy reach of, the average man. Ill considering the subject at this time, let us take up in turn what I have been pleased to call a mess of '' P's," viz., the pleasures, profits, proprietorship, pens, pastures, provender and poultry necessary to successfully conduct a poultry plant on, and as a part of the machinery of, a small farm. First, the Pleasures. — I have placed pleasure first, because no man can ever do his best in any undertaking without hav- ing added to his labors the zest and inspiration which comes from an enjoyment of the work. 100 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 1^0 man who does not like a hen, who cannot see beauty or excellence in a hen, and who feels like kicking her or shooing her away whenever she comes near, will ever succeed as a poul- try-man. He must learn to feel friendly to her, if he expects her to act as a friend or helper to him. This rule will hold good in every branch of animal husbandry, but in none more truly than in poultrycraf t, — possibly from the fact that none of our domestic creatures is more meagerly endowed with in- tellect than the hen ; and for this very reason, one who would best succeed through her existence must have a real interest in her; he must be brains and judgment, as well as master. From the first, then, let us say, if you cannot learn to like and admire her, if you cannot teach her to come at your call, and feel friendly to her when she gives the best her life has to give for your benefit, do not attempt it, — hens will not be a profitable branch on jour farm. Second, the Profits. — We imagine that most men would place this subject first ; but our observation has been that it never reaches its highest degree of perfection unless it is first preceded by pleasure. What profits may accrue from a poul- try plant depend upon every subject to be dealt with in this address, and, like the links of a chain, one broken means failure of all. The universal verdict has been that $1 per year, per hen, in net profits, is fair. However, not all the real profits are to be counted in cash. The hen we believe to be one of the few creatures, if not the only one, that can be raised profitably on a run-out farm, and, taking nothing from the soil, pay all her expenses, give good profits, and build up the soil at the same time. When we bought our present home, a friend said: " If you are going to farm it, why not buy a place where you can keep a horse without having to buy hay ? " To-day we have a horse, two cows and a heifer, and instead of buying are selling a little hay each season. In addition, we have set out apple trees and bought orchard land till we have about eight hundred apple trees, all of which we are fertilizing from the hen house, though we allow the hens no credit in cash for the guano. With us, where everything is sold at wholesale prices, express out, we have never had the No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 101 net profits sink below the figure $1, and perhaps $1.40 per hen would be a better and fairer average, taking year after year. The man who is in touch with retail trade may increase his profits much a])(>ve this figure, though in a sense this increase will be only the legitimate compensation for his increased labor; and if this labor had been expended in caring for an increased number of fowls, the results might be as good or even better. The fact, then, may be taken as granted, — a good hen is worth $1 per year net earnings, if properly cared for ; all that is made above or below this sum is due directly or indirectly to the third " P " in our " mess," viz., — Third, the Personality of the Proprietor. — We have al- ready said that a man wdio does not, and cannot learn to, like a hen will never succeed as a poultryman. There is some- thing in the fitness of a man for his business that settles the matter of his success or failure often even before he attempts it. We believe there are more farm failures from this than from any other one cause. The average small farm holder is a man of many interests. In some of his branches of hus- bandry he is an adept, and here he succeeds. In others his labor is fraught with failure because he does not like or under- stand the work ; but it is the custom for the small farmer to have about so many " irons in the fire," and so he continues to be a failure. If, instead, every small land holder would choose just those lines of work he loves, educate himself in them and learn to perfect them under his personal care, then would failure disappear. The proprietor of the poultry plant is the one great factor ; he determines whether it is to be a success or a failure. It is not the hen or the breed, but the man, who succeeds or fails. Given the man who enjoys working for profits on a poultry plant, and we next need, — Fourth, a Pen or Poultry House. — There are really but three kinds of poultry houses, the long house, the " A " house, and the makeshift. There may be many variations of each ; the long house may be cut up into short sections, or prolonged indefinitely ; the " A " house may be open or closed, floored and on runners, or floorless on the ground; but really there 102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. are but three kinds, after all, and in tlicir treatment the last should be made the first. The makeshift poultry house is one that shonld be utilized by poultry-men as far as jDossible. We believe that on nearly every farm where there is a set of buildings of long standing there are almost invariably one or more places now wholly unused, which may be easily prepared and adapted to the needs of a flock of fowls. A farmer once came to me, saying : "Come iTj) and buy my hens; they will not lay, and I'm going to sell them, and not keep any until I build a good poultry house." I went, and found a flock of splendid pid- lets, all as fat as could be, with six or seven bushels of un- shelled corn under their feet, and as many more of partly shelled corn. 'No wonder that those pullets did not lay ! But what surprised me was that they were living in a big, dry, warm barn basement, wholly unused for other purposes, and of such a nature that the insertion of a few south windows would have made it as good a house for one hundred hens as I ever saw, and this with no other expense. When we bought our place there stood on the lawn a two-story building which was erected fifty years ago for silk culture. Sills decayed, roof leaky, sides and floors bad, — it looked like a case for the bonfire; but with two small boys to help, and no carpenter, we moved, resilled, roofed, floored, shingled the sides, and painted it, until it was something like the " old family vinegar barrel, that had been in the house two hundred years." The owner admitted the new hoops, heads and staves, but declared that it had the " same old bung-hole." So our old building we made into a wagon and tool house, a storage and a rat- proof feed room; but up stairs was an 18 by 30 foot space unused. This we floored double, and, by putting in a stair- way and a hall on the first floor, with a front outside door facing south, opening into a half-acre hen pasture, we have made it for five years the home of one hundred hens. So we would say to every farmer, don't build until you use what you have ; basement, ground floor or attic, it is all the same to " Biddy," if you give her light, dryness, freedom from drafts and plenty of space. No. 4.1 POULTRY KEEPING. 103 The socoiul style of house is the " A " house, a very simple structure, with low eaves, high ridge, giving sufficient space for the attendant to stand erect in the center and only enough for the fowls near the eaves, and the gable facing the south. Such a house is seldom used for more than one pen, and its chief advantage is its ease of construction. Fig. 1 shows an " A " house of the style used by Mr. C. E. L. Ilaj^ard of Hancock, N. H. We visited Mr. Hay Fig. 1.— An ' A " house, of the style used by Mr. C. E. L. Haywood of Hancock, N. H. ward's farm on one of the coldest days of last January, and counted in one orchard three hundred such houses, all with entirely open fronts, wired in, and containing twelve hens to the house. Other orchards were filled in a similar manner. We have three large houses of this type, built very warm, with double boards and paper between, accommodating fifty hens each. These were built some years ago, and, except that they require less skilled carpentry, we are inclined to con- sider them without any advantage over the common long 104 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. house. They are harder to clean, and, being high at the ridge, it is difficult to arrange the roosts in winter so that the fowls can take advantage of their animal heat in warming the sleeping places. The house which is in most common use we have left until the last, viz., the long house. The long house may be one or more stories high, single or double pitch roof, long or short, high or low, and still be a '^ long house." After considerable study, we have originated plans of our own which we believe to be the most economical we have ever seen. These plans for a 10 by 40 foot house for one hundred hens are as follows : first, for sills get five pieces 4 by 6 inch lumber, cut square ends, 9 feet 8 inches long, and eight pieces 2 by G inch, each 10 feet long, all of exact lengths. Spike Fig. 2. — Sills of a 10 by 40 foot ben house. these together as shown in Fig. 2, resting the ends of the cross sills on ten posts or stones, or preferably the whole out- side sills on a stone wall, cemented on the inside, and filled with gravel to the bottom of the sills, which should be raised 1 foot above the surrounding ground, to prevent moisture. The sills being completed, we next erect partitions, one on each cross sill, as shown in Fig. 3. These partitions we make of 2 by 4 inch studs, covered, except the doorway on the south side, with cheap, rough, half-inch lumber. The studs, 51/2 feet long at the sides and Gl/o feet at the center, with those on each side of the center 5% feet long, are toe-naik-d to the cross sills, the three rafters — there are but three in the build- ing— being nailed to the tops of the center and halfway studs, and the plates and girts spiked to the sides of the side studs, all as shovm in Fig. 3. For girts and plates use 2 by 4 No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 105 inch stuff, 10 feet long. For rafters use 2 by 6 inch lumber of any length, so as to give sufficient to extend three times the length of the building. Square the ends of the rafter lumber and splice into three 40-foot strips, by nailing short boards on Fig. 3. — Partitions, girts and rafters. both sides of the joints. Place these rafters lengthwise of the building on top of the three middle studs, and spike the girts and plates to the side studs 3 and C feet from the bottom of the sill respectively, this giving both the north and south sides of the frame the same appearance as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 4. — Partitions, girts and rafters. The frame is now complete and ready for covering, which may be done by purchasing 12-foot boards of such quality and finish as suit our taste, and cutting every board exactly in halves. It will now be found that a 6-foot board will exactly reach from the bottom of the sill to the top of the plate, and also from the middle rafter down over the plate, leaving suffi- 106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. cient projection for eaves. Thus two 12-foot lengths will extend entirely over the building, cutting without a particle of waste in the entire structure; or 9C0 feet of 12-foot boards will cover both sides and roof. Fig. 5 shows the manner of placing the side and roof boards, also the appearance of the building when completed. This house may be made by a man with little skill as a carpenter, and by covering the roof with some good roofing, like rubberoid or paroid, it will be as warm and as perma- nent a structure as can be built. On the south side we cut the G-foot boards in halves, nailing these 3-foot pieces from the sill to the girt for 5 feet of each 10-foot pen, thus leaving space for a window, without the extra expense of purchasing frames. This is also shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 5. —Showing how boards, roofing and windows are placed, with ventilating slides beside each window. Beside each window we place a slide door, to be opened and shut for ventilation ; but these doors are never entirely closed. In our houses we use double boarding and paper between on the north side, single boards matched on the south side, and paint the entire building, both for preservation and appear- ance. Our house now being completed on the exterior, it consists of four 10 by 10 foot rooms inside, connected by doorways on the south side of each partition, and with windows on the south side of each room. These doorways are never closed in our laying houses, but one hundred hens are kept in one flock, and given the entire use of the house. We find the par- titions of such value as a prevention of drafts, and also as giving the fowls opportunity to escape all the effects of nag- ging and quarreling so common in a largo flock kept all to- No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 107 getlicr in one or two pens, that, even if not of value in strength- ening the building, we would make them for these reasons alone. Thus our house contains four distinctly separate rooms, all opened together. Each of these rooms is furnished exactly like its fellows. Fig. G gives an illustration of one of these rooms, with all its furnishings, which includes the best we H ; H H : H 1 1 [ G G 1 ' / F 1 F 1 r 1 F 1 - 1 F 1 E B A B y 1 ©J 1 - V D SOUTH WINDOWS Fig. 6. — Our ideal poultry room: a, floor; 6, side shelves, 2 feet above floor; c, water pail; d, dry mash box; e, shells; /, nests, on same level as shelves; 2,000 when all the bills for lUOU have been paid, it can readily be seen that if the expenses continue in the same pro- portion for another year, after paying out the $22,000 due for back bills there will be barely enough left to go on to the end of the year doing the usual amount of work, if $100,000 is a[)pr()priatcil for this and previous years, provided the present policy of the State in dealing with contagious diseases of animals is to be continued. Respectfully submitted, AUSTIN PETERS, Chief of Cattle Bureau. NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT DAIRY BUREAU Massachusetts Boaed of Agriculture, REQUIKEU UNDER Chapter 89, Section 12, Revised Laws. Presented to the Board and Accepted, January 11, 1910. Dairy Bureau— 1909. CARLTON D. RICHARDSON, West Brookfield, Chairman. HENRY E. PAIGE, Amherst. WARREN C. JEWETT, Worcester. Secretary. J. LEWIS ELLSWORTH, Executive Officer and Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture. General Agent. P. M. HARWOOD. Address, Room laG, State House, Boston. REPORT. In making this nineteenth annual report it may not be out of place to summarize somewhat the work of the Bureau since its establishment in 1891. Since 1892, when the first real work was done, 57,939 inspections have been made, an aver- age of 3,218 annually, the average for the last two years be- ing 6,981; 2,488 prosecutions have been made, averaging 132 per year; 2,320 convictions have been secured, an average of 128 per year. During the past seven years but 17 cases have been lost, or 2.4 per cent of the entire number prosecuted during that period, and only 20 defendants have been found violating any of the dairy laws a second time. A large ma- jority of these prosecutions have been for violation of the oleomargarine laws. Meanwhile, the wholesale butter trade in Boston, according to Chamber of Commerce reports, has increased since 1900 at the rate of 1,850,154 pounds per year. There have been 545 meetings addressed upon dairy subjects, 280 of which have been since 1903. During these years there have been many demonstrations of the use of the Babcock milk tester, and on the points of the dairy cow ; dairy tests have been conducted at fairs ; inspections of creameries have been made; considerable dairy literature has been published, including during the past year an article on milk, its value as a food and its care in the home, pre- pared for translation into the Jewish and Italian languages, to be used among these people in Boston ; also rules for the care of milk in the home, for posting. In all this work the wel- fare of the farmer and honest tradesman, as well as that of the consumer, has been constantly borne in mind. 170 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. During the year just closed tLere have hteu more total violations of the oleomargarine laws than for some years pre- vious, but they have manifested themselves in different ways. The total number of all violations of laws prosecuted by the Dairy Bureau in 1909 was 20G, all of which resulted in con- victions. Of these, 5 were for watering milk, 33 for selling renovated butter in unmarked wrappers and 168 for viola- tions of the oleomargarine laws, 121 of the latter being for violation of the oleomargarine restaurant law. This shows an attempt to increase consumption of the goods by taking chances in serving to guests in restaurants, boarding houses and hotels, without proper notice. The law distinctly states that notice shall be given to the guest that the substance so furnished is not butter. In some cases no attempt is made to give notice, and in others an attempt is made not to give notice by putting up a sign where no guest can see it, or by putting up a sign printed in such a way or upon such back- ground that nobody sitting a short distance away can read it. Legally and morally such persons are just as guilty as those who make no attempt to give notice. Neither ignorance of the law nor such attempts at evasion are any defense. It is true now, as it always has been, that oleomargarine should sail under its own colors, and be sold as and for what it is, entirely upon its own merits. The difference between the value and cost of oleomargarine and butter, and the close resemblance the former bears to the latter, make a tempta- tion to sell and serve oleomargarine for l)utter so great that many yield to it. Last year we warned against the practice of watering milk. It seems that a warning against the practice of serving oleomargarine for butter in hotels, board- ing houses and restaurants, without bona fide notice to guests, is now necessary. In the educational work of the year we have especially urged that farmers weigh the milk of each cow, keep accu- rate accounts, raise more grain, buy less, study feeding rations, adopt practical, inexpensive methods of keeping cows clean, use covered milk pails with small openings in the top, and strain milk through sterilized cotton; that they thoroughly mix the milk of the hoi-d before ctniniiig or No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 171 bottling, both I'or their own ])rotectioii and for that of the consumer. We have also used our influeuee towards restora- tion of confidence in whole raw natural milk; have repeatedly pointed out its superiority as a food over i)r('pare(l milks, and over many other foods ; and liave made suggestions as to its care and handling in the hands of the consumer. We believe that the true condition of the Massachusetts dairyman is not fully appreciated, and that his greatest trouble is that he does not receive enough for his product. When we consider that on May 1, 1890, there were 200,658 cows assessed in Massachusetts, while on May 1, 1909, there were but 168,221, a decline of 32,-187 in total, or 1,707 cows per year, and that there were more than 6,000,- 000 quarts less milk shipped into Boston in 1909 than was the case in 1906, we must conclude that there is something wrong with conditions, and we 'are of the opinion that a commission should be appointed to investigate and report upon the commercial milk situation. ISTo one looking for ti-utli can reasonably object to such investigation, honestly and impartially made by a competent and reliable Board. We believe this would do much to clear the atmosphere and restore confidence. We recommend that a law be passed requiring that all milk not the straight, unmanipulated product of the cow be marked and sold for what it is. We also recommend that a law be enacted making it unlawful to mix, for purposes of sale, any two or more of the following substances: raw whole milk, heated or pas- teurized whole milk, skimmed milk, condensed milk, con- centrated or evaporated milk, and water, — and making it unlawful for any person or corporation engaged in the sale of milk or cream, other than condensed, concentrated or other evaporated milk, to keep in his place of business condensed, concentrated or evaporated milk, except in an unopened can or receptacle ; excepting, however, the prepara- tion and sale of " modified milk," when sold as such, to be used for food for infants or invalids. We also recommend that a law be enacted requiring that a label, bearing a formula for extending with water, for 172 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. home use, be securely attached to each container of evapo- rated, concentrated or condensed milk sold or offered for sale in this Commonwealth, and that the formula thus attached be such that the milk product resulting be not below the Massachusetts standard for whole milk. Such a law should carry with it a suitable penalty in case the milk thus extended fails in any instance to conform to present legal require- ments for whole milk. So long as a milk standard is maintained in this State it is manifestly unfair that these prepared milks from other States should come into our markets without either stand- ard or guarantee as regards their solid food content. Much has been done for the consumer in the last few years in the way of insuring to him a cleaner product. Is it not high time that he now join in doing something for the Massachusetts milk producer, in order that milk produc- tion be made reasonably remunerative, and that a fair share of the milk consumed continue to be produced in this State, under control of our own laws and regulations ? Then let consumers and producers join hands, for their interests are mutual. The personnel of the Bureau and its staff has remained practically unchanged ; C. D. Richardson, chairman, H. E. Paige and W. C. Jewett, members, J. Lewis Ellsworth, secre- tary, P. M. Harwood, general agent, A. W. Lombard, agent, B. F. Davenport, M.D., and H. C. Emerson, M.D., chemists, with five other persons employed from time to time during the year. The summary of the year's work is as follows : — Total number of inspections, ' 6,872 Number of inspections whei'e no sample was taken, . . 5,081 Number of samples of butter and oleomaroarine, all ])ur- chased, .......... 1,779 Number of samples of milk and cream, 90 Cases entered in court, 206 Meetings addressed by cbairman of tlie Bureau, ... 2 Meetings addressed by Mr. Jewett, 3 Meetings addressed by the general agent, .... 18 ' There were 78 extra samples taken during the year, therefore this number is 78 less than the sum of the next three items. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 173 Cases prosecuted during the twelve mouths ending Nov. 30, 1909, by months and courts, with law violated, and results, are as follows : — Court. Slielburne Falls, Worcester, Newton, . Waltham, New Bedford, Franklin, Fall River, Uxbridge, Lowell, . North Adams, Pittsfield, Northbridge, Lawrence, Worcester, Marlborough, Maiden, . Salem, Gloucester, Lynn, Lynn, Springfield, Wolnirn, Fall River, Montli, Decemljcr, Decemljer, December, Decend)cr, l)eccml)er, January, January, Januaiy, February, Februar}-, February, March, March, March, March, March, April, April, April, May, ]\Lay, lyiay, j\Lav, Num- ber. 1 1 9 2 19 21 1 12 Law violatcil. Milk, . Milk, . 7 oleomargarine, 2 renovated butter. Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Renovated butter, . 2 oleomargarine, 1 renovated butter. Renovated butter, . 1 oleomargarine, 1 renovated butter. Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, 5 oleomargarine, 2 renovated butter. 9 oleomargarine, 12 renovated butter. Oleomargarine, Renovated Ijutter, Oleomargarine, Renovated butter, Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Oleomargarine, Con- victed. Dis- charged. 1 1 9 2 19 1 1 7 21 1 1 3 12 174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Court. Month. Num- ber. Law violated. Con- victed. Dis- charged. Ne\vl)Uiy])ort, . lAlay, 1 Oleomargarine, 1 Maiden, . ]\Iay, 2 Oleomai-garine, 2 Leominster, ^lay, 12 Oleomargarine, 12 Fitcliljurg, May, 4 Oleomargarine, 4 - Taunton, Jiuie, 2 Oleomargarine, 2 - Wol^urn, July, 1 Milk, . 1 - Newburjiwrt, . July, 8 Oleomargarine, 8 - Worce.stei', July, U Oleomargarine, 14 - Quinc'^', . August, 2 Oleomargarine, 2 - AVoburn, August, 1 Milk, . 1 - Nahant, . August, 6 Oleomargarine, 6 - Hull, iVugust, 2 Oleomargarine, 2 - NeAV Bedford, . September, 8 Oleomargarine, 8 - Springfield, September, 1 Milk, . 1 - Clinton, . October, 2 Renovated butter, . 2 - Wol)urn, November, 2 Oleomargarine, 2 - Chelsea, . November, 2 Oleomargarine, 2 - Fall River, November, 11 Oleomargarine, 11 - Lowell, . November, 11 '.) oleomargarine, 2 renovated tnittm', 11 - Amesbury, November, 2 Rvenovated butter, . 2 - Totals, . 206 206 - Note. — The Bureau is especially indebted to the milk insi)eclors of Boston, Lowell, Revere, Springfield, Taunton, Winchester and Worcester for assistance which has resulted in cases in court. We also record our indebtedness to all others who have aided us in any way. No. 4.] REi'ORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 175 The charges in (he several eases entered in court for the year eiKling Nov. oO, 1001), have been as follows: — Selling renovated biillcr in unmarked packages, Selling' oleomargarine willioul sign on exposed contents, Selling oleomargai-ine when butter was asked for, Selling oleomargarine without being registered, . Selling oleomargarine without sign in store, Selling oleomargarine in unmarked packages, . Furnishing olcomai-garine in restaurants, etc., without to guests, Selling oleomargarine containing foreign coloration, . Selling milk containing added water, .... lotice 33 3 29 7 121 206 The following is a list of inspections without samples and the nttniber of samples taken in 'the years 1903-09, inclu- sive : — YEAR. Inspections witliout Samples. Samples taken. 1903, . 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 4,135 4,456 4,887 4,985 4,538 5,516 5,003 1,395 1,157 971 576 1,374 1,575 1,869 Totals, Averages, ...... 33,520 4,788 8,917 1,273 Oleomargakine. 'No licenses for the sale of colored oleomargarine were issued in this State, but two sales of such goods have been discovered bj the Bureau during the year, and the j)arties promptly prosecuted. 176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. The folJfjwiiig livures show the oleomargarine output fur the United States since 1902 : — Under Old Law. Pounds. 1902, 126,316,472 Under New Law. 1904, 48,071,480 1905, 49,880,982 1906, 53,146,657 1907, 68,988,850 1908, 79,107,273 1909, 90,621,844 It will be seen bj the foregoing figures that the first effect of the present national oleonuirgarine law, which really forces the sale of oleomargarine upon its own merits, Avas to greatly reduce the output. In 1904 it reached its lowest point; since then there has been a gradual increase in the output, averaging about 8,000,000 pounds per year. The nundjer of United States oleomargarine retail licenses issued in this State is more than dou])le that of one year ago, and this increase has occurred since Sept. 1, 1909. The number of wholesale licenses remain the same as last year. The figures are as follows : — "NMiolesale licenses in Boston, ....... 13 AVholesale licenses in other cities, ...... 8 Total, 21 Retail licenses in Boston, ........ 46 Retail licenses in other iilaees, 465 Total, 511 With over 500 different concerns selling oleomargarine in Massachusetts, a condition exists unlike anything in the past. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 177 Renovated Butteu. Tlie violations of the renovated butter Imw in this State have continued to decline, there having been but 33 such viola- tions during the year. The high price of butter has caused more of the goods to be used than was the case in 1908, but it has been sold more carefully. There is one licensed con- cern in this State manufacturing renovated butter. A ma- jority of the goods sold is in print form. BuTTEE. The Chamber of Commerce figures show a decrease in consumption of butter for the first time since 1900, — the inevitable result of the high cost of living, including the high price of butter. Consumers are obliged to economize ; therefore less butter is used, and to some extent at least this is being made up by the use of oleomargarine, exact figures for the local sale of which are unobtainable. The wholesale price of butter has ruled 2 cents per pound higher than in 1908, and nearly 9 cents higher than in 1904. The creamery at Shelburne Falls has passed into the hands of H. P. Hood & Sons, and the Williamsburg and a few other creameries have gone out of business. The amount of consumption of butter for 1908 was 66,869,455 pounds; that of 1909, 65,939,692 pounds,— a decrease of 929,763 pounds. In 1900 the consumption was but 49,288,306 pounds. Therefore the average increase of consumption has been 1,850,154 pounds per year for the last nine years, — a grand record. The following table shows the average quotation for the best fresh creamery butter, in a strictly wholesale way, in the Boston market for the last nine years, as compiled by the Boston Chamber of Commerce : — 178 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Month. 1909. 1908. 1907. 1906. 1905. 1904. 1903. 1902. 1901. Cen t,^. Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. Cents. January, 30.9 29.7 30.4 25.2 28.0 22.7 28.0 25.0 25.0 February, 30.0 32.1 31.7 25.2 31.0 24.6 27.0 28.5 25.0 March, 'iil.l 30.2 30.2 25.5 28.0 24.1 27.0 29.0 23.0 April, . 27.9 2S.4 32.2 22 . 2 29.1 21.6 27.5 32.0 22.0 May, 2ti.(i 24 . 1 31.4 19.9 23.9 19.9 22 . 5 25.0 19.5 June, . 20. 4 24.5 24.3 20.2 20.7 IS. 4 22.75 23.5 20.0 July, . 27.2 23.6 25.9 21.0 20.6 1S.3 20.5 22.5 20.0 August, 28.2 24.. 5 2G.0 23.8 21.6 19.1 20.0 21.5 21.0 September, 31.3 2,i.3 29.2 25.0 21.2 20.8 22.0 23.5 22.0 October, 31.7 27.5 29.9 26.9 22.1 21.5 22.5 24.5 21.5 November, 31.4 29.5 27.1 27.6 23.0 24.1 23.5 27.0 24.0 December, 32.9 31.0 27.5 30.7 23.9 25.7 24.5 28.5 24.5 Average s. 29.5 27.5 28.48 24.48 24.47 21.73 26.23 25.0 22.3 The Chamber of Commerce figures regarding the butter business in Boston for 1908 and 1009 are as follows: — 1909. 1908. Pounds. Pounds. Carried over, 8,960,328 6,854,760 Receipts for January, 3,918,459 2,875,253 Receipts for February, 2,258,740 2,-529,472 Receipts for Marcb, 2,702,898 3,182,045 Receipts for April, . 3,089,744 3,570,013 Receipts for May, 4,810,049 6,123,261 Receipts lor June, . 11,309,791 11,675,687 Receipts for July, 11,357,950 11, .534 ,423 Receipts for August, 8,048,239 8,800,812 Receipts for September, 7,406,408 8,990,275 Receipts for October, 5,140,375 4,707,422 Receipts for November, 2,813,.504 2,268,606 Receipts for December, 2,257,397 3:.585,918 Total supply, 74,014,482 76,697,947 Exports for year, deduct. 44,050 868,164 Net supply. 73,970,432 75,829,783 Storage stock December 31, deihut, 8,030,740 8,960,328 CoDBumpUon for year, • 65,939,692 60,809,455 No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 179 Milk. We are glad to note some apparent increase in the con- sumption of raw vviiole milk in Boston. During the years 1907 and 1908 there was a decided falling oil". In earred milk alone this amounted to 10,402,(397i/o quarts; but a turn has been made, and 4,351,657^2 quarts more were shipped in during 1909 than was the case in 1908, but it is still 6,151,040 quarts behind where it was three years ago, and this in the face of a constantly increasing population. We are also glad to note a slight increase in the price paid the farmers by the Boston contractors, brought about by ex- tending the winter })rice over eight months instead of six, as formerly. The average price now paid in the 9-cent zone is still below 4 cents a quart. Milk production cannot be placed on a satisfactory footing in Massachusetts until at least 5 cents per quart is the average price paid the farmer throughout the year. A creditable move has been made by some of the contractors in offering an increased price for milk made under specially sanitary conditions. This is manifestly a help to those consumers who can afford to pay for such milk, as well as to the farmers, who care to take the necessary pains to produce it. The amount of certified milk sold in the State is very limited indeed, owing to its high cost to the consumer and to the extreme requirements in its production. It is reported that the sales of cream are falling off as the result of the high cost of living; this is natural, as cream is something of a luxury compared with whole milk. We regret that there are no figures available giving the exact amount of this decrease. Appended Tables. Tables I. and IT. show instances where prosecutions might have been made under the milk standard law had not the samples of milk of known purity indicated that the origi- nal samples were of pure milk. ISTotified of this fact the owners of the' herds withdrew their milk from market. 180 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Table III. shows a case where the producer was liable to criminal prosecution under the milk standard law, but the health authorities forbade further sale of this milk on ac- count of the poor condition of the cows. Tables IV., V. and VI. show analyses where parties were prosecuted under the milk adulteration law, without resort to the milk-of-known-purity method for comparison. Tables VII. and VIII. show cases where the samples of milk of known purity for comparison helped in prosecu- tions and con\dctions under the milk adulteration law. Table IX. shows analyses upon which ^prosecutions of 1909 were based. Table X. shows the number of cows assessed in Massa- chusetts in 1890, 1906 and 1909, with decrease and aver- ages. Table XL shows the amount of milk brought into Boston by railroad in the fiscal years of 1906, 1907, 1908 and 1909. Table I. — Analysis of Milk taken from Possession of a Fanner in Worcester County, ready for Delivery to a Worcester Peddler. Sample No. Mark on Can. F:it. Ki 3.20 Ki 3.30 Ki 2.90 K 2. SO K 3.. 50 K 2.90 K 3.30 K' 3.00 Solids not Fat. S.M) S..52 7. 78 7.70 8.78 8.24 8.. 38 8.70 Total Solids. 11.70 11.82 10.68 10. .50 12.28 11.14 ll.fiS 11.70 Refraction. 40.7 38.8 .39.2 41.4 • Night's milk. Note. — This milk being manifestly pine milk, samples of known purity were subsequently taken from the herd. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 181 Analysis of Samples of Night's Milk of Known Purity taken from the Herd producing the Milk, Analysis of which is given in Above Table. Cow N... Breed. Fat. Other Milk Solids. Total Solids. Refraction. 1 Holstein, 3.00 7.24 10.24 38.6 2 Holstein, 3.40 7.70 11.10 38.1 3 Holstein, 2.70 7.58 10.28 39.2 4 Holstein, 3.20 ':i.40 11.60 - 5 Holstein, 3.10 8.20 11.30 40.5 G Holstein, 3.50 8.20 11.70 - 7 Holstein, 2.60 8.0C 10.66 3'J.5 8 Holstein, 3.40 8.42 11.82 - This producer withdrew his milk from the market. Table II. — Analyses of Samples of Milk taken in Revere, April 26, from Five Cans of Milk ready for Delivery to Lynn Peddler. Sample No. Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Milk Solids. Refraction. 1 : . . 2 ...... . 3 4 5, ..... . 4.0 3.0 3.6 3.2 3.3 7.96 7.44 8.56 8.58 8.64 11.96 10.44 12.16 11.78 11.94 40.5 39.1 42.2 42.6 42.6 Analyses of Samples of Night's Milk of Known Purity taken from Herd producing Above-mentioned Milk. Cow No. Breed. Estimated Amount Milk (Quarts). Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Milk Solids. Refrac- tion. 1 Grade, Holstein, and white. black 3 3.4 8.48 11.88 42.2 2 Grade, Holstein, and white. black 0 3.0 8.10 11.10 41.4 3 Grade, Holstein, and white. black 4 3.5 7.94 11.44 40.5 4 Grade, Holstein, black, 5 3.3 8.20 11.50 41.6 5 Grade, Holstein, and white. black 5 2.9 7.74 10.64 40.4 Note. — Advice was given as to how to bring the milk of this herd up to standard, but the owner withdrew the milk from the market and sold the herd. 182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Table III. — Analysis of Milk taken from Possession of Producer in Marhlehead, ready for Delivery to a Salem Peddler, April, .7.90.9. Sample No. Fat. 4.55 Solids not Fiit. 8.25 Total M,lk Solids. 12. 9G 11.00 Refraction. 39.5 40.0 Note. — Sample No. 1 was taken from a full 8-qnart can and Sample No. 2 from an S-qnai't can containing about 4 quarts of milk. It is evident that in tlie attempt to mix the milk the top of can No. 2 was tui'ned into can No. 1, thus making the contents of No. 1 above and of No. 2 below the average quality of the herd's milk. Analysis of Milk of Knoivn Purify taken from Herd of Above- mentioned Producer, April, 1909 {Night's Milk). Cow No. Breed. Estimated Amount Milk (Quarts). Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Mdk Solids. Refrac- tion. 10 Grade, Ayrshire, 2 3.20 7.70 10.1)0 39.0 11 Grade, Ayrshire, 1 3., -JO 8.84 12.14 42.3 12 Grade, Ilolstein, 2 3.30 8.78 11.08 41.0 13 Grade, Ayrshire-Holstein, 1 3.40 8.00 11. 4C 40.5 Note. — The above-mentioned animals were in extremely poor con- dition, and the milk was thereafter excluded from the Salem market. Table IV. — Analyses of Two Samples of Milk taken in Colrain, November, 1908, as it was about to be sent to a Creamery. Sample No. Fat. Other Milk Solids. Total Milk Solids. Refraction. 1 2, 2.80 3.60 6.80 8.40 9.60 12.00 34.5 41.0 Note. — Thei*e being no question but that Sample No. 1 con- tained added water, the defendant was summoned into court, pleaded guilty, and was fined $50, which he paid. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 183 Table V. — Analyses of Samples of Milk taken at a Dairy in East Longmeadou) just before Belivery to a Springfield Peddler, . ! Kf/iist, 1909. Sample No. Fat. 2.70 1.30 Solids not Fat. 4.97 2.98 4.S7 Total Milk Solids. 7.07 4.28 7.42 Refraction. 30.30 24.45 29.80 Note. — This milk was manifestly watered, and the party was summoned into court without further ado. The circumstances were out of the ordinary. The milk was being furnished to a hospital in Springfield, where the discovery Avas made that something was wrong. Investigation showed that the milk had been adulterated before it left the farm, by a boy wlio» having been scolded for allow- ing the cows to .shrink in their milk flow, had watered the milk for the sole purpose of making good with his parents. He evidently little thought of the far-reaching consequences of his act. He knows better now. Table VI. — Analyses of Seven Samples of Milk taken in Wilming- ton just before being delivered to a Woburn Peddler. Sample No. Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Milk Solids. Refraction. 1, 2 3. 4, 5, 3.2 3.0 3.0 2. .5 2.9 3.4 3.7 7.06 7.r.o 7.50 7-22 0.70 7.12 10.80 n.io 11.10 9.72 9.00 10.52 10.92 38.9 37.9 38. 7 38.4 36.4 37.4 37.4 Note. — The above shows that water was put into all the cans. The milk was not mixed befoi-e canning. The party when sum- moned into court pleaded nolo, was found guilty, and fined $50, which he paid. 184 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Table VII. — Analyses of Ttvo Samples of Night's Milk taken from the Possession of a Woburn Producer, on Aug. 3, 1909, as it iras ready for Delivery to a Winchester Peddler. Sample No. Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Milk Solids. Refraction. 3.00 3.10 7.30 7. GO 10.30 10.70 3S.50 38.00 Analyses of Samples of Night's Milk of Known Purity taken from the Herd producing the Above-mentioned Milk. Cow No. Breed. Estimated Amount Milk (Quarts). Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Solids. Refrac- tion. 1 2 Brindle Roan, .... 4.1 3.4 9.7 8.7 13.8 12.1 41.3 40.7 Note. — The result of this investigation was to assure the prose- cuting officer of his ground, and a complaint was made against this farmer for having in his possession, with intent to sell, milk to which water had been added. He was tried, found guilty, and fined $50, which he paid. Table VIII. — Analysis of Milk obtained from a Worcester County Producer, ready for Delivery to a Worcester Peddler, Novem- ber, 1908. Sample No. Mark on can. Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Solids. Refraction. 1, • 7' 3.8 7.72 11.52 38.3 2, 7 ' 4.0 7. SO 11.80 38.9 3, . 7' 4.0 s.2(; 12.26 39.6 4, ■ No m.'irk 4.2 7.% 12.16 38.6 5, . No mark 4.2 7.98 12.18 38.9 " Night's milk. Note. — After taking the above samples, milk from this herd dropped from 5 cans per day to 4 cans. This milk was said by the owner to have been mixed, therefore the analysis indicates that varying amounts of water were added to the milk in the different cans. He afterwards pleaded guilty to having in his possession milk to which water had been added, and paid a tine of $50. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY BUREAU. 185 Analyses of Samples of Night's Milk of Known Puritij from the Herd of the Same Producer. Cow No. Breed. Estimated Amount Milk (Quarts). Fat. Solids not Fat. Total Solifl.s. Refrac- tion. 1, Holstein aud Jersey, 2 3. SO 'j.k; i2.u(; - 2 Ilolstein and Jersey, 2 4.M 9.20 13.70 - 3, Grade Ayrshire, 5 3.40 8.20 11. CO 41.1 4, Holatein, . . . . 3 4.20 8.50 12.70 40.9 5, Hol.stein and Jersey, 2 4.70 8.40 13.10 40.7 7, Holstein and Jersey, 2 4.40 9.34 13.74 - 8, Holstein and Jersey, 2 C.20 9.70 15.90 - 11, Holstein ami Galway, 2 3.60 8.54 12.14 - Mixed iiiilk, - 4.20 8.80 13.00 41.2 Table IX. — JSlillc Analyses upon which loere based the Prosecu- tions of 1909. Case No. Fat. Other Milk Solids. Total Solids. Refrac- tion. Remarks. 1, . . . 2.80 6.80 9.60 34.50 Contained added water. 2, . 4.20 7.96 12.16 .38.60 (Contained added water. 3, . . . 2.90 6.70 9.60 36.40 Contained added water. 4, . . . 3.00 7.30 10.. 30 38.50 Contained added water. 5, . . . 1.30 2.98 4.28 24.45 Contained added water. Table X. — Number of Cows assessed in Massachusetts^ 1890, 1906 and 1909. Number of cows assessed May 1, 1890, .... 200,658 Number of cows assessed May 1, 1909, Decrease (nineteen years), . Average annual decrease, Number of cows assessed May 1, 190G, Number of cows assessed May 1, 1909, Decrease (three years). Average annual decrease, 168,221 32,437 1,707 181,816 168,221 13,595 4,531 186 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Table XI. — Showing Milk hrotight into Boston hy Railroad, 1905-09. Quarts. Quarts. December, IOC'S, to December, 1906, 114,233,970 December, 190G, to December, 1907, 109,882,190V2 4,351,785V2 ' December, 1907, to December, 190S, 103,381,278^2 6,050,912' Total decrease, two years, .... December, 1908, to December, 1909, 108,082,936 Net decrease since 1906, .... 10,402,697^/2 ' 4,251,0571/2 ' 6,151,040 ' Creameries, Milk Depots, etc. Appended we give a revised list of the principal cream- eries, milk depots, etc., owned and operated bj Massachu- setts individuals and corporations. Co-operative Creameries. Location. Name. Superintendent or Manager. 1. Ashfield, . 2. Bi'lcliertown, . ■ . 3. Cheshire (P. O. Adams). 4. Cuininiugton, 5. Easthampton, . 6. Egremoiit (I*. O. Great Barringtoii). 7. Monterey, . 8. New Boston, New Salem (1'. ]Milliiigtun). Northfield, . Shelburn, . Westfield (P. Wyben). West Newbury, Ashfield Creamery, Belchertown Creamery, Greylock Creamery, . Cummington Creamery, Uampton Creamery, . Egremont Creamery, . Berkshire Hills Creameiy, Berkshire Creamerj', . New Siilem Creamery, Northfield Creamery, . Shelburne Creamery, . Wyben Springs Ci'eainery West Newlniry Creamery, William Hunter, manager. M. G. Ward, president. C. J. Fales, president. W. E. Patridge, superintend- ent. W. H. Wright, treasurer. E. A. Tyrrell, manager. F. A. Campbell, manager. F. M. Rugg, president. W. A. ]\Ioore, treasurer. Chas. C. Stearns, suiierin- tendent. n-a Barnard, manager. v. H. Kt^lso, manager. It. S. Brown, treasurer. 1 Decrease. i Increase. No. 4.] REPORT OF DAIRY IIUREAU, 187 Proprielori/ Creameries. Location. Name. Owner or Manager. 1. Amherst, . 2. Amherst, . 3. BriinQeUl, . 4. Everett, 5. FitRliburg, 'iOCiwhiu^ Street. C. Gardner, . 7. Groton, 8. Heath, 9. Hinsdale, . 10. Marlborougli, 11. North Brookfield, 12. Shelburne Fall'^, Amherst Creamery, Fort River Creamery, Crystal Brook Creamery, . Hampden Creamery Com- pany. Fitchburg Creamery, . Boston Dairy Company, Lawrence Creamery, . Cold Spring Creamery, Hinsdale Creamery, . Este's Creamer3', North Brookfield Creamery, Shelburne Falls Creamery, W. A. Pease. E. A. King. F. N. Lawrence.' Hampden Creamery Com- pany. G. S. Learned. Boston Dairy Company. Myron P. Swallow. I. W. Stetson & Son. Ashley B. Clark, treasurer. F. F.Este. H. A. Richardson. II. P. Hood & Sons. Educational. Amherst, Dairy Industry Course, Mas-sachusetts A g r i c u 1- tural College. W. P. B. LocUwood, profes- sor in charge. Milk-distributing Depots. Name. Location. Manager. Alden Bros Boston Dairy Company, Elm Farm Milk Company, H. P. Hood & Sons, . D. Whiting & Sons, . C. Brigham Company, Deerfoot Farms, .Springfield Co-operative Milk Association. Tait Bros., Waehusett Creamery, C. Brigham Company, Boston, office 1171 Treniout Street, depot 28 Duncan Street. Boston, 484 Rutherford Avenue, Boston, Wales Place, Boston, 494 Rutherford Avenue, Br.'iucb, 24 Anson Street, Forest Mills. Lynn, 193 Alley Street. Maiden, 425 Main Street. Salem, 252 Bridge Street. Watertown, 289 Pleasant Street. Lawrence, 629 Common Street. Boston, 570 Rutherford Avenue, Cambridge, 158 Massachusetts Avenue. South borough, Springfield, Springfield, Worcester, Worcester, 9 Howard Street, . Charles L. Alden. W. A. Grostein. .Tames H. Knapi>. Charles H. Hood. George Whiting. .John K. Whiting. 8. H. Howes. F. B. Allen. Tait Bros. E. H. Thayer & Co. <:. Brigham Com- pany. 188 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. No. 4. Milk Laboratory. Name. Location. Manager. Walker-Goiilon Labora- tory. Boston, 793 Boylstoii Street. George W. Franklin. Receiving Depots for Milk for Shipments to New York City. F. D. Shove Milk Factory, Willow Brook Dairy Com- pany. West Stockbridge, Sheffield, CM. Riggs. George Patterson. Expenses. The following is a classified statement of the expenses for the year ending Nov. 30, 1909: — Bureau : compensation and traveling expenses, Agents : compensation, ...... Agents: traveling expenses and samples purchased, General agent: traveling and necessary expenses, . Chemists : analyses, tests, court attendance. Printing and suj^plies, ...... Educational, ........ Total, $322 43 2,506 90 2,748 97 436 80 1,659 00 192 31 133 59 $8,000 00 P. M. HARWOOD, General Agent. Accepted and adopted as the report of the Dairy Bureau. CARLTON D. RICHARDSON. HENRY E. PAIGE. W. C. JEWETT. SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT STATE FORESTER Synopsis presented to the Board and Accepted, January 11, 1910. Savory Ways, in the Town ov Carver. — The planter of these trees by the roadside was a public benefactor. If white pines will grow as well as this along a dry and compact roadside in forty years, imagine what better forestry could accomplish throughout our State. SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE FORESTER. Introduction. Never has there been a time in the history of the State when forestry matters more need the wholesome consideration of yonr honorable body than the jjresent. Forestry and forest products have been our birthright, and we do well to reflect upon their importance to the present in the building of our ship of State, and not lose sight of the necessity of conserving them for our future needs. The histories of older nations are an open book to us, and tell only too well their pathetic tale. The year has been one of great activity, and forestry in- terests have been given more recognition than e\'cr before. The forestry legislation has been well received by our people. It may not be in good taste to boast of our new laws, but we do wish it known that the American Forestry Association has recommended several of our enactments for general adoption. During the present year the results from organization and a more definite policy have been very evident. The forest warden system, which was fully explained in last year's report, has been very effective, and we have but just begun to see its usefulness. It takes time to create a proper forestry sentiment, let alone appreciation. Not only have a larger per cent, of the forest wardens and their deputies shown increased interest this year, but many, — a great many, — of our most public-spirited and influential people from every section of the State have co- operated in the forward movement of forestry endeavors. The services of the State Forester have been in constant demand, not only in making examinations and giving advice on forestry matters, but for lectures, demonstrations and for- 192 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. estry literature. More fire warning notices and forest law posters have been clistribnted and actually found posted in the towns of the Commonwealth than ever before. The permit act for setting fires out of doors was very gen- erally adopted last spring by the towns and cities throughout the State, and it is the oj)inion of the wardens generally that this legislation alone will be a great saving to the State from forest fires. For the first time the forest wardens have been gathered to- gether at conferences, which will be explained in detail else- where in this report. In thus acquainting these officers with their duties, we shall secure an efficiency not possible hereto- fore. By an act of the last General Court the work of suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths was placed under the State Forester. This bill was signed by Governor Draper on March 14. Since that time, of course, the State F'orester's duties have been greatly enlarged. It was found advisable to unite the offices, and, as there was not sufficient room to accommodate both departments in the State House, the office of the State Forester was transferred to No. 6 Beacon Street, tenth floor. In the readjustment of these two departments under one head, the aim has been to retain and adopt all the better features of each organization. The experience of the first half-year has resulted in a more effective organization than has seemed pos- sible. Ever since coming to Massachusetts in the capacity of State Forester, my work has certainly been met with public-spirited encouragement ; and now, under my enlarged duties, I simply ask that you give me the same cordial and co-operative support as in the past. Any State department, having the spending of money for the public good, appreciates and covets assistance from the people generally. We propose to have a " live wire " organization in all our undertakings in the State Forester's work; and I believe I am not overstating it when I say that the citizens of Massachusetts generally are in accord in request- ing you, the General Court, to enact laws sufficient for our present and future forestry interests. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 193 Organization. The placing of the moth work under the State Forester by the Legislature and through the recommendation of Governor Draper necessitated a reorganization of the work, to meet the new requirements of the office. It is to be expected that in the union of forces it will take time to adjust the machinery to the new conditions; but I am frank to say that all members of the organization have adapted themselves most happily to the new system, and, although nine months only have passed, the work is running on smoothly. What is true in this respect in the office force is equally true in the field work. The moth men are not only showing renewed interest in their work, but are assisting in perfecting better forestry conditions, assuming responsibility, and showing inter- est in preventing and extinguishing forest fires. The forestry assistants are helping in such work as marking the trees and superintending the thinning work so necessary in combating gypsy moths, and at the same time benefiting the growth from a modern forestry standpoint. After going over the organization carefully and discussing the matter fully with men experienced in the work, under the sanction of the Governor, the 6 divisions into which the moth- infested district was formerly divided were reorganized, and increased to 15. With 6 divisions each agent in charge had an average of 35 towns to look after, and he was allowed a number of inspectors to accomplish the necessary field work. In all, 53 men were employed in the old organization. In the new organization of 15 divisions the 6 agents were given the more difficult ones, and the remaining 9 were filled by experienced inspectors. Four other inspectors were retained for special duties, subject to the direction of the main office. Erom 53 men, therefore, the force has been cut down to 19, and by fur- nishing the present division superintendents with motor cycles, with only 12 to 15 towns to cover, they can readily keep in close touch with local conditions. !Not only do I believe that our effi- ciency is greater, but in a year's time it is believed the saving to the Commonwealth, even after deducting the expense of motor cycles, will be $8,000 to $10,000. 194 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. The next step needed is in raising the standard of the local town superintendents. The moth work has now progressed far enough so that competent men are available, and it is poor busi- ness policy to be compelled to have the work in some towns and cities in the hands of men utterly unable to get the best possible results. The present organization of the State Forester's staff is as follows : — Mr. F. W. Rane, B.Agr., M.S., Mr. L. H. WORTHLEY, Mr. H. O. Cook, M.F., Mr. R. S. Langdell, . Mr. Gould, M.F., Mr. Chas. O. Bailey, Miss Elizabeth Hubbard, . Mr. F. P. Woodbury, A.B., Miss Charlotte Jacobs, Mr. George A. Smith, Mr. John W. Enwright, Mr. Chas. W. Minott, Mr. Frank A. Bates, Mr. Francis C. Worthen, . Mr. Henry F. Armstrong, Mr. Thomas W. Emerson, Staff. State Forester. Assistant Forester, in charge of moth work. Assistant Forester, in charge of forestry man- agement. Assistant Forester, in charge of nursery work. Assistant Forester. Secretary. Clerk, in charge of accounts. Clerk, in charge of forest fire records. Clerk, in charge of mail and office. Agent, Division 1, as follows: Chelsea, Dan- vers, Everett, Hamilton, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Marblehead, Middleton, Nahant, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Swampscott, Wenham and Winthrop. Agent, Division 2, as follows: Arlington, Bed- ford, Billerica, Burlington, Lexington, Mai- den, Medford, Melrose, Reading, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, Wilmington, Win- chester and Woburn. Agent, Division 3, as follows: Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Concord, Lincoln, Natick, Needham, Newton, Somerville, Sudbury, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley and Weston. Agent, Division 4, as follows: Abington, Avon, Braintree, Cohasset, Hanover, Hingham, Holbrook, Hull, Milton, Norwell, Quincy, Randolph, Rockland, Scituate and Wey- mouth. Division Superintendent, Division 5, as fol- lows: Amesbury, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, Newbury, Newbury- port, Rowley, Salisbury, Topsfield and West Newbury. Division Superintendent, Division 6, as fol- lows: Andover, Chelmsford, Dracut, Haver- hill, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, North Andover, North Reading and Tewksbury. Division Superintendent, Division 7, as fol- lows: Acton, Ayer, Boxborough, Carlisle, Dunstable, Groton, Littleton, Peppcrell, Townsend, Tyiigsborough and WcstforU. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 195 Mr. Clauknce W. Paukhuust, Mr. Wm. a. Hatch, . Mr. George A. Sands, Mr. Harry B. Ramsey, Mr John A. Farley, Mr. Lewis W. Hodgkins, . Mr. John F. Carleton, Mr. Saul Phillips, Division Superintendent, Division S, as fol- lows: Ashland, Bellinghain, Dover, Fram- ingham, Franklin, IloUiston, Medlield, Medway, Millis, Korfolk and Sherborn. Division Superintendent, Division 9, as fol- lows: Canton, Dedham, Foxborough, Hyde Park, Norwood, Plainvillc, Sharon, Stough- ton, Walpole, Westwood and Wrentham. Division Superintendent, Division 10, as fol- lows: Blackstone, Grafton, Hopedale, Hop- kinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, Mendon, Milford, Northborough, North- bridge, Southborough, Stow, Upton, Ux- bridge and Westborough. Agent Division 11, as follows: Ashby, Auburn, Berlin, Bolton, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Greenfield, Harvard, Holden, Lancaster, Leicester, Leominster, Lunenburg, Millbury, Oxford, Palmer, Princeton, Shirley, Shrews- bury, Springfield, Sutton, Templeton, War- ren, Westminster and Worcester. Agent, Division 1"^, as follows: Carver, Dux- bury, Halifax, Hanson, Kingston, Marsh- field, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton and Whitman. Agent, Division 13, as follows: Attleborough, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Lakeville, Mansfield, Middlebor- ough. North Attleborough, Rayuham, Taunton and West Bridgewater. Division Superintendent, Division 14, as fol- lows: Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster," Den- nis, Falmouth, Marion, Ma.shpee, Orleans, Rochester, Sandwich, Truro, Wareham, Wellfleet and Yarmouth. Division Superintendent, Division 15, as fol- lows: Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Man- chester, North Shore Woodlands and Rock- port. Co-operative Scientific Staff. L. O. Howard, Ph.D., Theobald Smith, Ph.B., M.D., Roland Tha.xtek, Ph.D., . E. L. Mark, Ph.D., LL.D., W. M. Wheeler, Ph.D., C. H. Fernald, Ph.D., M. L. Guptil, Frank H. Moshier, . Chief United States Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C, Parasites and Predaceoua Insects. Professor of Comparative Pathology, Harvard University, Diseases of Insects. Professor of Cryptogamic Botany, Harvard University, Fungous Diseases affecting In- sects. Director of the Zoological Laboratory, Har- vard University, Protozoa and Insect Life. Professor of Entomology, Harvard University, Experimental Entomologist. Professor of Entomology, Massachusetts Ag- ricultural College, Consxdting Entomologist. E.xpert experimentalist. Entomologist in charge of laboratory. 196 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents. [Alphabetically by towns.] Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Mofh Superintendent. Abington, . Acton, Acushnet, . Adams, Agawam, . Alford. Amesbury, Amherst, . Andover, . Arlington, . Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashfield, Ashland, Athol, Attleborough, Auburn, Avon , Ayer, Barnstable, Barre, Becket, Bedford, . Belchertown, Bellingham, Belmont, . Berkley, Berlin, ■ Bernardston, Beverly, Billerica, Blackstone, Blandford, Bolton, Boston,' 287 181 275 7 93 24 228 67 212 193 104 158 50 200 105 265 123 259 169 315 142 23 179 73 326 194 271 139 39 220 173 114 81 146 B. Ernest Wilkes, chief fire department, William H. Kingsley, Eben F. Leonard, John Clancy, . Edward M. Hitchcock, John H. Wilcox, James E. Feltham, chief fire depart ment. G. E. Stone, tree warden, J. H. Playdon, tree warden, Walter H. Pierce, chief fire department William D. Miller, . Wm. S. Green, Chas. A. Hall, H. II. Piper Frank P. Hall, chief fire department, Hiram Packard, 3 Hope Street, chief fire department. J. Fred Searle, E. Walter Packard, constable, . Charles E. Perrin, Henry C. Bacon, P. O. Hyannis, D. H. Rice Elmer D. Ballou, Chas. E. Williams, . James A. Peeso, constable, L. F. Thayer, town treasurer, . John F. Leonard, chief fire department Gideon H. Babbitt, . Walter Cole, constable, E. E. Benjamen, Robert H. Grant, chief fire department, Geo. C. Crosby, chief engineer fire de- partment. Thomas Reilly, .... H. K. Herrick, .... Frank A. Powers, tree warden, . C. Frederick Shaw. James O'Neil. A. L. Stover. J. H. Playdon. WilUam H. Bradley. H. A. Lawrence. H. G. Spring. Wm. E. S. Smith. Willard W. Beals. Loring A. Carman. Harry W. Bodfish. W. A. Cutler. Henry A. Whitney. Chas. F. Houlahan. Willis Rice. Josiah B. Brown. Francis J. Dolan. Chas. E Mace. D. Henry Sullivan. ' No forest area. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 197 List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Bourne, Boxborougli, Boxford, Boylston, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brimfield, Brockton, Brookfield, Brookline, Buckland, Burlington, Cambridge,' Canton, Carlisle, Carver. Charlemont, Charlton , . Chatham, . Chelmsford, Chelsea,' Cheshire, Chester, Chesterfield, Chicopee, . Chilmark, . Clarksburg, Clinton, Cohasset , . Colrain, Concord, Conway, Cummington, Dalton, Dana, 311 1S2 218 138 244 318 293 99 286 120 237 49 178 249 171 304 42 115 320 172 11 80 63 87 308 3 145 246 37 180 51 60 14 147 Emory A. Ellis, P. O. Bournedale, M. L. Wetherbee, selectman, Harry L. Cole, selectman, Chas. S. Knight, metropolitan watch- man. James M. Cutting, special police, P. O. Soutli Brain tret'. T. B. Tubman, higliway surveyor, P. O. North Brewster. Edwin S. Rhoades, .... Edward J. Prindle, .... Harry C. Marston, chief fire depart- ment. David N. Hunter, .... Geo. H. Johnson, chief fire department, William Sauer, P. O. Shelburne Falls, Walter L. Skelton, tree warden. Laurence Horton, fire engineer, P. O Ponkapoag. Herbert P. Dutton, selectman, . Eugene E. Shaw, Fred D. Legate, Carlos Bond, .... Geo. H. Eldredge, . Arthur E. Barton, . Chas. D. Cummings, WilUam H. Babb, . Chas. A. Bisbee, P. O. Bisbee, . John H. Pomphret, chief fire depart ment. Ernest C. Mayhew . Robert Lanfair, R. F. D. No. 1-, P. O North Adams. Daniel W. Goss, 40 East Street, Wm. J. Brennock, captain fire depart ment. Wm. H. Davenport, G. E. Morrell, chief fire department, Chas. Parsons, tree warden, W. S. Gabb, P. O. Swift River, William M. Colton, forester, Flint Stone Farm. Elmer A. Collier, chief fire department, P. O. North Dana. Stillman B. Wright. John J. Sherry. Chas. Perley. E. E. Abercrombie. David A. Newcomb. Robert J. McNeeland. Edward Moltan. Ernest B. Dane. Walter W. Skelton. J. F. Donnelly. Augustus Hemenway. G. G. Wilkins. Herbert F. Atwood. M. A. Bean. J. A. O'Brien. Wm. McGown. Joseph E. Grassie. H. P. Richardson. 1 No forest area. 198 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Danvers, . 210 Thos. E. Tinsley, tree warden, . Thos. E. Tinsley. Dartmouth Dedham, 27S 241 John W. Rowland, P. 0. North Dart- mouth. George A. Phillips, . George A. Phillips. Deerfield, 52 Wm. L. Harris, selectman. - Dennis, Dighton , 317 272 Alpheus P. Baker, constable, P. O South Dennis. Ralph Earle, .... H. H. Sears. Douglas, 112 W. L. Church, eoimty commissioner, - Dover, 240 John Breagy, .... Arthur Hagerfy. Dracut, 163 Daniel D. Fox, Herbert C. Jones. Dudley, 110 F. A. Putnam, - Dunstable, 161 Dexter Butterfiekl, . James A. Davis. Duxbury, . E. Bridgewater, . E. Longmeadow, 303 298 95 Fred B. Knapp, master Powder Point School. Loren A. Flagg, chief fire department P. 0. Elmwood. .'^sher Markham, Henry A. Fish. , Wm. T. Greene. Eastham, . 322 W. Horton Nicker.son, road surveyor . Easthampton, 77 Frank P. Newkirk, tree warden, . Easton, Edgartown, 264 309 John Baldwin, chief fire department P. O. North Easton. George N. Cleveland, , R. W. Melendy. Egremont, . Enfield, 29 74 Frank W. Bradford, Great Barrington R. F. D. No. 3. Chas. W. Felton, , ~ ~ Erving, 46 Ch. H. Holmes, selectman, P. O. Farle V, - Essex, 233 Otis 0. Story, tree warden, . Otis O. Story. Everett,' . - - James Davidson. Fairhaven, 276 Albert C. Aiken, . Fall River, 280 William Mulligan, tree warden, . - Falmouth, . 312 J. M. Watson, . W. B. Bosworth. Fitchburg, . 157 Geo. H. Hastings, superintendent, . Geo. H. Hastings. Florida, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, . Freetown, . 5 261 197 255 274 Fred R. Whitcomb, P. O. Hoosa Tunnel. Ernest A. White, chief fire departmen and constable. James Stalker, P. 0. South Framing ham, assistant tree warden. Edward S. Cook, dealer in wood anc lumber. Andrew M. Hathaway, P. 0. Assonet t Frank C. Carpenter. - N. I. Bowditch. [ M. J. Van Leeuwen. Gardner, 153 Theodore W. Dan forth, . . T. W. Danforth. Gay Head, 343 Leander B. Smally, Menemsha, Mass , Georgetown, 224 Clinton J. Eaton, . Edward J. Watson. Gill, . 45 Lewis C. Munn, - * No forest area. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FOREST l':R. 199 List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Gloucester, Goshen, Gosnold, Grafton, Granby, Granville, Gt. Barriiigton, Greenfield, Greenwich, Groton, Groveland, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampden, Hancock, Hanover, Hanson, Hardwick, Harvard, Harwich, Hatfield, Haverhill, Hawley, Heath. Hingham, Hinsdale, Holbrook, Holden, Holland, HoUiston, Holyoke, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Hubbardston, Hudson, HuU, 234 61 344 125 79 91 25 44 327 167 225 66 299 222 97 9 295 296 141 152 319 65 216 4S 36 2S9 15 247 136 101 202 85 328 201 149 199 329 Sidney F. Packard, P. O. R. F. D. No. 2, Willianisljurg. Harold S. Veeder, P. O. Cuttyhunk, . Sumner F. Leonard, overseer of the poor. C. N. Rust Laurence F. Henry, selectman, . Daniel W. Flynn, 54 Russell Street, . William A. Ames, tree warden, . William H. Walker, P. O. Greenwich Village. James B. Harrington, chief fire depart- ment. Sidney E. Johnson, 311 Center Street, Edward P. West, tree warden, . Edwin H. Vaughan, assessor, Fred Berry, P. O. Esse.x, R. F. D., John S. Swenson, Chas. F. Tucker, Chas. E. Damon, P. O. Box 113, North Hanover. Albert L. Dame, tree warden, P. O South Hanson. Myron N. Ayres, constable, Benjamin J. Priest, . John Condon, .... John M. Strong, P. O. West Hatfield, John B. Gordon, chief fire department, Ernest R. Seare, tree warden, P. O Charlemont. S. G. Benson, . ' . Geo. Gushing, chief fire department, Lewis B. Brague, tree warden, . E. W. Austin, ... Henry E. Holt, ... O. F. Howlett, P. O. Southbridge R. F. D. No. 2. Waldo E. Collins Chas. C. Hastings, . . Walter F. Durgin, constable, superin tendent of parks. R. I. Frail Ernest A. Young, tree warden, . Fred W. Trowbridge, chief fire depart- ment. Smith F. Sturges, tree warden, P. O. Allerton. Herbert J. Worth. Clias. K. Despeau. Wm. A. Ames. William A. Woods. Raymond B Larive. Frank D. Lyon. Fred A. Nason. Lyman Russell. A. L. Dame. Geo. C. Maynard. Geo. F. Moore. Arthur W Young. William Hayden. H. E. Holt. Geo. H. Moody. Walter F. Durgin. John T. Riley. R. H. Hapgood. John Knowles. 200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Huntington, Hyde Park, Ipswich, Kingston , . Lakeville, . lian caster, . Lanesbor()u<;li, Lawrence, . Lee, . Leicester, . Lenox, Leominster, Leverett, . Lexington, Leyden, Lincoln, Littleton, . Longmeadow , Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Lynnfield, . Maiden, Manchester, Mansfield, . Marblehead, Marion , Marlborough, Marsh field, Mashpee, . Mattapoisett, Masmard, Medfield, Med ford, Medway, Melrose, 70 330 223 301 2S3 151 10 214 22 122 18 155 57 188 38 187 170 94 165 88 156 331 209 191 236 263 332 306 198 292 313 281 184 252 192 254 Daniel B. Mack, constable, Harry G. Higbee, .... Augustus J. Barton, Thos. W. Bailey, selectman, Nathan F. Washburn, P. O. Middle- borough. Everett M. Hawkins, chief fire depart- ment. King D. Keeler, constable, Chas. G. Rutter, chief fire department, James W. Bossidy, . Walter E. Sprague, . Geo. W. Fitch, William K. Morse, chief fire depart ment, P. O. Nortli Leominster. Orman C. Marvel, assessor, Azor P. Howe, Herman W. Severance, Bernardston, Edward R. Farrer, tree warden, Chas. F. Johnson, town clerk, . Oscar C. Pomeroy, . Edward S. Hosmer, chief fire depart ment.. Edward E. Chapman, constable, Clayton E. Stone, Nathan M. Hawkes, park commissioner, Thos. E. Cox. P. O. Wakefield R. F. D., Frank Turner, .... Frederick Burnham, Herbert E. King, .... William H. Stevens, Isaac E. Hiller, .... Chas. H. Andrews, chief fire depart- ment. Edward E. Ames, .... Joseph A. Peters, . . . - Everet C. Stetson, . . . • Arthur J. Coughlan, room 17, May- nard's block. Waldo E. Kingsley, chief fire depart- ment. Chas. Bacon, chief fire department, Clyde C. Hunt, captain fire depart- ment. Harry G. Higbee. James A. Morey. Carl C. Faunae. S. T. Nelson. Geo F. Morse, Jr. Isaac Kelley. J. H. Woodhead. S. R. Walker. E. P. Merriam. Edward R. Farrar. Alfred Hopkins. Charles A. Whittet. Stephen Farnsworth. Albert C. Doal. Alfred W. Copeland. Geo. W. Stiles. John D. Morrison. W. O. Sweet. William H. Stevens, 2d. James H. Morss. M. E. Lyons. P. R. Livermore. Watson F. Hammond. Albert C. Coughlin. Geo. L. L. Allen. Wm. J. Gannon. Frank Hager. John J. McCu Hough. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 201 List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Mendon, MerriinaCi . Methuen, . Middleborougli, Mlddlefield, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, MiUis, Milton, Monroe, Monson, Montague, Monterey, Montgomery, Mt. Washington, Nantucket, Nahant,' Natick, Needham, . New Ashford, New Bedford, New Braintree, New Marlborougl: New Salem, Newbury, . Newburyport, Newton, Norfolk, . North Adams, North Andover, N. Attleborough N. Brookfield, N. Reading, Northampton, Northborough, 119 227 213 284 342 211 127 124 253 242 34 98 53 28 82 30 333 204 238 6 277 131 32 55 231 230 205 256 4 215 262 129 175 72 140 Geo. B. Cromb, Edgar P. Sargent, . Herbert B. Nichols, C. W. Weston, Thos. H. Fleming, P. O. Bancroft. Oscar H. Sheldon, . Elbert M. Crockett, chief fire depart ment. William E. Horn, . Chas. La Croix, Nathaniel T. Kidder, park commis sioner. S. R. Tower, ... Omer E. Broadway, » Fred W. Lyman, lumber dealer, Andrew J. Hall, Frank C. Preston, P. O Huntington, Fred Porter, .... Albert R. Coffin, William E. Daniels, Howard H. Upham, captain fire de- partment. Wm. E. Baker, Edward F. Dahill, chief fire depart ment. E. L. Haven, .... Dennis Hayes, P. O. Mill River, Rawson King, P. O. Cooleyville, William P. Bailey, . David Kent, 26 Arlington Street, Walter B. Randlett, chief fire depart ment, P. O. West Newton. C. Albert Murphy, . H. J. Montgomery, chief fire depart ment. Geo. A. Rea, .... Harvey W. Tufts, chief fire department H. S. Lytle, chief fire department, Irving F. Batchelder, Frederick E. Chase, . T. P. Haskell, Frank M. Aldrich. Frank E. Bartlett. Alfred H. Wayland. John C. Chase. Benj. T. McGlauflin. Patrick F. Fitzgerald. Edward F. Roach. Fred Holland. Nathaniel T. Kidder. Thos. Roland. H. H. Hunnewell. Ernest E. Riley. O. B. Tarbox. Charles P. Kelley. Chas. J. Bucknam. C. Albert Murphy. Peter Holt. F. P. Toner. Geo. E. Eaton. T. P. Haskell. ' No forest area. 202 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Nortlibridge, 117 W. E. Beemap, P. O. Whitinsville, . Arthur F. Whitin. Northfield, 40 Fred W. Doane, .... - Norton, 266 Alden G. Walker - Norwell, 290 John Wahlen, ..... Jolm II. Sparrell. Norwood, . 250 J. Fred Boyden, chief fire department, H. Frank Winslow. Oak Bluffs, 334 Samuel N. Kidder, .... - Oakham, . 135 Chas. H. Trowbridge, - Orange, 47 Chas. E. Lane, .... - Orleans, 32i Chas. F. Poor Albert A. Smith. Otis, . 27 Wilbur L. Strickland, - O.xford. 335 A. W. Stafford, North Oxford, . Chas. G. Larned. Palmer, Paxton, 89 130 James Summers, chief fire department, P. O. Box 333. Geo. W. Van Wyke, C. H. Keith. Peabody, . 219 Michael V. McCarthy, Forest Street, . James F. Callahan. Pelham, 68 E. P. Bartlett, P. O. Amherst, . - Pembroke, 294 Jos. J. Shepherd, .... Calvin S. West. Pepperell, . Peru, 160 16 Geo. G. Tarbell, P. 0. East Pepperell, Room 17, Aldine block. Clarence W. Hathaway, . John Tune. Petersham, 148 George P. Marsh, .... - Phillipston, Pittsfield, . 106 13 William Cowbleck, Athol, R. F. D. No. 3. Lucien D. Hazard, .... — — Plainville, . 59 J. F. Thompson, .... E. C. Blackwell. Plainfield, . 309 Lestan E. Parker, .... - Plymouth, . 302 Herbert Morissey, .... Geo. R. Briggs. Plympton, . 300 Thomas W. Blanchard, Zina E. Sherman. Prescott, . Princeton, . 69 150 Waldo H. Pierce, P. O. Greenwich Village. J. Heyden Stimpson, J. Harry Allen. Provincetown, 325 James H. Barnett, .... - Quincy, Randolph, . 243 248 Peter J. Williams, chief fire depart- ment. Chas. A. Wales, chief fire department. Randolph C. Bain- bridge. James E. Blanche. Raynham, . 270 John V. Festing, .... Geo. M. Leach. Reading, . 176 Herbert E. Mclntire, Guy A. Hubbard. Rehoboth, . 268 Silas A- Pierce, .... - Revere,' - - George Babson. Richmond, 17 T. B. Salmon, .... - Rochester, . 282 William N. Smellie - 1 No forest area. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 203 List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con, Town or City. Rockland, Rockport, Rowe, Rowley, Royalston, Russell, Rutland, Salem, 1 Salisbury, Sandisfield, Sandwich, Saugus, Savoy,! Scituate, Seekonk, Sharon, Sheffield, Shelburne, Sherbom, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Shutesbury, Somerset, . Somerville,' South Hadley, Southampton, Southborough, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stockbridge, Stoneham, . Stoughton, Stow, Badge No. 288 2.3ri 35 232 102 83 143 229 33 314 207 8 291 267 251 31 43 203 168 132 58 336 78 76 337 109 92 121 86 144 21 190 258 183 Forest Warden. John H. Burke, water commissioner, . A. J. McFarland, P. O. Box 91, Merritt A. Peck, .... Daniel O'Brien, agent Gypsy Moth Commission. Willard W. White, P. O. South Royal- ston. Sidney F. Shurtleff, highway surveyor, Henry Converse, chief fire department, Wm. H. Evans, .... Lyman H. Clark, P. O. New Boston, . John F. Carlton, P. O. Spring Hill, . Ole C. Christiansen, ^ . . . Herbert H. Fitzroy, P. O. Savoy Center. John F. Turner, tree warden, John L. Barker, P. O. Attleborough, R. F. D. No. 4. John G. PhilUps Geo. G. Peck, H. O. Fisk, P. O. Shelburne Falls, . Milo F. Campbell, constable. South Sherborn. Melvin W. Longley, assessor, Wm. E. Rice Emmons J. Spear, .... James Wilson, fish and game warden. Joseph Beach, P. O. South Hadley Falls. Geo. W. Tyler, Harry Burnett, tree warden, Aimee Langevin, Olney Avenue, Edward Gillett, tree warden, A. F. Howlett, Burton Steere, assistant fire chief, G. F. Herbert, assessor, Geo. Schneyer, selectman, P. O. Glen- dale. Geo. E. Sturtevant, chief fire depart- ment. Jesse E. Smith, .... WilHam H. Parker, P. O. Gleasondale, Local Moth Superintendent. Frank H. Shaw. Eli Gott. Daniel O'Brien. Amos Stillman. Chas. M. Pike. B. F. Denison. Thos. E. Berrett. Percival S. Brown. T J. Leary. J. P. Dowse. A A. Adams. Frank L. Ott. Asa B. Pritchard. Harry Burnett. Wm. F. Gale. Geo. M. Jefts. Wm. P. Kennedy. J. Frank Robbins. ' No forest area- 204 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. List of Forest Warde7is and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Sturbridge, Sudbury, . Sunderland, Sutton, Swampscott, Swansea, Taunton, . Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Tolland, . Topsfield, . Townsend, Truro, Tyngsborough, Tyringham, Upton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Wales, Walpole, Waltham, Ware, Warehara, Warren, Warwick, Washington, Watertown, Wayland, Webster, Wellesley, Wellfleet, Wendell, Wenham, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, 108 185 r!38 116 339 273 269 107 164 310 90 218 159 324 162 26 126 113 208 100 340 195 75 305 119 41 19 206 196 111 239 323 54 221 137 285 128 Chas. M. Clark, P. O. Fiskdale. F. E. Bent A. C. Warner, .... Ransom W. Richardson, . Geo. P. Cahoon, chief fire department, Thos. L. Mason, constable, P. O. R. F. D. No. 2. Fred A. Leonard, chief fire department, School Street. Henry H. Seaver, P. O. Baldwinville, Herbert W. Pillsbury, Albert Rotch, P. O. Vineyard Haven, Eugene M. Moore, . Isaac B. Young, selectman, F. J. Piper, chief fire department, Naylor Hatch, Otis L. Wright, Geo. F. Knapp, Geo. Z. Williams, chief fire department, Arnold S. Allen, constable and chief fire department. Samuel T. Parker, .... W. W. Eager, N. Emmons Winslow, chief fire depart- ment. Geo. L. Johnson, chief fire department, L. S. Charbonneau, P. O. Bo.x No. 25, Arthur B. Savary, . Joseph St. George, constable, Chas. H. Williams, . Geo. Messenger, R. F. D., Becket, John C. Ford, tree warden, Clarence S. Williams, Cochituate, Arthur B. Patterson, Fletcher M. Abbott, tree warden, Edwin P. Cook, Geo. A. Lewis, . ' Jacob D. Barnes, tree warden, . Frank H. Baldwin, agent Metropolitan Water Board. Octave Belmore, tree warden, . Robert M. Carter, P. O. Bo.x 135. Wm. E. Baldwm. John E. Gifford. Geo. Newhall. Alvaro Harnden. John B. Wheeler. Harry M. Briggs. C. W. Floyd. Geo. E. King. Joseph H. Atwood. Howard E. Noble. Geo. H. Evans. W W. Whittredge. PhiUp R. Allen. Jesse M. French. J. J. Walsh. Alfred A. Warriner. John C. Ford. Daniel Graham. Fletcher M. Abbott. Everett S. Jacobs. Jacob D. Barnes. Octave Bebnore. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 205 List of Forest Wardens and Local Moth Superintendents — Con. Town or City. Badge No. Forest Warden. Local Moth Superintendent. Westborough, West Newbury, . West Springfield, West Stockbridge, West Tisbury, Westfield, . Westford, . Westhampton, Westminster, Weston, Westport, . West wood, Weymouth, Whately, . Whitman, . Wilbraham, Williamsburg, Williams town, Wilmington, Winchendon, Winchester, Windsor, Winthrop.i Wobum, Worcester, Worthington, Wrentham, Yarmouth, 1.33 226 341 20 307 84 166 71 1.54 186 279 251 245 56 297 96 64 2 174 103 189 12 177 131 62 260 316 James H. McDonald, chief fire depart- ment. Silas M. Titcomb, P. O. Byfield, A. A. Sibley Bernard Manning, ... William J. Rotch, ... Geo. n. Byers, chief fire department P. O. address, Arnold Street. John A. Healey, P. O. Graniteville, Levi Burt, .... John C. Goodridge, chief fire depart ment. Edward P. Ripley, . Frank Whalon, North Westport, E. E. Smith, P. O. Islington, . J. Rupert Walsh, P. O. East Wey- mouth. James A. Wood, . . . . Clarence A. Randall, tree warden, Ilenry I. Edson, P. O. North Wil- br.-iham. Howard C. Pomeroy, Daniel Hogan, .... Jos. M. Hill, chief fire department, P. O. North Wilmington, P. O. Bo.x 24. Arthur L. Brown, chief fire depart- ment Irving L. Symmes, chief fire depart- ment. H. Ward Ford, tax collector. Frank E. Tracy, chief fire department, H. Ward Moore, Winnefred Avenue, . Chas. E. Clark Chaa. E. Brown, chief fire department, Seth Taylor, constable. Walter Sullivan. Robert J. Forsyth. Harry L. Nesmith. Stillman Whitney. Edward P. Ripley. C. H. Southerland. Dummer Sewall. Clarence A. Randall. Oliver A. McGrane. Samuel S. Symmes. Frank W. Tucker. John H. McGann. J. H. Hemingway. Wm. M. Gihnore. Chas. R. Bassett. ISTew Legislation. The new legislation enacted by the last General Court on forestry matters was as follows : — 1. An act relative to the liability of railroads for the ex- tinguishment of forest fires. 2. An act empowering the Governor of the Commonwealth ' No forest area. 206 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. to issue a i3roclainatioii for a closed season for game during times of drouth. 3. Amended law, extending the area in one tract from 40 to 80 acres in lands purchased by the State for reforestation. 4. An act placing the work of suppressing the gypsy and brown-tail moths under the State Forester. 5. Appropriation for gypsy and brown-tail moth work. (3. An act to encourage the growth of white pine timber. 1. An Act relative to tJte Liability of Bailroads for the Ex- tinguishment of Forest Fires. The enactment of this bill makes the railroads liable not only for the damage resulting from a fire caused by them, but for the expense of extinguishment of the fire. This act at first might seem to work hardship on railroads, as it was shown last year that 43 per cent, of the fires set in the State were railroad fires. With our new forest warden law, however, it is believed by both the State Forester and the railroad officials that with a perfected system of fire fighting the railroads them- selves will gladly reimburse the towns and cities for the expense of extinguishing fires set by them, believing that by so doing the real damage to property will be thus lessened, and in the outcome not only will the railroads themselves be the gainers financially, but the towns and cities, in that less acreage is likely to be burned. The act is as follows : — Acts of 1909, Chapter 394. An Act relative to the Liability for the Extinguishment of Forest Fires. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. Any railroad corporation Avliich, by its servants or agents, negligently, or in violation of law, sets fire to grass lands or forest lands shall be liable to any city or town in which such fire occurs, for the reasonable and lawful expense incurred by such city or town in the extinguishment of the fire. Section 2, Cities and towns may recover sums to which they are entitled under the provisions of this act by an action of contract in the superior court. [Approved May 14, 1909. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 207 2. An Act evipowcring the Governor of the Comynoniueallh to issue a Fruclamatloii for a Closed Season for Game in Times of Drouth. This is a precautionary measure that will result in calling the attention of the public to the importance of being careful about tires at a time when attention is most needed. The act is as follows : — Acts of 1909, Chapter 422. An Act to authorize the Governor to proclaim a Close Season FOR Game in Times op Drouth. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. Whenever, during an open season for the hunting of any kind of game in this state, it shall appear to the governor that by reason of extreme drouth the use of firearms in the foi-est is liable to cause forest fires, he may, by proclamation, suspend the open season and make it a close season for the shooting of birds and wild animals of every kind for such time as he may designate, and may prohibit the discharge of firearms in or near forest land during the said time. Section 2. During the time designated as above by the governor, all provisions of law relating to the close season shall be in force, and whoever violates any such provision shall be subject to the penalties prescribed therefor. In case any person shall, during a close season proclaimed as aforesaid, discharge a firearm in or near foi'est land, or shoot any wild animal or bii'd, as to which there is no close season otherwise provided by law, he shall be subject to a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. Section 3. A proclamation issued under authority hereof shall be published in such newspapers of the state and posted in such places and in such manner as the governor may direct, under the charge and direction of the state forester and the commissioners on fisheries and game. [Ap2Jroved May 21, 1909. 3. Revised Law extending the Area in One Tract from J/O to SO Acres in Lands purchased by the State for Reforestation. The restriction to 40 acres was found to necessitate the ex- pense of an extra survey where the lots ran slightly over the limited number, and by placing the area at 80 acres this objec- tion is eliminated. The act is as follows : — 208 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Acts of 1909, . Chapter 214. An Act relative to the Purchase by the State Forester op Land ADAPTED to FoREST PRODUCTION. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. Section one of chapter four hundred and seventy-eight of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and eight is hereby amended by striking out the words " forty acres ", in the tenth line, and in- serting in place thereof the Avords : — ■ eighty acres, — so as to read as follows : — Section 1. For the purpose of experiment and illustration in forest management and for the purposes specified in section seven of this act the sum of five thousand dollars may be expended in the year nineteen hundred and eight, and the sum of ten thousand dollars annually thereafter, by the state forester, with the advice and consent of the governor and council, in purchasing lands situated within the commonwealth and adapted to forest production. The price of such land shall not exceed in any instance five dollars per acre, nor shall more than eighty acres be acquired in any one tract in any one year, except that a greater area may so be acquired if the land purchased directly affects a source or tributary of water supply in any city or town of the commonwealth. All lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall be conveyed to the commonwealth, and no lands shall be paid for nor shall any moneys be expended in improvements thereon until all instruments of conveyance and the title to be transferred thereby have been approved by the attorney-general and until such instruments have been executed and recorded. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved March 25, 1909. 4. An Act placing the Worh of syppirssing the Gypsy and Broivn-tail Moths under the State Forester. The enactment of this law was the result of its recommenda- tion by Governor Draper in his inaugural address. The act is as follows : - — Acts of 1909, Chapter 263- An Act to provide for consolidating the Office of Superin- tendent FOR SUPPRESSING THE GyPSY AND BrOWN TaiL MoTHS AND THE Department of the State Forester. Be it enacted, etc., as foUoivs: Section 1. Section one of chapter four hundred and nine of the acts of the year nineteen hundred and four, as amended by section one of chapter four hundred and seventy-three of the acts of the year No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 209 nineteen hundred and seven, is liei'e1)y rurthoi' amended by striking out the said section and inserting in place thereof the following: — Section 1. The governor, with the consent of the council, shall ap- point an ofiieer to be known as the state forester, and shall determine his salary. He shall be a trained forester who has had a technical education. He shall be ex officio a member of the state board of arbi- culture. He shall act for the commonwealth in suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths as public nuisances. The governor may, with the consent of the council, remove the state forester at any time for such cause as he shall deem sufficient. In case of the death, removal or resignation of the state forester the governor shall forthwith ap- point a successor. Section 2. The office of supenntendent for suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths is hereby abolished. All the powers, rights, duties and liabilities of the said superintendent are hereby transferred to the state forester. No existing contracts, proceedings or liabilities shall be affected hereby, but the state forester shall in all respects and for all purposes be the lawful successor of the superintendent for suppressing the gypsy and brown tail moths. Section 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. {Approved April 7, 1909. 5. An Art to provide Funds for carri/ing on the Moth Work during a Definite Period of the Year, so that the Effect of the Work luill not he handicapped. The act is as follows : — Acts OF 1909, Chapter 452. An Act to provide for the Suppression of the Gypsy and Brown Tail Moths. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. The state forester is hereby authorized to expend for the suppression of the gypsy and brown tail moths, and for expenses incidental thereto, the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually for three years, beginning with the year nineteen hundred and ten; and if any part of the said one hundred and fifty thousand dollars remains unexpended at the close of any year the balance may be expended in the following year. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved May 26, 1909. 210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. G. An Act to encourage the Growth of White Pine Timber. This bill was enacted in order to encourage land owners to leave seed trees and encourage natural methods of reforestation. It offers as a premium exemption from taxation for a certain period of all lands that are properly restocked to white pine. Acts of 1909, Chapter 187. An Act to encourage the growth of white pine timber. Be it enacted, etc., as follows: Section 1. Land which does not exceed in value ten dollars an acre, if well stocked with thrifty white pine seedlings that have at- tained an average height of not less than fifteen inches, upon satis- factory i3roof of its condition by the owner to the assessors, shall be exempt from taxation for a period of ten years thereafter : provided, that if any trees of commercial value, except such as are reasonably removed for the imiorovement of the white pine growth, are cut or removed from the said land, the exemption herein provided for shall cease. Section 2. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. Section 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved March 18, 1909. ACKNOWLEBGMEISI TS. It is with pleasure that the State Forester acknowledges the valuable services and loyal support which he has received through his corps of assistants, not only in the office but in the field, throughout the year. Mr. L. Howard Worthley has been untiring in his efforts to leave nothing undone in his assistance in j)erfecting the organi- zation of the moth work and in getting the best possible re- sults. Mr. H. O. Cook, M.F., has kept up the high standard in tech- nological lines, and, as the reports show, has increased the efficiency of the work in forestry management beyond that of any previous year. Mr. R. S. Langrlell, who has charge of the nursery work, has not only deuK)Ustrated that this work is a couunorcial success, but has penetrated every section of the State, and is largely responsible for the splendid beginuing already made in refor- estation. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE EORESTER. 211 Mr. Chas. O. Bailoy lias loyally stood :if liis post of duty as secretary, and kept tlie luacliinery well oik'd and properly run- ning. The State Forester is under obligation, for courteous treat- ment and kindly consideration, to all citizens, boards and offi- cials with whom he has come in contact, and especially to Dean W. C Sabine of Harvard University, Dr. L. O. Howard of the United States Bureau of Entomology, and his predecessor, A. H. Kirkland, for kindly assistance, suggestions and advice. He wishes also to acknowledge the great assistance rendered by the men of the co-operative scientific staff. 212 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. GENERAL FORESTRY. Examination of Woodlands and Peactical Assistance GIVEN Owners. This department of our forestr}' work is the largest estab- lishment of all our lines, yet it is not as familiar to the people of the State as it should be. If it were, we believe that there would be many more calls for advice than we receive at present. By examinations we refer briefly to this, that owners of wood- land in the State may, by applying to this oflice on a special blank, have a trained forester come and look over their wood- land, and he will point out to them how it can be improved, and furnish any other information which it is in his power to give. Where it is a case of thinning, he may, if he sees fit, mark a portion of the trees to be cut. The only expense to the owner for this advice is the travelling expenses of the visiting forester. This offer applies equally to land owners who want advice on the planting of barren laud. Counsel given on the ground, where all the conditions can be seen and met, is far superior to any given by correspondence or to the general ad- vice contained in pamphlets. The following table shows the number of examinations made in this and past years, together with the combined area of the various wood lots. It will be noticed that there is a slight falling off since last year; but this fact does not discourage us, because in 1908 we made a special effort to advertise this part of our work, first by sending out a large number of examination application blanks to those on our mailing list, and second, by sending a special circular letter to all the water boards in the State. The result was, of course, that quite a number of re- quests for assistance were received which otherwise would not have been made, including some of our largest. Holding that the figures of last year were abnormal, we consider those of this No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 213 year to be distinctly encouraging; yet, as we liave said before, we think that there should be more U!^e made of this offer on the part of the State of free forestry advice. 1»04. (G mos.) 190.5. 1906. 1907. I908. 1009. Number, Total area, .... 14 2,000 30 6,545 47 9,357 37 8,713 65 15,842 60 15,862 As was done last year, a circular letter with an accompanying set of questions was sent to those who received advice during 1908, the object of which was to ascertain how far the recom- mendations made by the visiting forester had been carried out. A larger percentage of replies was received than last year, there being 4G who sent in reports, to 12 who did not. Eight were not given blanks, as enough was known of their work, through other channels, to make further information unnecessary. The following table gives a summary of these reports : — Reports received from Examiners of 1908. Recommended to thin : — All the work done, 8 Partly done, 13 Nothing done, 10 Recommended to plant : — All the work done, 2 Partly done, 13 Nothing done, .......... 15 Recommended to do nothing, ....... 4 Clean cutting recommended, 2 Results of Examinations of 1007. Recommended to thin : — All the work done, ......... 3 Partly done, 6 Nothing done, or not reporting, 8 Recommended to plant : — All the work done, 2 Partly done, 10 Nothing done, or not reporting, 8 Recommended to do nothing, 4 214 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Contrary to results in 1907, thinning work in 1008 seemed to be more popular than jilanting. This may be due in part to the fact that we have endeavored to mark a portion of the trees to be cut. For a record of the work done, see list under forestry ex- penditures and receipts. Reforestation Woek. Great interest has been shown in regard to reforesting the waste and denuded lands of the Commonwealth. The reforesta- tion law of 1908 fills to a large extent a long-felt want in this line of work, and, although the State planting is necessarily limited by the appropriation, it is desired as far as possible to plant one or more lots in each town in the State. This will place before the people an example which private owners can follow out in their own work, and in time bring much of the lands generally considered worthless and an eyesore to the com- munity back into a profitable forest growth. Land referred to as fit only for reforesting purposes can be classed under the following types: cut-over land, burnt-over land, and run-out pasture land (growing up to gray birch, etc.). The land taken over under this act generally comes under one of the foregoing types. The first of the year a notice and copy of the acts were sent to the selectmen, forest warden and the leading newspapers in each town. From applications desiring to take advantage of the act, deeds for 929 acres of land have been recorded and the tracts planted last spring. For this purpose 500,000 three-year- old white pine transplants were obtained from German nurseries, and as many more seedlings from this country, a portion of the latter being sent out from the State nursery at Amherst. The difi"erent lots were planted by local workmen in the towns, under the supervision of experienced foresters from this office. The average cost of j)lanting this year ranges from $6 to $10 per acre; but by raising our own trees in a nursery estab- lished for the purpose the cost could be greatly reduced. In a few instances it was deemed advisable to cut a fire belt on the exposed side of the plantation, to act as a protection from A white pine plantation on tlie watershed of the Wachusett reservoir, near Clinton. A mixed white pine and hard-wood plantation, five years after setting. The hard woods are not a success. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 2U forest fires, wliieli are the chief danger and drawback to sotting* ont trees to be grown for a term of years. The coming year land in other sections will be ])lanted, and it is ho])ed plantations will become quite generally distributed thronghont the State. The following plantations were made in the towns named during the past 3'ear : — State Plantations. Town. Acres. Type of Land. Variety planted. Andover, 40 Cut and burnt land, White pine. Asliburnliain, G6 Run-out pasture, . White pine. Ashburuhani, 10 Run-out fields, . . White pine. Ashburnham, 5 Old orchard, . White pine. Carver, 5 Burnt-over laud, . White pine. Gardner, 93 Burnt-overland, . White pine. Hubbardstou, 54 Sandy i)laiu land, . White pine. Hubbardston, 40 Plains land, . White pine. Hubbardstou 40 Cut and burnt land, White pine. Hubbardstou, 14 Cut-over laud. White pine. Hubbardston, 10 Cut -over land. White pine. Kingston, . 10 Burnt-over land, . White i)iue. Montague, . 261 Plains laud, . White pine. Paxton, 55 Cut-over land, White pine. Pelham, 16 Cut-over hillside, . White pine. Pelham, 6 Cut-over land. White pine. Rowley, 10 Cut-over land, White pine. Sandwich, . 14 Cut-over land. Scotch and Austrian Spencer, 35 Cut and burnt land, pine. White i)iue. Spencer, 23 Run-out pasture, . White pine. Spencer, 6 Cut-over land. White pine. Templeton, . 1071 Cut-over land. White pine. Tenipleton, . 601 Cut-over land. White pine. Westminster, 40 Cut-over land. White pine. Westminster, 40 Cut-over land. White pine. Westminster, 39 Burnt-over land, . White pine. Westminster, 36 Cut-over laud. White pine. Westminster, 29 Cut-over land, White pine. Total area. 927 > Lots protected by fire belt. 216 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Plaxting done under Advice oe State Forester. Name. Town. Variety. No. of Trees. Amherst Water Company, Holyoke Water Company, Leominster Water Company, . Westfleld Water Company, Harlow Brook Cranberrj- Company Fred Barclay Lewis I. Wright, E. E. Rice D. H. Rice N. D. Bill E. P. Dunbar A. II. Hall Brown Bros, and John Folsom, Amherst, Holyoke, Leominster, . Westfleld, Wareham, Spencer, Gardner, Boston, . Barre, . Springfield, . West Bridgewater, Leominster, . Wiuchendon, White pine, White pine. White pine, White pine. White pine. White pine, White pine, White pine. White pine. Chestnut, White pine, White pine, White pine. 10,000 10,000 7,000 7,000 5,000 12,000 2,000 1,000 2,000 500 4,000 1,000 50,000 Evergreen Seedlings now imported Free of Duty. It may be of interest to know that the last session of Con- gress removed the dntj on evergreen seedlings. This j^laces the reforestation work with evergreens on a practical basis. Our people will ultimately grow their own stock, and the foreign importation will keep prices within bounds until that time. The tariff heretofore was $1 per 1,000, and 15 per cent, ad valorem. Forest Nursery. The State forest nursery at Amherst on the farm of the Ag- ricultural College was again enlarged last spring, and we have ])rospects of being able to use at least 1,200,000 white ])ine two-year-old trees of our own growing in the reforestation work throughout the State next spring. Besides white pine we also have many other species in lesser lots, but all of value in the State work. The detail table which follows may be of interest. The State forest nursery work speaks for itself, when we show that the total expense of carrying it on has been for three years $5,749.60, and were we to sell the stock now on hand at cur- rent prices it w^ould be worth $7,500. Meanwhile, we have been using seedlings and trans])lants N( REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 217 every year which are not included here. Last s])riiii>' alone we dug from the nursery at least 150, 000 trees, and at i)resent we have fully :^, 000, 000 »)iie-yeni--<)l(l white; |)iu(' secnlliugs, besides 100,000 of other s})ecies. The followint!; table shows the esti- nmted anionnt of nursery stock on hand : — Age (Years). No. of Trees. White piue seedlings, White pine seedlings, Pitch pine seedlings. Pitch pine seedlings, Norway piue seedlings, . Austrian pine seedlings, . Norway spruce seedlings, Balsam lir seedlings, nenilock seedlings, . Red spruce seedlings, niack locust seedlings, Total White pine transplants, . White pine transplants, . White ash transplants, . Norway spruce transplants, Black locust transplants, . Catalpa speciosa transplant.-^ Honey locust transplants, Total, .... ],'200,000 2,000,0(10 40,000 50,000 5,000 2,000 25,000 5,000 5,000 2,000 5,000 3,339,000 25,000 25,000 20,000 3,000 2,000 300 6,000 81,300 It has been the aim of the State Forester not only to demon- strate in the nursery what can be done, bnt to assist those inter- ested in growing- their own trees by sending literature describ- ing how to collect the seed, and even furnishing an assistant to demonstrate how to make the seed beds and plant the seeds. During the planting season at the nursery we are glad to wel- come any one desiring experience in nursery work. This offers an opportunity not only to see how the work is performed, but to get some actual experience. Last spring several persons availed themselves of this offer. 218 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Piil). Doc. A few persons have started seed beds of their own. One man will have 150,000 two-year-old seedlings to nse from his own growing next spring, while another estimates he will have from 250,000 to 350,000. Many more will have smaller lots. Larger State Nursery needed. The time has come when the State shonld have a more defi- nite forest nursery policy. It is deemed practically necessary that the State operate a nursery of sufficient size to raise its own trees for reforestation purposes under the reforestation act. It is believed the State Eorester will be unable to secure suffi- cient suitable land in large enough area on the farm of the Agricultural College to carry on the work necessary. The col- lege already feels cramped for land, and the small tract used for the present nursery, which is altogether inadequate for the needs of the coming year, is allowed us only temporarily. If the college trustees feel unable to allow the State Forester double the area where the present nursery is located, it will necessitate making plans elsewhere. A water supply should be put in, more screens made and a better work shed built. The nursery should also be fenced off, as damage has repeatedly resulted from animals getting loose and trampling the beds. These improvements will be necessary, whether we remain at the college or move the nursery elsewhere. The State Forester shoidd lie given sufficient funds for estab- lishing a nursery commensurate with the carrying out of the reforestation act, for, as already demonstrated, it amounts only to lending the money to carry on work that will be returned to the State treasury later in the sale of forest products. New York State last year published a bulletin offering forest tree seedlings and transplants from the State forest nursery to any one who would guarantee to plant them in that State, at the following prices : — White pine transplants, $4.25 per 1,000, f.o.b. White pine seedlings (2 years olil), . . . 2.25 per 1,000, f.o.b. Scotch pine transplants, 3.75 per 1,000, f.o.b. Scotch pine seedlings, ..... 2.25 per 1,000, f.o.b. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 219 While the State of New York was encouraging its people in reforestation by the above generous offer, J\Lassachusetts was unable to purchase similar white pine seedlings for less than $4 l)er 1,000 in this country, and even at that price we were com- pelled to take them in 100,000 lots ; for 1,000 lots the price was $5 per 1,000 for the best and $4 for second quality. Trans- plants of white pine were quoted at from $10 to $20 per 1,000. If New York can do this, and iiiake the work self-supporting, I feel sure that under similar conditions Massachusetts can do as well. As was stated last year, it is not the intention of the State to go into the nursery business, other than to meet requirements in carrying out a practical economic reforestation policy. If we can grow seedlings and pay all expenses for $2.25 per 1,000, why should we be compelled to paj^ $5 ? Using, as we will the coming spring in the State reforestation work, 2,000,000, the cost if grown by ourselves would not exceed $4,500, while in the American markets they would cost us $8,000 if purchased in large lots, or $10,000 if purchased in smaller quantities. While the difference in white pine seedlings seems large, transplants are comparatively more expensive, the one being $4.25 per 1,000 as compared to $12. Norway Spruce as a Forest Tree. This tree is used quite commonly as an ornamental tree in this State, and common observation shows that it succeeds re- markably well. As a possible forest tree it has not been con- sidered very seriously until this year. It is believed that the Norway spruce will succeed where our native spruces are found growing naturally, and perhaps elsewhere. The follow- ing experience of Mr. George Aiken, manager of the Billings Farm at Woodstock, Vt, in growing Norway spruce on his farm, is herewith offered, with his permission. One acre was planted with three-year-old trees, 8 feet apart each way, requiring 680 trees to the acre. The land was a poor, sandy hillside, unfit for cultivation. In 1908, when the trees were thirty-two years of age, or thirty-five years from seed, 4 average-sized trees were cut. Their measurements were as follows : — 220 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. No. 1, 72 feet high, 11-inch butt cut, 461/2 feet of logs 6 inches at top. No. 2, 57 feet high, 15-inch butt cut, 471/2 feet of logs 6 inches at top. No. 3, 63 feet high, 14-inch butt cut, 42 feet of logs 6 inches at tojj. No. 4, 67 feet high, 16-inch butt cut, 40 feet of logs 6 inches at top. These 4 trees produced 1 cord of pulp wood. Reckoning from this yield as applied to an acre, the yield would be 1 72^/2 cords, which at the current price of $6.50 per cord, would give the income from this acre $1,120 in thirty-two years. Computing the land at $5 per acre, cost of trees and planting at $5, and to this adding compound interest for the thirty-two years, the total would amount to $65.50 ; adding to this taxes for thirty-two years, or $7.50, makes the total investment $73, and hence leaves a net income of $1,046.86, or a yearly average of $36.72 per acre. Mr. Aiken claims that this land is not worth over 50 cents per acre per annum for grazing. The pulp wood cut here was sold to the International Paper Company, who made it into paper at the Bellows Falls mill. Mr. Edward Barrett, superintendent of this mill, reports as follows : — The Norway Spruce Test. — One cord of rough wood, 71 sticks 4 feet long, after preparing for grinding room, gave us 98 cubic feet; this made 1,228 pounds of dry wood pulp. The spruce worked nicely on the paper machine, and, under the same conditions as our regular spruce, gave us a higher test for strength and a brighter shade with the same amount of color. For the first time the State Forester expects to set out quite a large number of I^orway spruce in Massachusetts the coming spring. The beauty of the spruce for pulp wood is that prac- tically the whole tree is utilized. FoKEST Fires of 1909. Forest fires have been altogether too numerous throughout the State during the past season. We are convinced that the permit act which went into effect last spring gave splendid results, and that forest wardens generally were more active than ever; but with all this wo arc not accomplishing the results we should and nmst. ''■mh'^:y3^^:^':^rMS^ •4' ■' ..k''' -f -■'.■■; t:^:.: A large tract of laud in Ilubbardston, whicli was reforested by the department last spring. « A portion of one of the lots turned over to tlie State. The cord wood taken out pays the expense, and the remaining stand is in a much-improved condition. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 221 The total iiuiiilK'r of forest and grass fires reported to the State Forester during the year was, 1,531; the number of acres burned over, 42,808; loss to the State, $230,478. From the table it is shown that the chief cause of forest fires is from railroad locomotives, which set 497, or 34 per cent, of the total of the year, compared with 490 last year. Next in ])oint of number are fires from unknown causes, 360. The third largest cause is due to burning brush, 108, or 71/0 per cent, of the total. The fourth in number is that caused by smokers, 90. It is believed, however, that in the latter should be in- cluded the great number of those listed under the unknown, and even some of those attributed to other causes. The fifth cause was directly traceable to our juvenile population, as 83 were known to be set by boys. It is hoped that our railroads will exert themselves to lessen these fires in the coming year. We certainly should ascertain the causes unknown at present, and, with our permit law in force, the burning brush cases should be very much reduced ; while the number of fires caused by smokers and boys will be overcome only by a determination to place the responsibility where it belongs by our forest wardens, deputies and people generally interested in preserving our forests. Fires from Smoking. That the careless smoker, who persists in the habit when in woodlands or traversing the country during a dry time, whether at work or play, is the greatest menace to future forestry, it is believed there is little question. The railroad fires are con- fined to certain areas, but the smoker is everywhere. If forest wardens or their deputies were to bring more circumstantial evidence to bear against smokers from known locations where hunters, fishermen, campers, woodsmen, etc., have traversed, it is believed the effect of the law which makes such persons liable for damages would prove helpful to future forestry. 222 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Causes of Forest Fikes in Massachusetts, 1909. Causes. Berry pickers Blasting fuse, .... Boys set fire, .... Burning brush Campers Carelessness, .... Charcoal Children playing, .... Coals dumped Cranberry bogs Electric wires, .... Fire balloons Fireworks and Arc crackers, Fishermen, Grass fires, Gypsy moth, Hunters, Incendiary Lightning Locomotive sparks, Mayflower parties, Picnic parties, .... Rubbish fires, .... Smokers Steam saw mills Spark from burning building, . Spark from forest fire, Steam roller, .... Scattering Unknown Wood choppers Reported too late for tubulating, Total, No. Per Cent. 2.5 1 83 lOS i) •2 1 9 5 1 2 1 4 2 30 6 8 36 1 497 2 2 31 !H) 5 6 n 3 106 360 3 1.72 5.72 7.51 2.48 34.26 2.13 6.20 0.76 7.33 24.89 1,513 Arrests and Convictions. Forest wardens have been extremely lenient as regards ar- rests for violations of the State forest fire laws, — altogether too iniu'h so, it is l)e]ieved. The idea has heen to caution people No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 223 unci educate tlieiii in realizing the danger of forest fires before arresting them. It is believed, however, that we have been gen- erous in this respect, and henceforth if we are to stop fires we must be reasonable, but assert a little more backbone in control- ling them. The following arrests and convictions were made during the year 1909: — Edgartown, July 12. Conviction of man taken while burning without a permit; case placed on file. Falmouth, June 1. Young man convicted of setting woods fire, and sent to reformatory. Holbrook, December. Conviction of man burning without a permit; paid fine and costs. Lancaster, April 2. Man taken while burning without a permit; paid costs and damages. Mansfield, March 30. Tramp convicted 'of setting fire to fai'mer's wood lot; sent to jail. Plymouth, August 8. Man convicted of burning without a permit; fined $10. Reading, October 13. Two men burning without jiermit; fined $25 each. Spencer, April 10. Man burning without permit ; fined $10. Stoughton, April 7. Man burning without permit ; fined. Tewksbury, July. Boys placed on probation. Upton. Two men arrested ; placed on probation. Wrentham. Cases on file. Table of Acres, Cost and Damage, by Months. Acres. Cost. Damage. per Acre. January, February, March, . April, May, •June, July, August, . September, October, November, 13 12 1,577 12,51.5 4,322 405 11,992 1,940 1,092 384 585 $684 2,866 1,588 242 2,715 2,745 562 180 356 $20 4,763 72,195 38,080 11,870 26,3i)6 10,833 21,413 1,805 612 $3.02 5.76 8.81 29.30 2.20 5.57 19.51 5.17 0.61 224 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Table ov Forest Fire Totals. No. of Fires. Acres burned. Cost to put out. Damage. Reports received too late for tabulation, . Totals of reports tabulated for 1909, . 63 1,450 246 42,562 $110 15,433 $1,515 219,425 Forest fire totals for 1909, 1,513 42,808 $15,543 $220,930 Railroad Co-opeeation in Forest Fike Fighting. During the last 3'ear, as heretofore, the officials of the rail- roads have for the most part shown a very helpful and co-oper- ative spirit in regard to forest fires. More attention has been given to keeping the spark-arresters on engines in order, while our forest wardens and the section men are working together for the prevention of fires. The new legislation of last year, whereby the railroads are to reimburse the towns for the cost of fighting fires known to be set by them, was enacted without any protest, and, in fact, with their consent. Hereby an or- ganization for forest fire fighting is resulting which will prevent fires that otherwise would be of great expense to railroads. The damages for one fire are likely to cost a railroad more than the total expense of reimbursing all of its towns in fighting fires set by them. President Tuttle of the Boston & Maine Railroad compli- mented us by having a representative at both the ^N^orthampton and Boston conferences of forest wardens, who discussed " What the railroads are doing to prevent fires," and pointed out wherein they were glad to co-operate with the towns in stopping forest and grass fires. The T^ew York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- road also sent a representative to the Middleborough meeting in a like capacity. Mr. Louville Curtis, the representative of the Boston & Maine Raih'oad, has already adopted the use of hand fire extinguishers on the western division of their road, and is delighted with the results. He believes that their use will become very common by railroads for extinguishing forest or grass fires in the future. They could be kept at points along the line easy of access, and quickly shipped by the first train or sent by a special if occasion demanded. Much clearing up No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 225 and wuleiiins;' of the right of way have been clone by the Xew York, Kew llaveu & Hartford Railroad throughout the year, 2)arlicularly in the Cape section. FoEKST Fire Deputies needed. The forest warden law has undoubtedly been tested far enough to be pronounced a success as another step in perfecting our organized eiforts against forest fires. I now propose the idea of empowering the State Forester to appoint deputies at large to assist him. ]\rany of our forest wardens need instruction and co-operation in getting their work well in hand. The best way to teach these men just how to accomplish results in fighting forest fires is to confer with them right on the ground, and dem- onstrate what can be accomplished and how it can be done. There are experienced men whom the State Forester coiild in times of emergency delegate to assist, and, if need be, with authority to take charge. In the case of the gypsy and brown-tail moth agents, these men are at present mounted on motor cycles and hence are familiar with the country. They are already State employees, and men interested in the preservation of the forests. They will gladly acquaint themselves with modern methods of fight- ing forest fires, and, were they appointed deputies authorized to assume responsibility, the State would have their services at no extra compensation. Of course this would apply only throughout the moth-infested territory, but other plans could be worked out for the remainder of the State at a minimum cost. State Subsidy to Towxs for Better Forest Fire Pro- tection. The time has come when we can ill afford to allow forest fires to run rampant over the State, destroying each year thousands of dollars worth of property. In many cases the reason for present conditions is that a great many of our rural towns have nothing in the way of equipment with which to fight forest fires when they occur. With a simple equipment, consisting of a few hand chemical fire extinguishers provided with extra charges and loaded into a light one-horse 226 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. spring wagon, together with some shovels and hoes, many of the fires could be easily handled before they could do much damage. Believing, therefore, that the State can afford to encourage the towns to make a definite beginning in stopping forest fires, I recommend the following for your consideration : that the State offer through the State Forester to reimburse towns 50 per cent, of their exj^enditures for forest fire fighting equipment, or in making forest fire protective belts, to an amount not to exceed $250 for each town thus accepting such aid. This idea is practically that now in operation by the State in the construction of our State highways, which has proved a great success. The incentive for towns that would otherwise move slowly is apparent. The total expense, were every town to accept, would amount to about $80,250, — not one-third of the annual loss from forest fires, and with every possibility of the expenditure meaning a saving of ultimate millions in future values to the State. Plan for establishing Forkst Firio Lookouts. This plan provides for the erection of lookout towers on va- rious high points throughout the State, with the object of de- tecting and locating forest fires while yet in an incipient stage. The plan is by no means a new one, even in this State, as is evidenced by the towers already in use in Plymouth and Dux- bury, and described in the recent fire bulletin issued by this office ; while it is generally conceded that the system of towers used by the large timber operators in Maine is one of their most valued assets, since it affords means of preventing fires which would otherwise destroy millions of feet of valuable tind)er. But, Avhilc the principle and the results are thus similai-, the method of application in Massachusetts must necessarily differ greatly from that in ]\Iaine. This is because of the different physical conditions of the two States, as we may say; for, while the forest regions of Maine are practically in the central and northern part of the State, and often lie for miles iu uubroken tracts, in Massachusetts there are no real forests, properly so- called, and the tracts of woodland that do exist are scattered A photograph, taken after the Are, of a portion of the ten thousand acres burned at Bourne and Falmouth. Tlie plowed lire line along an old road, which enabled Sandwich to protect the town from the Bourne lire. Bourne on the left, Sandwich on the right. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 227 over all i)arts of the Commoiiwcaltb, from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, aiul occur uiuler widely different topographical conditions. And, furtlierniore, such systems of lookouts as we have mentioned are managed over comparatively localized areas, usually vast wilderness, by the owners themselves for their own benefit, while the difference in Massachusetts is obvious. The problem is not to immediately establish a complete fire protection system all over the State, but to endeavor, by placing lookouts at certain important points, to co-operate as far as possible with the local wardens in the quick detection of fires. It is easily seen that such a system becomes useful largely 'in jjroportion to the distance covered from a given point, so that a tower erected on flat country may prove of great service. Take, for example, the Plymouth tower. This tower was built by the town of Plymouth, and is of skeleton steel construction somewhat like a windmill tower, with a small sheet-iron cabin at the top. The structure itself is 85 feet high, and the watch- man is elevated 250 feet above sea level, — an elevation which emibles him to see many miles over the surrounding flat country. A man is kept on watch in this tower in dry seasons from March 15 to October 1, from 8 in the morning till 6 at night. This watchman is connected by telephone with the forest warden, and the plan has jiroved to be a most excellent one. The Cape has by far the most destructive fires of any region in the State, and it is therefore thought advisable to lay the strongest emphasis on that section at present, at the same time choosing suitable locations in other sections. At least two towers are urged for the Caj)e section. One of the necessary equipments of such stations is the tele- ])hone, and the cost of installation would depend, first on whether such hills were already equipped (as is Mt. Greylock) ; and, second, on the distance to the nearest line and likelihood of future development in the vicinity, which would affect the cost of putting in such a line. In the more remote localities a larger proportion of the expense would have to be borne by the State. Other equipment consists of good field glasses, range finder and accurate maps of the region. The cost of the structure itself depends, of course, on the locality and the amount of con- 228 BOARD OF AGKICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. striiction necessary. Of 22 stations in Maine, the cost runs anywhere from $350 to $1,000, depending largely on the length of telephone connection. Telephone lines have cost there from $30 to $40 a mile. One of the large lumber companies owning timber lands in Maine recommends a number of extinguishers on hand at the watch tower for use in case of emergency, and also the main- tenance of a patrol during especially dry times. As regards the expense of maintenance, it seems only fair that it should be borne in part at least by the towns to which protection is given. Assistant needed in Forest Fire Work. The time has come when the State Forester should have the assistance of a man who can spend his whole time on forest fire work. For the next few years each town should be visited, and the whole matter of forest fire prevention gone over carefully with the local wardens. Your State Forester cannot get over each of our 321 towns and give them the attention they should have regarding forest fires, and at the same time keep the refor- estation, moth work, lectures, correspondence, etc., going. With a competent assistant, however, he can direct the work, and save great values that each year at present are a total loss. Such an assistant could be provided with a motor cycle, by means of which even the most inaccessible country sections could be easily reached. The idea would be to keep this man in the field, par- ticularly during the forest fire season. The expenses of such a man would be his salary and travelling expenses. Power Sprayers as Forest Fire Equipment. With the high-power engines and improved pumps on the modern power sprayers, we have an outfit not only adapted to spraying our tallest trees in moth-suppression work, but when properly handled they can be used very effectively for fighting forest fires. While these outfits are rather heavy when loaded, and need a strong team to handle them on the ordinary roads, thoy may need four horses when operating in Avoodlands. The advantages of these machines are that they contain a large tank No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 229 for water, and also that their power is sufficient so that hose one thousand feet or more in length can be used. In cases where the machines can be placed at the water supply, they can l)iinip directly to the fire. The following quotation is taken from a letter written to H. L. Frost & Co. by Mr. J. D. Barnes, local superintendent and forest warden, Wenham, Mass. : — I also put the maeliine to a good fire test. Of course we did not purchase this outfit for a fire fighter, but we happened to have a large fire here, where nine ice houses were burning at once. Now, there was a forest across the road from these buildings, also a group of four cottages. I started to save the forest land, not thinking I could do anything about the cottages, but to my surprise we stopped the forest fires and saved the cottages. I started the machine at 4 p.m. and played until 3 A.M., and then started at 7 a.m. and played all day except the noon hour, using two streams of 500. feet of 1-inch hose each, draft- ing and playing direct. I had to remove the plug in the bottom of the tank to get rid of surplus water, which gained about 400 gallons every fort}^ minutes, which the nozzles could not take care of. Automobiles and Motor Cycles in Forestry Work. Upon assuming the duties of the moth work, it was found that the expenditure of a large amount of money in automobile hire would be necessary, as this is the only expedient Avay of getting into the infested districts and keeping in touch with the field work. It was found that this expense during the pre- vious year had been over $2,000. The matter was taken up with Governor Draper, and he authorized the purchase of an nutomobile, which has been in constant use. When controver- sies have arisen in towns or cities over the conditions of the work, we have been al)le to take the board of selectmen, mayors and others interested directly into the field. It has not been uncommon for the automobile to cover from 10 to 20 towns in a single day, and to do business with as many local superin- tendents. The motor cycles were purchased by the department for the division superintendents, and were first used in September. , From this short experience we are convinced that the efficiency of each man is greatly multiplied. With a motor cycle he can if need be get into every town under his supervision in one day. 230 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Two motor cycles have also been purchased for the use of the forestry assistants. I predict even farther that it is only a matter of a short time before our towns will be able to combat forest iires through the assistance of automobiles. Already some of our public-si)irited forest wardens have automobiles of their own, and they do not hesitate to use them as occasion demands. They reach the fire quickly, and thus accomplish results when other means of conveyance would be too late. Fire Balloons. A few complaints have reached the State Forester claiming that the so-called toy paper or hot-air balloons have been respon- sible for starting forest fires, and their use should be regulated. It can be readily seen that where the conditions are just right the damage from this source might be very serious. It is recom- mended, therefore, that in order to fly these balloons the ])artiei- pant be required to secure a permit from a forest warden, and that the liability for damages should they occur be the same as for other fires set out of doors. Price to pay for fighting Forest Fires in Towns. There seems to be no uniformity in towns regarding the price per hour ])aid for fighting forest fires. One town may pay 15 cents an hour and another 50 cents, while others range between these two extremes. At the various conferences of forest war- dens held the past fall this question was brought up, and it was the consensus of opinion that a uniform rate should be adopted for the entire State. This question, however, is a local one; and, while 15 cents may not be enough, 50 cents seems high, and it is believed that the town forest warden should have the matter adjusted at the town meeting to meet his needs. One forest warden has an arrangement with his town chief of the fire department, Mdiereby he can have experienced firemen at the rate of 50 cents for the first hour and 25 cents for each suc- ceeding hour. A few live men who are willing and interested in the town's future welfare, with sonu^ u]>to-date equipment, are worth much more than a large uundun- of unorganized men, as frequently found at forest fires. No. 4.J REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 231 Slashings or Beusii should be burned. The coiniiioii cusluiu of allowing- \hv slashings to remain njxni the gronnd after lumbering operations k-aves a veritable tinder box for forest fires. A tire once started here is soon beyond ecmtrol, and the damage is not confined even to the area covered with slashings, bnt in most cases adjoining properties are endangered and fequently large areas are devastated. With forest products at present prices and the facts well understood that fires are the great menace to future forestry, it is time that we should enact laws regulating the handling of slashings. The United States Forest Service requires that the brush resulting from lumbering operations upon the forest reserves be piled and burned as a part of any contract they let. Wisconsin has a special commission ap])ointed by the Legislature to report recommendations toward regulatiitg this matter. There are few States that need to give attention to this sub- ject more than Massachusetts. We are thickly populated, and the damages from fires are relatively great. Our markets are of the best, and as a matter of business we can ill afford to practice a slack j)oliey. If when operating our forest or wood lots the brush is made at the time into small ])iles, they can be burned at a time when there is no danger from spreading. It is advisable to burn the slashings when operating, if conditions are favorable, as they are then green ; and, as the work is usually done during the winter season, there is snow on the ground, or sufficient moisture is present to prevent any spreading of the fire. With the slashings and general debris out of the way, the fire danger is reduced to a mininmm ; and, whether the land is re- forested hy setting out seedlings or a copse growth established, the conditions for future success will be of the best. Fire Lines and Protective Moth Belts. It is a common practice in the gypsy moth work to surround badly infested colonies that otherwise would spread by making protective belts of 50 to 100 feet wide, and by thinning out the stand and opening up an avenue whereby the insects cannot pass 232 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. without being destroyed. This protective moth belt is usually kept sprayed, and thus the insects are poisoned before they get across it. This same belt can also be utilized as a forest fire line, as it serves to make a stand against a fire, if it is so desired. Old wood roads can be made to answer nicely for these belts. In the first place, the road is needed for getting spraying pum])s through for moth sui)pression, and forest fire wagons need simi- lar conditions; and, if roadsides are widened on either side, giving the width mentioned, both purposes are accomplished. Forest wardens and moth superintendents should take advantage of these conditions, and work together in getting more of these protective belts in the town. Cape Forest Fires. Each year great waste and destruction from forest fires seem to visit some section of the Cape country. This condition has continued so long and become so common that not only are many thousands of acres reduced to acorn Ijrush deserts, but, from their being burned over every few years as soon as they accumu- late enough vegetation to feed the flames, there is little likeli- hood of conditions improving until something is done. Where fires have been kept out and even nature had a chance to assist, we find sufficient forest growth to really amount to con- siderable commercial value. Even on rough, rocky and ledgy lands, as well as those of pure sand, if we will keep out fires so that a forest floor can accumulate, the mulch or humus, which is composed of decaying leaves, twigs, etc., will form and here magnificent forests can be grown. The early history of this coimtry tells us that the Cape was completely forested, and if it was once, it can be again reforested under modern methods. First of all we must stop the forest fires. The pitch pine revels in the Cape conditions more than most other species, because it has a thick bark and can withstand fires better than most other trees; and then, again, it propagates easily from seed, even small specimens yielding more or less cones. If this tree will grow under such adverse conditions, were we to assist it in its struggle and even collect and ])lant or A lit'ty-foot Are lane to protect the plantation on the left. In the center of the pic- ture and at the inner edge of the Are lane is a six-foot trench, made with mat- tocks and shovels by taking off the turf which surrounds the planting. Burning brush in separate piles, when the snow is on the ground, to avoid forest fires. Work of the State Forester, carried on under the reforestation act. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 233 sow the seed, start nurseries and transplant the seedlings, we soon could bring about great results on the Cape. Nor are we confined to the pilch pine. Many more species of trees will grow hvvo when once they are given a little consideration as regards shelter, soils and freedom from fires. Last summer a forest fire of approximately 10,000 acres burned over a territory in the towns of Bourne and Falmouth. Upon making a thorough examination of this fire, as to its causes, methods of handling, etc., it is evident that this forest fire which laid waste this vast territory could have been handled easily and controlled with comparatively no damage had there been any organized eft'ort or suitable equipment. From data secured through competent men, whose reports are now on file in the State Forester's ofiice, together with photo- graphs showing conditions where fires crossed roads, maps of the territory burned each day, it is 'evident that if we Massachu- setts people are willing to allow such conditions to continue to exist, we certainly are neglecting our birthright. If towns are not willing or able to protect themselves, the State should step in and regulate or assist. Since this large fire the towns adjacent have been aroused to activity in future protection, and it is hoped this interest may not die out until something results. It is generally acknowledged that these fires originate from Mayflower gatherers and blueberry pickers. It is evident that this being the case, some regulations must be made for fixing the responsibility and ]Hinishing the oftenders. It is understood that the association composed of the boards of selectmen of various towns expects to ask some legislation on this subject this year. AUTHOKITY TO ACCEPT DONATIONS. If the State Forester were given authority to accept lands or funds on behalf of the Connnonwealth -which are to be used for State reserves and managed by the State Forester, with the understanding that all net sales from the management of such lands shall be used by him for improving State forestry condi- tions, subject to the approval of the Governor and Council, it is 234 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. believed the State would derive a great deal of benefit. This suggestion has come to the office a few times from such sources as we have reason to believe would be interested in aiding the future forestry work in Massachusetts. Public Lectures and Addresses. As heretofore, the State Forester has endeavored to do as much of this kind of work as he could consistently, and kee]) up the regular routine work of the department. More engagements have been filled than ever before. The policy of accepting invi- tations preferably when a large and representative audience is assured (not less than 100), and the meeting an open one, has been adhered to this year, as last. The requests for lectures have been greater than ever. Besides the 51 lectures by the State Forester, occasional en- gagements have been filled by assistants. The usual course of lectures was given at the Massachusetts Agricultural (Vjllege during January. IMeeting w^itii the State FIRE]MEN^s Associatiox. The State Forester was requested to again address the State Firemen's Association on the occasion of their annual meeting, held at Plymouth, September 15. Chiefs of the fire depart- ments have expressed a willingness to co-operate with forest wardens in suppressing forest fires, and have offered in many instances to instruct the wardens in the use and care of extin- guishers. The State Firemen's Association also sent repre- sentatives to address the conference meetings of forest wardens at Northampton and Boston, the su])ject being, in each instance, " The Co-operative Relations between the Firemen's Association and the Forest Wardens." The Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science. This organization, which is the oldest and most influeutial society of the kind in this country, held its meeting at Portland, Ore., on August 17, and the State Forester, who is secretary- treasurer, attended this meeting. The special program for this occasion was '' Forestry," and various ])hases of the subject were No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 235 discussed by leading scientists from dilt'erent sections of the United States. This meeting was held directly after the Na- tional Irrigation and Forestry Congress, and just before the Association of American Agricultural Colleges Experiment Stations. I also visited Seattle, where the Alaska-Yukon Exposition was held. Besides the excellent forestry exhibit, occasion was offered here to spend some time with the fire warden of the State of Washington and various lumber companies, in getting a better idea of the forestry methods used. The following statement was given to the press upon my return : — On a recent trip through the northwest, I have had splendid oppor- tunities to examine the magnificent forests of that section. This was not my first trip, and hence, from a forester's standpoint, it has proven even more interesting. One is first impressed with the great amount of forest products and particularly by the cheapness thereof; but upon further reflection and study of the area and prices, it grows upon one that after all we Massachusetts people get very little benefit from them. While prices are relatively low, that country is so far away that other than for our best grades it is prohibitive for our use. Fine, square- edged lumber is looking for a market in Washington to-day, and it is offered for much less per 1,000 feet than we get for our round- edged box boards. There are hundreds of miles of treeless areas be- tween here and there, and a country that will demand in a few dec- ades even more forest products than the famous forests will be able to supply. We Massachusetts people must depend for our future lum- ber supply, I am convinced, upon our own well-directed efforts. Our people may think their State Forester is overzealous in regard to forestry matters, but he is more willing than ever to go on record in stating that there are few subjects of more importance at the present liour that really need the attention of our Massachusetts people than that of reforestation, and even more mandatory laws governing forestry management. Every dollar rightly spent in the old Bay State now is bound to return us 100 per cent, in future benefits. COXFEEENCES OF FoREST WaKDENS. During the latter part of October and fore part of November the State Forester held a series of five forest warden conferences, which were distriljutod evenly throughout the State. All the forest w^ardens of the State were invited to attend, with their 236 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. travelling expenses paid, as per chapter -175, section 8, Acts of 1907. The first conference was held at Pittsfield, on October 14, and included all of the towns in Berkshire County ; the sec- ond, at JSTorthampton, on October 29, included Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties; the third, held at Boston, State House, on ISTovember 4, included all the towns in Essex and Suffolk counties; the fourth convened at Worcester, on Xovember 11, and included the towns of Worcester County; while the fifth, held at Middleborough, on Xovember 18, con- sisted of all the counties of the Caj)e, Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes. These meetings were the first attempts to get the forest ward- ens together. The conferences were in each case held through- out one day, beginning at 10 o'clock and continuing until 4 p.M._, taking out only forty-five minutes for lunch. The program consisted in a general outlining of the State's policy by the State Forester, which was followed by a discussion for the remainder of the forenoon, in which the wardens took an active interest. Other subjects discussed by competent speakers were: reforesta- tion ; forestry management ; forest insects and their control ; co-operation of railroads; co-operation of chiefs of fire depart- ments with forest wardens; forest fire equipment; co-operation between towns, etc. As was expected, there was not sufiicient time to go into the subjects in detail, but one of the great benefits was in getting the wardens together, and setting them to thinking in lines of accomplishing results in their towns. Splendid interest and a very co-operative feeling were mani- fest at each meeting, and it is the opinion of your State Forester that the expenses for these meetings will be as productive of future results as any money investment this year. The total expenses of the five meetings did not exceed $500. The benefits of these conferences are already shown in the increased interest of the forest wardens in sending in reports of fires and in asking for assistance in their work. This conference in the future will resolve itself into" a gathci-iug whereby we may keep })()ste(l on modern methods of fire fighting and other forestry operations. One of the roads that the IJouine lire crossed. Had this roadwaj' l)een widened, it would be a natural Are lane. Had there been a well-organized force, the fire should have been stopped here. By making a study of our town and wood roads throughout wooded sections, and widening them for Are. belts, much of our present fire losses could be curtailed. No. 4. J KEPOKT OF STATE EOUESTER. 237 MUXICIPAI, FoRKSTS. This typo of forestry work has a^aiu received more or h>ss of our alteiilion this year. The forest workiiisi; jjUiii for huid beloni^inii; to the city of Fall Kiver in the lYorth Watuppa water- shed, which is the water supply for that city, was completed and published iu a buHetin from this office. This bulletin has not only proved of interest to other cities and towns as well throuii,h- out the State, but has been called for by many cities from outside th'e State. When the advantages to be derived from such under- takings become more fully understood, there is little doubt but that the recommendations outlined in the bulletin mentioned will be generally cari-ied out and put into practice. This bulle- tin was not generally distributed, but can be had by any one interested in such work. Bulletin ox Forest Fires. A bulletin entitled " We must stop Forest Fires iu Massachu- setts," was published during the year. It contained 44 pages, and was published that our people may realize more fully the exact condition of forest fires in the State, and especially to bring together data for the benefit of our forest wardens and their deputies, that they may know what the better towns of the State are doing, thereby gaining new ideas and being enabled more intelligently to accomplish good results in their ow^ii com- munities. The bulletin contains several illustrations of forest fire wagons and equipment, together with estimate costs ; and gives a list of all the forest wardens, with their addresses, from each town and city in the State. Bulletin ox Thinning. The first bulletin on " Forest Thinning " has been exhausted for some time, and we have a new bulletin now in press on this subject, which contains some' definite experimental data of Mas- sachusetts conditions and treats the subject in an up-to-date nuinner. This bulletin wnll be of interest, we believe, to the wdiole State, and particularly throughout the gypsy-moth-infested 238 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. territory; for, by thinning our woodlands pro})erly, the condi- tions are not only better for forestry proper, but for the sup- pression of insect pests. Permit Act, Result of Vote. The results of the vote by our Massachusetts towns on the permit act were very satisfactory, and for the most part the act was adopted. The failure of a few towns to accept the provi- sions was found to be due to a misunderstanding of the objects sought, and they will probably adopt the law at their coming annual town meetings. Forest wardens generally are convinced of the value of the permit act in lessening forest fires, while this office can point to far more efficient service throughout the State. Massachusetts Fire Permit Law. — Towns accepting Chapter 209, Section 5. Towns voting to accept the law, 248 Towns voting to reject the law, 15 Towns failing to report on vote (probably favorable), ... 47 Towns postponing action on the law, ...... 7 Chapter 209, section 5, does not include the cities Avhose or- dinances should cover same, 27 Co-operation with the United States Forest Servick. The State Forester has been favored with hearty co-operation from the United States Forest Service throughout the year. The work on " Massachusetts Wood-using Industries," which was begun last year, has been completed and is now in ])ress. Mr. H. S. Hackett, in charge of wood utilization, and Mr. Hu Maxwell, expert, both of the United States Forest Service, have rendered us splendid service in this work. Recently arrangemouts have been made with another dei)art- ment of the United States Forest Service, under the supervision of Mr. J. G. Peters, to carry on sonje co-opcratiA'c work in forest survey work. The State Forester wishes to acknowledge numy other courte- sies extended to him by ]\Ir. Gilfoi-d Pinchot and the United States Forest Service. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 239 Pine Tree Blioiit. The alarm in regard to the disease called the pine tree blight, which was so prevalent two years ago, has very mnch subsided of late. Occasional trees have died from this cause during the year, but nothing equal to the number of last year, which in turn was less than that of the year before. Our people generally have become familiar with it, and are following the practice of cutting out and utilizing all pine trees of commercial size that are badly aflfected. It is quite generally believed that we have little to fear from this malady in the future in growing white pine. The Chestnut Bark Disease. Tliis disease of the chestnut has been extremely disastrous along the southern Hudson River district and in certain sections of Connecticut. By reading about it and its results in the above- named territory, many of the people owning chestnut forests have become alarmed and written to our office. We have not as yet had any large area reported which was thought to be infested with this chestnut disease. Experts on the subject seem to differ as to the cause of the depredation. The United States Depart- ment of Agriculture claims the disease is Diaporthe parasi- tica, and that it is contagious; while equally skilled botanists, like Dr. G. P. Clinton of Connecticut and Dr. G. E. Stone of Amherst, claim that it is due to unfavorable climatic condi- tions. It is believed to l)e unnecessary for us to worry at present over the chestnut bark disease in Massachusetts. If chestnut trees here and there become unhealthy, it is a safe rule to remove them, and thus minimize possible trouble. This method we are ]iractising with the white pine blight. It is certainly to be hoped that this trouble may not come our way, for our chestnut growths are valuable properties. Forestry Exhibits. During the year various forestry exhibits, mainly showing moth work and seedlings, have been made, the principal ones being before the following organizations: the New Eugland 240 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, [Pub. Doc. ai)ple show, Boston, October 18-23; the Boston "1915 Exhi- bition," Boston, during November and part of December ; and at the meeting of the American Association of Economic Ento- mologists, Boston, December 27-29. The other displays were largely made before agricultural fair associations in the newly infested sections. Massachusetts Forestry Work recognized in Other States. During the past year we have had cause to feel complimented upon our work, as the State of New York, in a bulletin entitled " Instructions for Reforesting Lands," published, with due credit, many tables found in our handbook on " Forest Mensu- ration of the White Pine." Also, this pamphlet of ours has been sought by many forest schools. Another of our publica- tions, " Forest Trees of Massachusetts, how you may know them," a pocket manual, was practically copied in full by the Maine Forestry Commission. Other States have in part adopted the Massachusetts forestry legislation. Expenditures and Receipts. In accordance with section 6 of chapter 409 of the Acts of 1904, as amended by the Acts of 1907, chapter 473, section 2, the following statement is given of the forestry expenditures for the year ending Xov. 30, 1909 : — Forestry Expenditures. Salaries of assistants, ........ $3,875 70 Travelling expenses, 1,083 24 Stationery, postage and other oiMce supi)lies, . . . 1,048 35 Printing, 1,018 85 Instruments, 80 17 Forest warden account, 290 44 Nursery, 2,305 94 Co-operative work with the United States Department of Agriculture, 215 00 Miscellaneous, 81 95 $9,999 04 Balance, .......... 36 Total appropriation, $10,000 00 No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE FORESTER. 241 Reforestation Account. Seedlings, $771 01 Land, 1,792 50 Labor, 5,7(i9 47 Equipment, 663 58 TravelUng, 846 31 $9,842 87 Balance, 157 13 Total appropriation, . . . . . . . $10,000 00 $0 50 1 50 There was realized from the sale of publications $T3.fi2, which amount has been turned over to the Treasurer and Re- ceiver-General. If to this amount are added the amounts unex- l^ended, $157.49, we have $231. 11. as a credit for the year. In accordance with section 5 of the above-named chapter, the following statement is given of the receipts for travelling and subsistence : — Lectures. Anbnrndale Improvement Association, Attleborough Women's Club, West Manchester Women's Club, ]\Iontag'ue Agricultural School, . Cornell Club, .... Leominster Board of Trade, Quincy Unitarian Club, Amesbui-y Women's Club, . Cambridge Entomological Club, . Maugus Club, Wellesley Hills, . Fall River Natural Science Association, Chieopee Falls AVomen's Club, . Milton Women's Club, . Agriculture Board of Trade, Farmers' Institute, East Charlemont, New England Rural Conference, . Concord Women's Club, Men's Club, Melrose, . Fitchburg Grange, Farmers' Institute, Briniiicld, Boston Merchants' Club, High School Masters' Club, . 50 00 74 46 70 50 5 00 5 50 35 2 50 6 24 85 1 00 3 00 4 55 2 00 75 242 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. North Reading Grange, .... Farmers' Institute, West BrooklieUl, . Plymouth Board of Trade, .... Middlesex Women's Club, Lowell, Lexington Grange, Lee Gi'ange, ....... Swift River Valley Pomona Grange, Greenfield, State Board of Agriculture, Cummington, . New Hampshire Board of Trade, Manchestex', State Firemen's Association, Plymouth, Board of Agriculture, Barre, Fair, Pittsfield Wardens' Conference, . Northampton Wardens' Conference, Boston Wardens' Conference, Worcester Wardens' Conference, Middleborough Wardens' Conference, Gardner Women's Club, Channing Club of Boston, . Hyde Park Current Events Club, The Atalanta Club, Lynn, . Palmer Men's Club, Cantabrigia Club, Cambi'idge, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, Economic Club, Boston, Boston Market Gardeners' Association Massachusetts Reform Club, Boston, Massachusetts Forestry Association, Conservation Club, Kingston, American Forestry Association, . Friday Club, Everett, . Webster Grange, Marshfield, Becket Camp, Becket, . Harmony Grange, Easton, . Holden Farmers' Club, Cape Ann Literary Association, Gloucester. American Association of Economic Entomologist $1 4 3 2 1 8 () 10 4 3 3 29 15 50 50 25 10 67 14 00 50 10 31 00 50 10 40 00 22 22 00 22 50 00 25 50 00 00 00 25 A list of the visits made, the area of woodlaiul involved and the receipts for expenses, are as follows: — No. 4.] RErORT OF STATE FORESTjai. 243 Examinations of Woodlands. Namb of Ownkk. Town. Area (Acres). Kxpense. Adams, Sarah £., Pembroke, . 7 $2 00 l{arr\ uiu', F. J., Lyunfleld, . •22 1 00 Uanios, II. K., Shirley, 43 1 40 lUirbauk llospitiil Fitehburg, . 400 12 40 Hui;{ess, J. K Dedham, 50 50 C'ar|(OUter, S. 1., Sharon, iri SO Clapp, W. A. Ashland, !M) 1 (JO Cook, Uobert Brockton, . 50 1 00 Cunningliam, Paul Bolton, 125 1 45 Crane, A. S., Weston, 5 _ I Dole, W. A Townsend, . 2S 1 00 Emery, Miss M. E Newburyport, 55 1 50 Foxborough State Hospital, Foxborough, no 1 25 Fillebrown, Mrs. \V., Plymptou, . 50 1 25 Gaskill, D. W Blackstouc, . 75 1 50 Gilbert, E. H., Ware, . 170 3 50 Greenwood, Levi, Gardner, 275 4 80 Stiite Board of Insanity Lexington, . 20 2 80 Hubbard, Eliot Millis, . 40 90 Humphrey, L. C, Rochester, . 200 2 10 Hyde, H. S West Springlield, GO 4 30 Jones, C. H Weston, 200 _ 1 Joslln, E. P Oxford, 100 2 40 Harlow Brook Cranberry Company, Wareham, . 1,000 2 00 Libby, F. M. Wakefield, . 10 _ I Manning, Wiirren, Billerica, 7« _ 1 Milford Water Company Milford, 175 1 50 McCarthy, N. F Lynnfield, . 50 .2 Matthews, W. L. Conway, 50 4 60 Morse, Prof. A. D Pelham, 300 3 80 Needham Park Board Needham, . 00 35 Newton City Forester, .... Newton, 10 -2 Paine, Chas Sturbridge, . 12.-. 3 00 Parker, F. H., Westborough, 175 1 00 Parker, Chas. .S., Westford, . 23 70 Prescott, C. W Concord, CO _ 1 Simmons, H. F., Hanover, 10 1 25 ' Train fares paid by own* jr. 2 No( ixpense. 244 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. No. 4. Examinations O's Woodlands — Concluded. Name of Owner. Town. Area (Acres) . Expense. Swett, Frank, Symington, R. B., Thorndike, R. K., Tolland Fish and Game A Walker, Mrs. J. G., . Warren, Fiskc, . AVhitney, Fred, . Williams, ii. F., . Y. ar. C. A. Cam]., Massacliusetts Fish and tion. Barclay, Fred, Freeman, Lucy, . Hillside Industrial School, Gloucester Common, . Conservation Association, Bill, Nathan D., . Adams, Chas. F., Newton, Mr., Dexter, Prof F. B., . Symington, R. B., Thompson, M. S., Lane, Emory, Totjil, . A.ssocia Westminster, Plymouth, . Millis, . Hamilton, Harvard, Leominster, Needham, Canton, Becket, Carver and 1 Spencer, AVreiitliain, Greenwich, Gloucester, Kingston, Worthington Lincoln, Royalston, Fairhaven, Plymouth, Newbury, Waltham, Ivmouth 103 2 20 .OOO 6 285 12 200 8 200 C,()00 200 30 300 1,500 1,000 600 500 23 8 4 40 $2 50 3 95 90 8 50 1 00 1 85 1 75 5 40 3 40 _ 2 1 30 4 00 2 05 1 50 4 80 70 3 00 2 70 2 00 1 50 Train fares paid by owner. 2 No expense. SECOND ANNUAL REPORT State Ornithologist. Synopsis presented to the Board and accepted, Jan. 11, 1910. .%^- PLATE I. A device to attract swallows. Photog-raph of swallow on her nest, on projecting end of board nailed to a floor beam. (Photograph from nature by Edward Howe Forbush. See page -le-I.) ANNUAL EEPORT OF THE STATE ORNITHOLOGIST EOR THE YEAR 1909. Work of the Yeae. A great demand has arisen for lectures by the State Ornithologist ; therefore lecturing has been the chief educa- tional work undertaken during the year 1909. Thirty free lectures on the utility of birds and their protection have been given during the year. The stereopticon has been used chiefly for illustrating evening talks, and colored plates and charts have been utilized mainly for the afternoon meetings. The audiences have consisted largely of farmers and their families, the members of agricultural organizations, teachers and pupils in the schools and sportsmen. Laws for the better protection of birds were advocated by the State Ornithologist before the legislative committee on fisheries and game. Among others the following important bills were passed : — A bill for the protection of wild fowl protects swans at all times and wild ducks, geese and brant annually between the thirty-first day of December and the fifteenth day of September (Acts of 1909, chapter 421). A bill for the protection of shore, marsh and beach birds establishes a perpetual close season for the kildeer plover and piping plover, and an annual close season for all other shore birds, excepting upland plover, between the thirty- first day of December and the first day of August (Acts of 1909, chapter 508). The upland plover is protected by law at all times under a previous enactment. These two bills were designed to confine all shooting of migratory game birds to the fall months and the month of December, but strong opposition developed, and at a confer- ence between committees of the House and Senate a compro- 248 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. mise was made permitting the shooting of sliorc^ birds during the month of Angnst. A bill was passed making all pnblic lands bird and game refuges or sanctuaries (Acts of 1U09, chapter 362). Recojimendatioks fok Lec^islation for 1910. The larger shore birds, such as the curlews, godwits and willets, are now, wdth a single exception, in danger of exter- mination, but there seems to be little hope of securing uni- form legislation adequate for their protection throughout the country, unless the power of making regulations for their conservation can be placed in the hands of the federal au- thorities in the manner proposed by the House bill intro- duced into Congress by the Hon. J. AV. Weeks. In the mean time Massachusetts should extend protection at all times to the smaller sandpipers and plovers, ordinarily called peeps, ring-necks and beach birds. These birds are so small that they are of no more food value than a sparrow. As game they are beneath the notice of the real sportsman. Some of them are valuable as insect destroyers, and they are all beau- tiful, confiding, innocent creatures. They should be left with other little birds to roam our shores, marshes and fields un- molested. As the larger species become rarer the gunner will turn his attention to these. Already their numbers have been greatly reduced, and, if they are to be saved from extermina- tion, protection must be extended to them. The close season on the upland plover expires in 1010. The bird is now so rare that this close season should be con- tinued, protecting this bird at all times. More reservations for the protection of birds and game are needed. If certain ponds, swamps and marshes in the interior and certain waste lands along the seacoast were set aside as refuges, upon which hunting, shooting and trapping of all useful birds and animals were prohibited for all time, we might at least preserve some useful species of migratory game birds from extinction. Massachusetts ought not bo behind other States in this movement, for there is no State in the Union the population of which has been more destruc- tive to game and birds. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 249 The investigation into tlie history and present status of the game birds, shoi'e birds and wild fowl of the Common- wealth, which was begun in 1908, has been continued through- out the year 1909. A large correspondence has been kept up with sportsmen, naturalists and others familiar with past and present conditions, not only in Massachusetts but in the other States of the Atlantic seaboard and the Provinces of Canada, through which the migratory species range. Many narratives of early explorers have been examined for refer- ences to the important sjDecies. The causes of the extinction of some birds and the extirpation of others, as well as those for the decline of many, have been sought, and the remedies for the present game depletion have been found. This material, when condensed, will form an illustrated report of not over four hundred pages, describing the species of game birds now existing in this Commonwealth and exhibiting the causes of the extirpation and extinction of those that have disappeared. Before the report can be published an appro- priation will be required for printing. One important part of the work of the year was a survey to determine whether the birds that had been greatly reduced in numbers by inclement or unseasonable weather or violent action of the elements in recent years were recovering. The Recovery of those Species of Birds decimated BY THE Elements in 1903 and 1904. Causes of Destruction. In the spring and early summer of 1903 an extreme drought, accompanied by forest fires, was followed by a series of long, cold storms and floods, and the ensuing winter was exceptionally severe. The destruction of birds by the ele- ments during these abnormal seasons was very marked. Rails disappeared from the flooded meadows, and the eggs and young of most of the smaller birds, excepting some that nes- ted under good shelter, were destroyed. The eggs and young of game birds suffered excessively.^ Both young and adults 1 Forbush, Edward Howe, "Destruction of Rirrts by the Elements in 1903-1004," annual report of tlie Rlassacliusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1903, pp. 455 to 503. 250 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. of some purely insectivorous species perished from lack of food and from exposure. The ensuing years have been marked by some bad storms and late frosts ; but most of the decimated species soon re- covered their numbers, except the ruffed grouse (Bonasa um- hellus), bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) , rails (Porzana Caro- lina and Rallus virginianus), marsh wrens (Tehnatodytes palustris), swallows {Iridoprocne hlcolor and Tlirundo ery- throgaster) , chinmey swifts (Chcetura pelagica) and martins (Progne suhis). The purple martins of Massachusetts were the greatest suflFerers from the storms of 1903, which almost exterminated them, and the bobwhite suffered most from the severity of the succeeding winter. Probably more than 90 per cent, of these birds in the State were destroyed during that season. The increase of Virginia rails and sora rails has been very slow, and even now they and the marsh wrens are not much in evidence in some of the meadows where they were common in the spring of 1903. Partial Becovcry of ilic Game Birds. The ruffed grouse increased somewhat in numbers during the seasons of 1901, 1905 and 190G, but during the winter of 1906-07 large numbers of goshawks appeared and killed many grouse. The breeding season of 1907 was cold and wet ; the eggs did not hatch well ; disease appeared among the young broods in some localities, and in some cases among the adults. In some j^laccs wood ticks were prevalent, and in the fall of that j^ear grouse were unusually scarce in Xew England, the other northeastern States and the eastern Provinces of Canada. The seasons of 1908 and 1909 have been more favorable, however, and grouse have increased in some sections. Two winters since that of 1903-04 have been unfavorable for the bobwhite, and the species has in- creased very slowly, except in the southeastern portions of the State, where the winters are not usually so severe as else- whore. There are now large areas in the Commonwealth from which the liobwhite has lu'cn extirpated. It is very difficult to secure this bird from other States for stocking No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNrPHOLOGLST. 251 purposes, and it slioul Nuttall, Thomas, "Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada. The Land Birds," 1832, p. 599. 2 Lyell, Sir Charles, " A Second Visit to the United States of Xortli America," 1849, Vol. I., p. 36. 3 Aiidulion, John James, " Ornithological Biography," Vol. V., ISU), p. 40S. « Russell, Jolin I^., " The Natural Phenomena of the Seasons," annual report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 18G4, p. 354, published in IS 5. 252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. sparrow has driven out many martins and occupied most of the martin boxes. For this reason the martins were much reduced in numbers, even before the great storm of 11)03. Efforts were made in 1909 to ascertain, by means of notices in the daily and weekly press and by hundreds of letters to correspondents, whether the martins were again ob- taining a foothold here. Most of the correspondents replied that they had seen none. Some stated that they had heard of some, but upon investigation found them to be not martins but tree swallows, and a few answered that they had seen martins only in migration. A few reports of breeding mar- tins have been obtained from several of the eastern counties of the State, and two come from the central region. While the State Ornithologist has not been able to investigate the accuracy of all these reports personally, he has no doubt that most of them, if not all, are authentic. Ahstrads of Beports regarding the Breeding of Marlins in Massachusetts in 1909. Bristol County. Dartmouth. — A pair nested at South Dartmouth, the only ones I have seen for years. — H. P. Burt^ New Bedford, June 15, 1909. Essex County. Ipsivich. — Saw probably six or eight pairs nesting' in Ipswich. One man told me he knew the same pair had returned for seAeral years. — Mrs. Frances L, Pettingill, Salisbury, June 10, 1909. On December 27 Mrs. Pettingill wrote that when she was at Ips- wich later in the season she did not see any martins, and does not know whether she was mistaken, but she says that all she saw when there in September were tree swallows. Marblehead. — A pair nested in a small keg in Lower Marbleliead. Several pairs were reported about the premises, but only one pair built. — Robert F. Homan, June 10, 1909. Left when the young were able to fly. — Robert F. Homan, July 21, 1909. Merrimac. — There has always been a strong colony in Merrimac until the storm of 1903; since then a few struggling ]iaii's have come ])ack, but they do not increase very fast, because of the English sparrows, which have taken possession of the house. — Frank E. Watson, Haverhill, July 23, 1909. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 253 Salisburi/. — I am told that a pair nested in Salisbury last yeax', but the sparrows succeeded in driving them away this year; they did not return. — Mrs. Francks L. Pettingill, July 21, 1909. Saiigus. — Martins have been seen several times since May in this village. During a hard storm late in May three took possession of a bird house in our yard. They seemed to be storm beaten, and one fell from the house and died. The others evidently left. — Louisa W. Caswell, Cliftondale, July 3, 1909. Wenham. — Last year I saw only one pair; tliis year in a search over town I found only one pair nesting-. — S. E. Knowlton, June 29, 1909. Hampden County. Springfield. — For more than forty years these birds have come to my home; last year only two pairs came, and they did not stay. I concluded Ihey did not come this year because the house was so tilled with grass by the English sparrows. — W. A. Cone^ June 26, 1909. Middlesex County. Concord. — There are three houses now well filled with martins. — R. H. Howe, Jr., June, 1909. Similar repoiis were received later from Messrs. Samuel Hoar and A. B. C. Dakin. Dunstable. — The martins took a box on the elm quite near our house in Dunstable; some red scjuirrels came and the martins dis- appeared. The squirrels were seen coming- out of the box. — Mrs. Morris Wilde, Tyngsborough. Newton. — A pair came to my place last spring-, which I saw, and no mistake. Later in the season, I should say in August, a boy from Newton Highlands, about one mile from my place, told me that a pair of martins had nested and raised young in a bird box at his home. I questioned him considerably about them and found that he knew what he was talking about, so I have not the least doubt that his statement is correct, and the fact that the birds were looking for nest boxes at my place would show that they would be likely to locate somewhere near. — - Joseph Mason, Dec. 23, 1909. Townsend. — A small colony of martins is at Townsend Harbor. — A. C. Hill, Belmont, June 2G, 1909. I saw a man from Townsend Harbor yesterday; he says there are martins there this year. The house blew down in the winter and they were late in getting it up, but the birds were there. — J. T. Mellus, Wellesley, May 30, 1909. Mr. John Hardy of Belmont also reports this colony. 254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Norfolk County. Dedham. — The purple martins that were nesting in Dedham in May, 1909, disappeared before the nests were completed. The English sparrow, I suppose, was to blame. — J. S. Seabury, Oct. 1, 1909. Hyde Park. — Robert L. Frampton of Hyde Park has a small colony of purple martins and has had them for quite a number of years. — Charles F. Jenney, June 14, 1909. I have a four-apartment house occupied now by four pairs of martins, — R. L. Frampton, June 12, 1909. Plymouth County. Wareham. — I saw some purple martins in East AVareham a few days ago. — Thomas Allen^ Marion, May 23, 1909. These birds probably failed to breed as no one else reports them. Worcester County. Gardner. — There is a colony of martins in a bird house near our factory; it is the first family I have seen for several years. I do not know how many there are, but quite a number. — J. S. Ames^ Gardner, June 26, 1909. Millbury. — Mr. C. E. Hoyle rejiorts that there was still a colony of martins in Millbury in 1908. (No later report.) Leominster. — Thei'e was one colony of the martins in our town last year, we think five or six pairs, which was an increase over the previous year. — William Holden, Leominster, Dee. 23, 1909. These reports show that the martins are barely obtaining a foothold in the Commonwealth, and that thev are increasing very slowly, if at all, except at Concord. It is probable that there are other small colonies that have been overlooked in this inquiry. Nevertheless, it has been searching and wide- spread enough to reveal the fact that the martins are not re- covering as they have in the past from similar calamities. If we are to believe Sir Charles Lyell, the destruction of these birds by the great storm of 1830 was far greater than that effected l)y the storm of 1003, for he says that they were destroyed throughout the States of jSTew England and New York. Whereas, although the storm of 1903 was very de- structive to the birds of Massachusetts, the eastern ])art of New York and portions of New Hampshire and Vermont, No 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 255 il was luucli less so in other parts of New York, in Maine, l)art of JS'ew liani])shire and in Connecticut and Rhode Island. During Lyell's second visit to the United States, undertaken in 18-15, only nine years after the great destruc- tion of martins, he says: — The larger kind of house martin is encouraged everywhere; small wooden boxes being' made for them on roofs or on top of poles, resembling pigeon houses, which may often be seen on the top of a sign-post before a New England inn. They are useful in chasing away bu'ds of prey from the poultry yard, and I once saw a few of them attacking- a large hawk. But I suspect they are chiefly favored for mere amusement's sake, and welcomed like our swallows as the messengers of spring on their annual return from the south. It is pleasing to hear them chattering with each other, and to mark their elegant forms and bluish black plumage, or to watch them on the wing, floating gently in the air or darting rapidly after insects.' At the time this was written Lyell was traveling in Mas- sachusetts. This indicates that in nine years after the great catastrophe of 183G the birds had become common again, while in the present instance six years have gone by and the martins are still very rare or entirely absent throughout most of the State. Martins in considerable numbers doubtless migrate through the State in spring and in late summer or early fall on their Avay to and from Maine, new Hampshire and the maritime Provinces. It is a well-known fact that during the summer martins often visit boxes at considerable dis- tances from their own. It is now believed that young birds, in their first season, travel considerable distances in all direc- tions from the homes of their nativity. When the martins return in the spring the adult birds that occupied the boxes the year before are believed to be the first to arrive. They are followed later by the young of the previous year, and when the boxes are filled the surplus young birds are driven out and have to search for homes elsewhere. Doubtless many young martins wander into the State from Connecticut and Rhode Island in the summer, during their first long flights 1 Lyell, Sir Charles, " A Second Visit to the United StJites of North America," 1849, Vol. I., p. 35. 256 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. from their native nesting boxes in other States. The ensuing Sirring these and others that have been crowded out of their natal boxes are on the watch for breeding places in this State. Why, then, do not martins increase faster in Massachusetts ? The only good reasons that can be assigned for the failure of the young birds, reared in the States about us or within our territory, to repopulate the State with martins are (1) we do not put up enough suitable houses properly located ; (2) those put up are mainly occupied by English sparrows or other birds. The jDurple martin is one of the most graceful, beautiful, companionable and useful of insectivorous birds. Its food is believed to consist entirely of insects. In the compart- ments of a martin box were found enormous numbers of the wing cases of the striped cucumber beetle. A correspondent from Ohio remarks that he believes that a large colony of martins on his grounds destroys a cartload of insects every summer. The martin is a valuable ally to the farmer, be- cause of its habit of driving hawks and crows away from the farmyard, thus becoming a protector of the young poultry. We need more martins in Massachusetts. We must hring hach the Martins. After what has been said above, the question " how shall we bring back the martins " answers itself. We must do as our forefathers did — furnish them nesting boxes; and then do what our forefathers were not obliged to do, — keep out sparrows as well as other enemies. Certain conditions must be observed in locating and building the boxes or we cannot expect that they will be occupied by martins. The purple martin is not a bird of the Canadian fauna and cannot be expected to breed on our mountain tops. In this latitude it will thrive best in the low altitudes and on fertile lands. Broad river valleys, with fresh-water meadows, moist fields and gardens are its favorite resorts, for in such locali- ties an abu^ndance of vegetation insures a sufficiency of in- sect food, as well as sheltered nooks where insects may be found, even on the cold mornings of late April and early May. Concord, which now probal)ly harbors more martins No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 257 lluni juiy other ^lassachnsclts town, is vory favorably situ- ated at the juiietion of the Musketaqiiid and the Assabet rivers, with meadows, fertile fields, orchards, pastures and market gardens all about, encompassed by sheltering hills. Probably martins were never numerous in the Berkshire Hills, but the}' might be attracted again to some of the river ^•alleys, and they were formerly abundant on the Connecticut. They may yet become common again along the Connecticut, the J\Ierrimac, the Blackstone, the Charles, the Alystic and other rivers, as well as about the larger lakes, ponds and marshes, if we help them in re-establishing themselves. Houses for martins should have the rooms at least G inches square and 7 inches high. If the first box is a small one of two to four apartments it will require little care. When a colony has been established a larger box may be built. A barrel makes a good martin house. One head is removed, entrances are cut, small boxes are fastened inside for the rooms, a long box is jilaced in the center to receive the pole, the head is put in and the whole roofed with zinc or tin, as in the cut. Martin boxes should be tight enough to keep out draughts and rain. They may be made to accommodate a single pair or a hundred pairs, according to the fancy of the owner and the length of his purse. The entrance for the birds should be at least 21/4 inches in diameter and 1 inch to 2 inches above the floor. This will give room to clean out the apartments whenever it becomes necessary. The box should be placed either on a roof of a building where it will be inaccessible to cats or on a pole 13 feet or more in height. There is little danger of getting the box too high. Martins are likely to be frightened away from boxes placed only 10 to 12 feet from the ground, particularly if there are children about. The English sparrow must be kept out, for the sparrows, if allowed to enter the box before the martins come in the spring, Avill fill it with rubbish, and will then usually hold it against the martins. Sometimes both sparrows and mar- tins will occupy the same box, but when this hapj^ens the mar- 258 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. tins eventually M'ill be driven ont if the sparrows are allowed to retain their foothold in the box. Sparrows will destroy the eggs of the martins, as well as their young. To prevent oc- cupation by the sparrows the houses may be put up when the martins first come in the spring and taken down when they leave, or the openings may be kept closed until the first part of May or even later, when most of the sparrows will have already built nests elsewhere. After a box has been occupied by martins one season some of them may return to it very early the next year. Sometimes they make their appearance soon after the middle of April. A watch should be kej^t for them the second year, and the box should be opened when they arrive, as they will need it for shelter should cold Fig. 1. Fig. 2. weather ensue. If the entrances are closed again in the fall as soon as the martins have gone, the sparrows will have little opportunity to occupy the houses. Even in this case, how- ever, it may be necessary sometimes to shoot sparrows in order to keep them away from the martin boxes. A 22-caliber rifle and long shells loaded with smokeless powder and dust shot will be sufficient to kill some of the most troublesome sparrows at a range of ten yards or more when quick action becomes necessary. If the sparrows are so numerous that they drive out the martins it may be necessary to kill them by wholesale in the manner described by Dr. C. E. Hodge in his book " Ts^ature Study and Life." ^ Bluebirds and scpiirrels are sometimes troublesome, but I riodgo, C. F., "Xfitiire study nnd Life," p 315. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 259 squirrels and cats may be kept from ascending the pole of a martin box hy the use of a flaring tin or zinc collar (see Fig. 1 ) ; and if a long box 16 to 18 inches high (see Fig. 2), Avith a hole ll/> inches in diameter, is put up at a distance of 200 feet or more from the martin box and within 10 feet of the ground it will generally prove more attractive to the blue- birds than will an ordinary martin box. Tree swallows also take boxes vacated by the martins. In this connection the " notice " published by Audubon in 1838 from the pen of T. M. Brewer, and referred to above, may be quoted : — A trivial fact will, I think, show how exceedingly attached these birds are to certain districts. Not many years ago an unusually cold season destroyed all the birds of this species in the immediate neigh- borhood of Boston ; and, although those met within twenty miles of the sea shore escaped with comparatively' little loss, yet the place of the dead martins has never to this day been made good, excepting by the intrusion of another species. Perhaps this fact proved nothing; it, however, appears to me to show that these birds return in spring to the places Avhere they are reared ; or why, if the young of the last year ramble in search of convenient boxes, should none have come here, although they are around us I It cannot be that they are not a match for the White-bellied swallows {Hirundo hicolor) which have taken their places.^ While the martins are usually more than a match for the tree swallows, the latter as well as the bluebirds and spar- rows have a decided advantage, as they are usually on the ground earlier than the martins, and if they once get posses- sion of the boxes they will fight with great fury in the defense of their homes, and when once they have nested in a box or apartment they are likely to hold it. Hence the value of the policy of keeping the martin box closed against all comers until the looked-for tenants arrive. In the mean time, other boxes should be provided, at some distance, for other species. Some who have experimented in this way have observed that tree swallows and bluebirds, while selecting a domicile and building the nest, often play the part of the dog in the manger by driving other birds away, not only from their own nesting boxes but also from any empty boxes near by. If, however, the swallows or bluebirds have chosen their nests and begun 1 Audubon, John J., " Oruitliological Biography," Vol. V., p. 408, 1849. 260 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. housekeeping- before the martins arrive, they are not so jealous of their neighbors. Mr. Chester S. Day writes that he has in his back yard at West Roxbnry a pole on which is a house for swallows. He put up a new house only 40 feet away, and about midway between them is a telephone post, on which he placed a num- ber of boxes in which the bluebirds nested earlier in the season. After pair 'No. 1 of the swallows had laid their eggs they made no objection to the nesting of pair ISTo. 2 in the new box, although prior to that time there had been constant fighting. When pair ISTo. 2 had laid their eggs they did not oppose the nesting of another pair still in one of the boxes on the telephone pole. Successful Efforts to establish Martin Colonies. Early in June, 1907, I spoke in a church at Iladlyme, Conn., to an audience of the villagers. The talk was illus- trated with lantern slides, showing, among other things, how readily birds may be attracted by cheap, easily constructed nesting boxes. At that time there were no martins nesting in that neighborhood and people said that none had been seen there for years. On June 8, three days later, one of the vil- lagers who had attended the lecture saw martins on the roof of the dwelling house of ]\Ir. Lee L. Brockway. The next day Mr. Arthur W. Brockway saw two jniirs there, and at once i3ut up a small bird house on a tall cedar pole. The martins immediately occupied it, and each pair reared two broods that sunnner. . Two years later, Avhcn I visited Iladlyme again, there were three houses in that yard, all built by Mr. A. W. Brockway, all well filled Avitli martins, and their musical chattering enlivened the village street. Fourteen pairs were nesting there, and I am informed by Mr. Brockway that ihey raised two broods each this year. Mr. Brockway has built bird houses for others also, and thus increased the bird poj)ulation. His Itoxcs are small and inexpensive, but the martins find them satisfactory. ]\Ir. T. Warren Jacdlis of Wayuesl)nrg, Pa., has done ex- cellent woi'k liy ]iublisliiiig (lireclloiis for buildiug niaiMin houses and cariiiij' for Ihe birds, as well as bv bnildinu' bird PLATE II. ') f. k^ ^ 1 Martin Columks attkacteu by Bird Hoises. Upper Figure. — Martin colony in three martin boxes made hv Arthur W, Brockway at Hadlyme, Conn. Lower Figures. — Martin colonies esfciblished in houses made bv J. Warrei Jacobs of Waynesburg, Pa. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 261 houses for others and sondiiif}; them far and wide. Every one who is interested in the subject should read liis Gleanings No. 2, entitled '' The Story of a ]\Iartin (\)lony," and also Gleanings No. 5, " The rur])le ]\Iartin and Houses for its Summer Home." He distributed martin houses in 1009 to persons living in twelve different States and in the District of Columbia. He states that about 70 per cent of the houses sent out were occupied during the first year, and many of them were put up in localities where previously the martins had been seen only in migration. The unsuccessful attempts to attract martins given below may serve as a warning to those who wish to try similar methods. A wise man will profit by the experience of others. Unsuccessful Attempts to reintroduce Martins. Among the ingenious methods taken to introduce martins from other States, that of placing their eggs in the nests of tree swallows and barn swallows has thus far failed. Mv. Owen Durfee of Fall River secured four eggs from Windsor Locks, Conn., in 1009, which he put into a tree swallow's nest; the eggs hatched and the young birds lived eight days, when they all died. They were all about the same size and appeared to have been well nourished. Two trees in the same yard were sprayed on the day the birds died ; but ]\Ir. Durfee thinks that the birds succumbed to the excessive heat. Mr. Chester S. Day secured four eggs from Mr. J. Warren Jacobs and put them under tree swallows at his home in West Roxbury, but the eggs did not hatch. Mr. Jacobs records, in Gleanings No. 5, several experi- ments made by placing the eggs of martins in the nests of barn swallows and tree swallows. It was found necessary to remove all the swallow eggs, else the swallows would not care for the young martins after the young swallows, which developed first, had left the nest. In some cases the martin eggs failed to hatch, and where they hatched the young died from some cause before they were fully fledged. Tree swallows are so much smaller than martins that pos- sibly they do not bring food enough to the nest after the young martins have grown larger than their foster parents. A pair of swallows might succeed better with two martin 262 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. eggs than with four. In the case of the cowbird, which is usually reared in the nest of a much smaller bird, nature provides that only one young cowbird is ordinarily left to the care of its little foster parents. Perhaps only one mar- tin's egg should be placed in a swallow's nest and the young swallows should be all removed soon after they are hatched. The experiment of closing up the martin box in the night and removing it, with the old and young enclosed, to another locality has been tried at least twice, but in both cases the old birds deserted the young. In one case most of the young were successfully reared by hand, and the colony was main- tained for two years, after which the birds disappeared. In the other case they all contracted disease and died. Adult birds caught and sent to other localities have dis- appeared at once. Young birds partly grown have been sent to new localities and reared by hand. This is a hopeful method for those who know how to rear the birds, and are willing to take the necessary trouble, but I know of no per- manent colony having been established in this way. We can do something to attract the chimney swifts and to increase their numbers by kee])ing open chimneys without fires during the months from April to October. The tree swallows may be attracted and increased by building small boxes for them, and all that is necessary to increase the barn swallows is to leave openings in the farm buildings for the birds to get in, and if the rafters are smooth it is well to nail up a block, cleat or any piece of wood along the rafters. The illustration of the barn swallow on the nest shows how a pair of these birds located their home in a barn within a few feet of the back of a cow, for the reason that here they found a projecting end of a board on which the nest could be safely placed. (See Plate I.) Investigations of the Destruction of Birds by Spray- ing. Investigations of the possible poisoning of birds by spray- ing trees with arsenical insecticides were continued through the summer of 1909. The result was inconclusive, but from what we now know it seems probal)le that the fatal effects of No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST, 263 sitcli spraying have been exaggerated both by the people and the press. We cannot say that no birds die from eating live, poisoned insects, from eating poisoned foliage or from drink- ing poisoned water, but after several years' study of the sub- ject it seems safe to assume that although probably some birds are fatally poisoned, they are the exception and not the rule. Probably there is far more destruction of birds where un- sprayed trees are stripped of their foliage by the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth than where spraying is done and the foliage is saved. The defoliation of the trees by these insects, which exposes the nests of the birds to the sun and rain, and to their natural enemies, results in the death of nearly all young birds in a region so defoliated, while the spraying probably kills at most comparatively few. The dearth of birds in parts of the region infested by the gypsy moth and the brown-tail moth is no doubf due largely to defoliation, as well as to the filling of holes in trees where birds formerly nested, and the cutting down of trees as well as the cutting and burning of underbrush. These operations, which are necessarily a part of the work of the moth suppression, are not destructive to birds if not carried on in the nesting season, but they drive them away. The effect of the spraying opera- tions upon birds may be illustrated by the case of the rose- breasted grosbeak. This bird is very fond of the Colorado potato beetle. Potatoes have been sprayed with Paris green and other arsenical insecticides ever since this beetle first appeared in New England, and there is much circumstantial evidence which seems to point to the death of rose-breasted grosbeaks which have fed among the poisoned potatoes. Nevertheless, the Colorado beetle has furnished a new food supply for the gTosbeaks, and the birds appear to be more numerous in Massachusetts than they were forty-five years ago, before the beetle was introduced. The results of the investigation of the year follow. Letters were sent early in ]\Iay to many correspondents, and notices were published widely in the press requesting all persons finding dead birds near sprayed trees to send them to the State Ornithologist for examination. Much correspond- ence resulted and many dead birds were received at this 264 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. office. Some correspondents were j)ositive that large numbers of birds had been killed by the spraying in their neighborhoods, but most of them failed to produce any dead birds. Many correspondents in Massachusetts and other States, tree war- dens, nurserymen, orchardists and others who made a business of spraying trees, and who claimed to have kept a careful Avatch for dead' birds, reported that they had failed to find any. People on whose estates spraying had been done wrote that they had instructed their men to keeyi a close lookout for dead birds, but that none had been found. Mr. F. H. Carpenter of Seekonk wrote on July 24 that he had found five dead birds after the spraying and had tested them for arsenic. He asserted that he had found very slight traces of the poison in a chipping sparrow, a black and white war- bler and a red-eyed vireo, but no traces were found in the others. Each bird sent to the State Ornithologist, and re- ceived by him in good condition, was first examined exter- nally to see if any evident cause of death appeared. If no injury was noted the bird was carefully skinned and again examined. If then no sign of external injury was found the skinned bird was preserved in a weak solution of formalde- hyde or alcohol and sent to a chemist for examination. The first two birds were examined by Dr. B. F. Davenport, and showed no traces of arsenic. Subsequent examinations were made at the laboratory at Harvard University, for the reason that Dr. Sanger, the director of the laboratory, has recently perfected a new and very delicate method of analysis which is well adapted to this work. Samples of the formalde- hyde solution and of the paraffin paper in which the birds were wrapped for transportation were first analyzed, to eliminate any possibility of error. They were found to con- tain no arsenic. Such of the birds as were received during the absence of the State Ornithologist from the office, and others in which decomposition had begun, were placed in the formaldehyde undissected and unskinncd. This may have had a tendency to vitiate the result of the analysis in these cases, as there might have been an o]i]i(>i"tiniity fov the feath- ers to accumidate arsenic while llic birds were feeding on sprayed trees. No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGLST. 265 Itccord of Birds examined in 1909. Date. Juno 1 Juno 1 June ir, Juno 18 June IS June IS Name of Sender. Dr. O. VV. Pease, Ncod- ham, Mass. T. W. Saunders, Welles- lev Hills, Mass. W. W. Symmes, Win- chester, Mass. W. W. Blair, Newton- ville, Ma.ss. Dr. F. W. Saunders, Westfield, Mass. Miss Carolyn Arnold, Newtonville, Ma.ss. De.scription of Bird. Scarlet tanaser found under sprayed trccM. liody contused on right side; t)l()()d coagulated there and in brain ; may have been killed by a larse stone or by flying against tree. House wren. No sign of external in- jury; abdomen much swollen; evi- dently a female; probably some trouble with ovary as there was an egg unexpelled. Kingbird. Maxillary bone broken at juncture of skull; brain much con- gested with coagulated l)lood; evi- dently had flown head first against a building. Young English sparrow. Death caused by blow on nape; coagulated blood there; skin not broken. Young English sparrow. Contusions and bruises ' both sides of body; death cau.sed by blow or bite; prob- ably caught by cat. Young English sparrow. Badly bruised both sides of body, but skin vmhurt; death caused by shock or blow, by cat possibly. Remarks. Not analyzed. Not analyzed'. Not analyzed. Not analyzed. Not analyzed. Not analvzed. 26G BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. ^ a ^ m t- .a CS C3 s • & _c3 "3 ^-a . O (W-- S^§ 1 1 - — 10 - 1^ 00 •^ CO MM g ■*C0 rr 03 « CO 1^; uo !^ Ph- is 0! v a; ^a S ^a" a -0 •a" 2 S _t-. -* -* aj IS 3 ■ X t; c« £ " C3 C3 ca 03 3 ^ 0 0 fc -13 i' m a 8 8 (S "^ ^ a c .« aj 03 •2 .^ .2 .2 > > >■ -a ^ B m 3^ a O CO S -+* eo CO -i< o o GO 00 1 0 0 0 o o 0 0 0 0 '§< 3 m^ 'ri ^! r? o IM 10 ^g M CO i!5 ■* t^ c a '^" T3 a; -3 0 c3 aj b' 3 3 a 03 -0 03 _a o o o s _3 "ft !s 3 3 a) •a 13" E 03 -d 03^ 0 "tc .s '5 3 a 0 a 0 3 a a 1 a T3 a a 15 13 a 3 a; a .9 15 0 X a r ca S aj s o 0 *^ a " -is" ci E 0 ci a a cj 'i d 0 J2 a .0 1 E 8 a) Q 3 0 a -a a) a a 0 'A 6 |o 1-d 0 a Ml3 — IE a ° 15 □ cc_3, O --H .2 0 US' a) •0 0 0 13 0 aj 0 0 E PQ 0 13 *J aj 0 03 .. a a) aj 60 13 a) "S 0 a> M •- 13 a a) 0 -'■3 a fl 1S8 a; ° bC J2 .So c3 to 2g a> "g Sl3 0 60 0 n -t^ "S c a a a:) -*-> "3 .i a 60 =1 3 s-y 3 0 0 3 0 tIj 0 a) a S 0) 0 _C3 g.9 >^ fc ' >H rt 0 >H « fo (^ s > rt cJ ■3 <»■ •C C3" c a" a" VI o 0 CO a a* 0 0 0 is m 0 % ca _aM ^ n o m .2" CJ a <5 0 "a! M a) 0 PQ 0 « aT 3 0 0 '5 0 0 0 2; .M 0 ; is 15 0 a) 03 «*-! 0 a a 1', « ^ 0 <^ - ' a> 0 C/5 o . "S, a" a) 13 0 p-1 Q W . e C3 O a o < a m bC h4 S 3^ 2 51 m C3 rt a) 3 1-5 E . "3^ 0 S ;< H d ^ tf W i< m 0 s Ci ^__, Ol •^ 1(5 > >, >> _>, >, >, Q a a a a a 3 — 3 3 3 3 "3 "3 "3 3 3 1-5 •^ i-s 1-5 •-5 1-5 1-5 •-J >-> 1-5 1-5 No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 267 _^ C3 01 • m« >. j20 IS §3 CQ •o 0 rt ,_, jH o 1^ 05 >« 1 CO CM " CO Z o Oi T3 _■ ■-0 C3 ca 3 -C . T3 a ^•S 1 01 M to 8.5 2 «-a oT a" cf cj" Oi ~ a §« fl fe 0) o ^ if .2 S .2 .2 .2 .2 '—{ <: >« K- ^ > > <^ CO o o o o o o o o IC M ' 00 CC OC ^ »o <» oi o c o c C-I rt _C_o 3 '^ m o a .^ 01 .— 0 « C S c l|i 3 ■-5 3 al o a T3 o ■6 a a J2 C a 01 •a c a o o 01 a a -a 0 BS-S ^ e.T3 T3 c 2 S a a < is 0 -a q -3 o o cu .5 1». 1:1 3 o ■c 0) 2 3 o-^ o o m o M ^ 03 OJ o . -a— « O £ a a -3 o 3 ■C O S 01 -0 o c: 0^ o 3 ^ ■0 '/:, ja ffl a > C is o 13 T) "m ^ d <»: .9 •-' o S a a 5 53 o -0 5 15 o 3 o n .2 -a j3 0) oodco filled no vi have 3 O m2 Ml C 3 O O 3 M) c 3 O tf ° 5^ ■w a 3'" !S >^ >< >-< E >^ >-| m J ■o ci . r -is C a S a r fl o 0) O o OJ C3 M C3 oj "m i 13 0 '3 o m is 01 Q s ^ o .9 1 >> § '' 01 01 ^ « ^ m < ^ '3 |3 .s .2 t4 a . _>, _>> >) bC bO tj) 1 "3 "a "a "3 3 3 3 •-» <-i •-3 ^ <^ < chickens. Tlje usunl dircclions for feeding little No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 283 chickens make the jM-eparation of "first foods" for chicks as much work as the preparation of an elaborate dish for the table. For nearly twenty years the writer has fed little chickens from the start the same mash he gave to hens (and, when he had them, to ducks and geese), and has fed them from the start whole wheat and cracked corn. Chickens on this diet will not grow as fast at the start as those that get more concentrated foods and more variety, but losses will be light, and they will develop rugged little bodies that later will stand heavy feeding and make better and more rapid growth. For exercise for adult fowls on the farm leaves on the floors of the houses save labor for the poultryman and utilize in the best way a waste product. Straw in Massachusetts is worth more for other pur- poses than it is for scratching litter. A good many poultrymen buy it and use it, but at prevailing prices it is questionable whether they can afford to do so. Almost every farmer can get leaves enough either from trees on the farm or from woods near by to provide scratching litter for his hens, and use the leaves hberally. The advantage of leaves ovet straw is that by frequently adding a few fresh leaves, which are immediately scattered quite evenly over the floor, grain thrown in the litter is at once concealed, and does not have to be cov- ered with a fork or raked in. The cleanings of the house when leaves are used as litter are also in much more satisfactory shape to apply to land for fertilizing purposes. With regard to cleanliness in poultry houses. The labor of cleaning the houses daily or frequently is a heavy item in the course of a year and if the house is constructed right, ventilated properly, and the fowls are normal, is quite unnecessary. This doctrine, I know, seems almost repulsive to those to whom the idea of dirt of any kind accu- mulating seems intolerable and the practice inexcusable. But with due regard for the conditions mentioned there is really no valid objec- tion to the time-honored practice of cleaning the poultry house only once or twice a year. Most of the sites on which poultry houses are placed in Massachu- setts are well drained. The soil is light and sandy, and makes the best kind of floor for poultry. The moisture in the droppings is ab- sorbed or evaporates (or is absorbed and evaporates). The dry drop- pings mixed with the earth of the floor and with finely broken litter, and covered over with a layer of coarser litter, give off no odor, nor does the presence of such material in the floor where the hens are fed have injurious effects on grain with which it comes in contact unless grain accumulates and lies there too long, and with litter becomes damp and heats. Ordinary good judgment in feeding and ventilation is all that is necessary to avoid trouble in this connection. It should be noted that the conditions described are quite different from those that ol)iain where droppings accumulate without mixture with earth or litter, or without ojjportunity to dry as they accumulate. 284 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. If a poultry house is in a permanent location it ought to be sufficient to clean out all droppings and litter every spring, and in the fall take out the soil as deep as it is mixed with droppings and refill with fresh earth. The expense of doing this is much less than the cost of frequent cleanings. Whenever it can be done it is better to use colony houses, with or without yards, and move them every year or two. On many farms in England it is customary to use smaller colony houses than are commonly found in this country, — houses about 6 feet square, — keeping a dozen to fifteen hens in each and moving a short distance at frequent intervals. By this plan poultry run on grass benefits the grass without destroying it. It does not at present seem likely that this plan will be extensively adopted in this country. Land is cheaper and labor dearer here than there. The tendency is to larger flocks, and even when provision is made for moving houses they are rarely shifted as often as it was planned to move them. The colony house moved as often as necessary to keep the land from becoming foul seems the best plan for New England farms. One of the drawbacks to poultry keeping here in recent years is the condition of land, so much of which has had poultry on it constantly for a long term of years. It is often hard to get people to believe that the fault is in the land con- ditions. I have seen good poultrymen in constant trouble for several years on land they could not be convinced was injurious to their poultry, speculating, studying and trying all kinds of experiments to find out what was wrong with the birds or the feed. Then when at last they did move the poultry to another part of the farm their troubles seemed to vanish. Growing poultry constantly on the same land is like growing any other crop, with the difference that while the ordinary vegetable crop takes away from the soil, poultry are adding to the soil matter which is poisonous to them when soil over which they run is heavily charged with it, but which is of great value to vegetation. If the farmers of Massachusetts would plan to rotate poultry with vege- table crops, or keep poultry on the same ground with vegetable crops they would soon find that the poultry-carrying capacity of their land was greater than they had supposed, that many of the ills poultry on contaminated land are heir to they do not suffer when on new land, that it is much easier to handle poultry on new land, and that every part of the land to which the poultry has access is benefited. Many cultivated crops are better for having poultry in them at least a part of the season. After corn is about a foot high a few fowls or chickens can keep quite a plot of corn free from weeds and injurious insects. Even when the corn plot is quite heavily stocked with poultry they are not likely to do serious injury until the corn is ripen- ing and bent ears and parted husks tempt them to help themselves. It might be debatable then whether there was any real loss in letting the birds help themselves to what corn they wanted. The answer depends on what point of view is taken. It must be remembered that No. 4.] POULTRY KEEPING. 285 the poultry have done a good deal for the corn, and that if they did not cat it other grain must be given them. Asparagus is a crop in which chickens can run from the time cutting ceases until winter. They will keep the asparagus clean and give it a liberal fertiUzing. Raspberries and blackberries poultry may be kept in except when the fruit is ripen- ing. If not too many are put in they will do no more harm in the spring than to break down a part of the growing plants. As there is usually a superabundance of these, what destruction they cause in this way is often beneficial. On grass land where but one crop of hay is cut each year poultry may be kept on the land from the time the hay is taken off. Some of the best mowings I have seen in this State are those that are cut but once a year and poultry kept on them with the second growth so strong it really seemed a waste not to cut it. Of course too much poultry on grass land will ruin it. There is a medium where the land and poultry alike profit. An orchard furnishes an ideal place for poultry. It gives shade as well as a grass run, and the birds destroy many insects. Whether in field, orchard or garden the fowl that has an opportunity to do something for itself is saving labor for its owner, saving on the feed bill, and under proper restrictions is actually doing work which otherwise he would have to hire done. It is also keeping in good physical condition, and thus saving anxiety and extra care that go with unthrifty stock, to say nothing of the losses steadily occurring among such stock. In the feeding of poultry on the farm many economies are possible. There is usually more or less vegetable matter that unless fed to hogs or hens goes to waste. When apples are falling from the trees the unmarketable stuff may be fed very freely to poultry. They will eat large quantities of apples, and seem to thrive better on them than on any other fruit or vegetable. Nothing else seems to go as far in saving on grain feed. Fowls may be fed all the overripe tomatoes and cucumbers they will eat. The lettuce that runs to seed and the split heads of cabbage ought to be given them more regularly than is usually the case. Too often these things go to waste while poultry goes hungry for green food, because it is nobody's business in particular to give it to them. Hopper feeding, of which so much is said now-a-days, is an advan- tage or not according to circumstances. Where fowls have oppor- tunity to exercise and get considerable variety of other food feeding grain in hoppers in which a supply for several days or a week is put saves a great deal of labor. Under opposite conditions the apparent saving in work of giving feed may be more than offset by the work and worry brought about by hopper feeding under wrong conditions. It is not possible to make the same plan or method work equally well for all persons under all circumstances; nor is it possible for any one else to decide for a poultry keeper what is best policy for him. All points 2S6 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. involving a weighing of results of different courses each poultry keeper has to work out for himself. In fact, the most essential thing for the poultry keeper who would economize labor is to use his own head; to think about and study out his problems. No one else can do it for him, because no one else can see or know the situation as he sees and knows it. One of the best poultrymen in this section used to say that there was no need of a man getting up early in the morning if he would lie awake awhile every night planning how to avoid it. No. 4.] LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 287 LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. BY J. A. FOORD, PROFESSOR OF FARM ADMINISTRATION, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. The history of agriculture in our own and other countries shows quite clearly that live-stock farming, carefully conducted, in con- nection with rotation of crops, is the simplest and easiest method of maintaining and increasing the fertility of the land, and thus insuring a gradually increasing production. The live-stock industry in Massa- chusetts is less important than it was ten, years ago, and it may not be out of place to inquire whether or not this downward movement is a healthy and profitable one for the farmer, and, as well, how it may be checked. Dairy Cattle. Reliable statistics give the number of cattle in Massachusetts from 1890 to 1908 as follows: — Year. Cows. Neat Cattle Other than Cows. Total. 1890, . 1900, . 1901, . 1902, . 1903, . 1904, . 1905, . 1906, . 1907, . 1908, . 200,658 180,245 178,291 179,593 179,033 180,372 181,920 181,816 179,075 171,458 62,549 56,715 55,291 49,351 46,586 46,641 44,368 42,536 39,414 38,743 263,207 236,960 233,582 228,944 225,619 227,013 226,288 224,352 218,489 210,201 Not only is the total number of cattle slowly decreasing, but the proportion of "neat cattle other than cows," which was 23.7 per cent of the total number in 1S90, dropped gradually until in 1907 it was only 18 per cent; it was 18.4 per cent in 1908. This is only another way of saying that Massachusetts farmers are raising fewer and fewer of their own cows; attention has already been called to this tendency in the report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture for 1908. Many dairy farmers in Massachusetts are neglecting one of the most important branches of the business, that is, the breeding and improve- ment of dairy cattle. The milk producers, especially in the eastern 288 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. and central parts of the State, often buy their cows, and raise neither grain nor young stock, most of the cows going to the butcher as soon as they fail to give a profitable flow. The phrase "it is cheaper to buy than to raise " has often been used by farmers in the past without careful calculation, and undoubtedly to the benefit of the seller instead of the buyer. There are exceptions to all rules, but at the present prices of grain and cows, a question worthy of the most care- ful consideration is whether the Massachusetts dairy farm cannot with profit be made more self-sustaining. The farmer who, instead of buying, raises a good deal of his own grain and most of his young stock, may not handle quite as much money and labor during the year, but will often show just as good net returns at the end of it. The net returns for a series of years will also be more likely to be in his favor. The plan of continually changing cows prevents taking advantage of the application of the rule that "like produces like," and the "grading up" of the herd becomes impossible except by cliance purchases. Not only is the price of cows increasing, but good cows are difficult to obtain. The continual dis- carding of the offspring of the best producers for veal, or even at younger age, must have a depressing influence upon the quality and productiveness of our cattle as a whole, and is a doubtful business practice. Even the regions from which the milk producers obtain their milking stock must either send to market only their lower grade cows, or else by sending their best animals deprive themselves of the possibility of a gradual improvement in each succeeding generation. Disease, also, is very likely to be introduced where cows are pur- chased frequently and from many sources. Tuberculosis and con- tagious abortion are, perhaps, the troubles most likely to occur in a herd that is kept up by the constant purchasing of new animals. Each of these diseases is causing the dairymen of the State enormous losses every year, and will undoubtedly continue to do so until every one co-operates to stamp them out. Tuberculosis is a so-called "germ" disease, and the policy of "say nothing about it," and the practice of keeping slightly infected tuberculous animals in the herd, are both foolish and short-sighted A herd with a clean bill of health will be more profitable to its owner in the long run than a diseased one, and the sooner the cattle owners of the State decide to keep only healthy herds, and adopt a policy of co-operation with each other and the State for the suppression of tuberculosis, the better it will be for the financial success of the dairy business as a whole. Bovine tuberculosis may be diagnosed or detected, even in its early stages, by means of the tuberculin test in the hands of a careful and competent man. Provided slightly infected animals are found, and their ability as producers makes it desirable, they may be separated from the main herd and kept for breeding purposes. They must be absolutely separated, both in the stable and out of it, from the main herd, the milk produced by these animals must be pasteurized by No. 4.] LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 289 heat before being fed to calves, pigs or other animals, and care must be taken that calves do not suckle their dams at any time. The process of breeding a healthy herd from an infected one involves a good deal of care and detail, but it can be accomplished in a shorter time and at less expense than is usually supposed. The result is worth the effort. Mention should here be made of the fact that unscrupulous dealers have learned how to prevent the usual reaction of tuberculin, thus again placing the dairyman who buys his cows at a disadvantage. To the man who breeds his own stock, however, the test is just as valuable as ever, because he has them under his own control. In the improvement or grading up of a herd of milch cows one of the first steps is to weigh and record the amount of milk produced each day. While this seems like quite an undertaking, when proper arrangements are provided the amount of time required is very small, and the returns from such work are such that the writer has yet to hear of a progressive dairyman who has discontinued the work after beginning it with proper utensils and arrangements. The influence upon the milkers, and the ease with which the owner or herdsman can detect a lessened flow as soon as it' occurs, are worth the cost. Hanging spring balances, with adjustable hand that can be set back for the weight of the pail, may be obtained at any good hardware store. It is only necessary then to make the pails used by the different milkers weigh the same by the addition of a little solder on the bottom of the outside of the pail; the weight of milk can then be read directly from the scales. The data thus obtained of the work actually done by the cows will contain some surprises but are the best criterion in judging of their value. Too much stress should not be put upon one year's work, but after the dairyman has weighed the milk from his herd for two or three years, a fairly correct estimate of the producing ability of the indi- vidual cows of the herd may be obtained. To make the record complete, and especially if cream, or milk with a high per cent of fat, is desired, samples of the milk of each cow should be tested by the Babcock test. These samples may be obtained in several different ways: (1) by taking a small amount of milk from both a night and morning milking, and testing such a sample once or twice a month, or, better, once a week ; (2) by taking a small amount (less than one-half ounce) of milk from each milking for a week. These samples may be kept from souring by the use of corrosive sub- limate. This preservative may be obtained in small tablets ready for use from most dairy supply houses. As corrosive sublimate is a poison the tablets contain some coloring matter, to guard against the acci- dental use of the milk. Samples should be kept out of reach of children and small animals, and if the composite samples are used they should be covered with a tiglit stopper, to prevent evaporation. Evaporation, by decreasing the amount of water, will slightly increase the per cent 290 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. of fat. Eight-ounce round glass bottles, with ground-glass stoi^pers are excellent for keeping composite test samples; they are inexpensive and may be obtained from chemical supply houses. Lightning fruit jars are sometimes used for the same purpose. It is desirable to test at least one week in each month, and if a continual weekly composite test is made, it will, of course, be more accurate. Fairly good results can be obtained, however, if a carefully taken sample is tested once or twice a month. A hand machine and glassware for making the Bab- cock test may be obtained for less than $10, and its operation is not difficult, although care in the manipulation of the test is demanded if accurate results are desired. The scales and the Babcock test are the factors that should carry the most weight in judging our dairy herds. Function, not form, is or should be the chief consideration. What can the animal do? is much more important to the practical dairyman than whether the form, the color or the tilt of the horns conform to the requirements of a breed score card. These requirements are often desirable and add to the value of an animal, but it should always be kept in mind that per- formance is the main thing. Prof. Eugene Davenport, whose opinion and advice on the subject of animal breeding deserves the most careful consideration, writes as follows in Vol. III. of the "CycloiJcdia of American Agriculture," recently published: — Form is striking because it appeals directly to the eye, but it has been greatly overemphasized, not only as the direct object of breeding but also as an index of quality, for all studies yet made indicate that the correlation between form and function is in most cases far less than was hitherto supposed. The indi- vidual as a whole has occupied too much attention in the mind of the breeder. The single character is the real object of thought and selection in all successful breeding operations; it is the real unit of study in all problems of heredity, and the actual basis of operation in all cases of variability. The individual is but a single instance of the many patterns that may be cast out of the various characters that belong to the race, and he is not to be taken too seriously. The dominant characters of the race and their correlations, — this is the great question in all the problems of the breeder and in all efforts at further im- provement. Another early step in the improvement of any herd or flock, and a step that should be taken at once by many New England breeders, is the purchase of a pure-bred sire from record-making ancestry. It is an old saying that the sire is half the herd. Few dairymen can afford all pure-bred females, at least in starting a herd, but none should be without a pure-bred bull, whose near ancestors show marked excellence along the lines it is desired to breed for. The use of such an animal with those females that show the best results when judged by the scales and the Babcock test, as just described, and the raising of the heifer calves, will lay the foundations of a herd that, while capable of continual improvement, the owner need not be ashamed of. Such a course of action will, it is believed, in many cases i)rove safer and No. 1.] LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 201 more profitiiblc in (he long run than purchasing cows and k(;cphig them only one or two milking periods before sending them to the butcher. Beef Cattle. The lack of suitable abattoirs in the small towns of New England is a drawback to the raising of beef in this section, but those farmers who are located at some distance from the railroad and on cheap land might well consider the advisability of keeping a beef or dual-purpose breed. The dairymen of England, farming on higli-j)riced land, keep many Shorthorn cattle, and although the milking habit of the Short- horn as a breed in America has been allowed to degenerate, some milking strains remain, and could undoubtedly be imi^roved and kept with profit on some farms. The increase in the number of working oxen in several New England towns during the last two or three years is worthy of notice. Oxen can never take the place of horses as in the early days, but the farmer who has more work than one team can do, and not enough for two teams, will find a yoke of oxen an inexpensive help. They are less costly than horses, and in case of accident, lack of work or a rising market can be sold for beef. The difficulty in obtaining men who understand driving and handling them is perhaps the chief objection to their use. Horses. There is a good demand in the cities of the State for heavy draft horses, and those weighing 1,400 pounds or over nearly always com- mand a good price. The horses to supply this demand come from Ohio and the States to the west of it. There is no good reason why these horses should not be raised in Massachusetts. Our soil and climate are well adapted to raising horses of good quality and strong bone, and a heavier horse could be used with advantage on New England farms. It is time that we recognized in New England more fully than we do the advent of modern farm machinery, and the need of preparing for it and making plans for its profitable use by clearing out stone walls, underdraining wet places and doing away with fences wherever possible. When this is done we shall see that a man can just as easily direct a team weighing 3,000 pounds as one weighing 2,000, and that the former will be the more economical per unit of work done. The labor problem, as all farmers know, is still awaiting solu- tion, and this is but a suggestion. The following quotation is from an article by M. W. Harper, in a recent number of the "Cornell Country- man," and is worthy of repetition: — The heavy horse can be produced with less effort and less risk to marc and foal. The brood mare should be worked up to the time of foaling; it is better for her. The heavy mare is more phlegmatic, not so apt to injure herself or the colt while in foal, as is the lighter and higher strung mare. Again, when the colts are young, they are not so active, not so apt to hurt themselves, as are the lighter and higher strung animals. And even if they should blemish 292 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. themselves, while very objectionable, yet it is not so much so as it would be with the lighter horses. Draft colts can be made to earn their own keep from the time they are two years old, when they can be put to light work. They are not so hard to train as the lighter ones, as they are more phlegmatic and take to their work better. If one is raising coach or saddle horses it may cost more to properly educate them than the entire cost of the draft colt. The heavier horses are always in good demand on the market. They are least affected by business depressions, by fads and fancies. If one is breeding coach or saddle horses, they are usually considered pleasure animals, and the first to be affected by business depressions. Again, the draft horse will be the least affected by the motor car. Whatever else may be said, the motor car has come to stay, and as there are about seventy thousand automobile licenses in New York State alone, we can hardly gainsay that it has affected the number of pleasure horses to some extent. If it is true, as seems to be the case, that the larger the horse the larger the farm machinery, then it is true that more work will be accomplished per man, and hence less human effort will be expended per acre. This will decrease the cost of production and increase the net returns per acre, therefore the value of the land is increased. Furthermore, if it is true that the draft horse is the more economically raised, the least affected by business depressions, and worth the most when ready for market, it would seem well worth while to give him greater recognition in the east than has hitherto been accorded him. The Perchoron horse is probably the best of the heavy breeds for New England markets and conditions. The Percherons have strong, fine bone, good spirit and action, and the weight that is necessary to haul heavy loads on smooth city streets. Although originally gray in color they have been bred and selected for a darker type, until black is as often found as gray. If those interested in draft horses in any neighborhood would com- bine their forces for the purchase of a Percheron or other good draft stallion, the improvement in the stock would soon be noted, and before long money that is now sent out of the State for horses might be paid to Massachusetts farmers. Sheep. There are thousands of acres in Massachusetts that are well adapted to the raising of sheep. It might almost be said, better adapted to sheep than any other stock or crop. There is a home market for mutton and winter lambs, and they can be raised at a profit. It would, however, be foolish at the present time to advocate sheep husbandry in Massachusetts, to give a description of the most desirable breed or suggestions as to their care. The dog to-day is a privileged character, and not until he is put under the same conditions of restraint as the other domestic animals can sheep farming be safely carried on with profit. Dogs should be confined to the land or property of their owners, and either held in restraint or muzzled when they leave it. We require this for all other animals, why not for the dog? Not even our children are allowed as much liberty as the worthless curs that make sheep farming in Massachusetts impossible. The remedy is not No. 4.] LIVE STOCK IN MASSACHUSETTS. 293 a difficult one or hard to find, and with a httle co-operation the time should not be far distant when the law will make impossible the half- starved, half-cared-for, half-wild mongrels that threaten our inhal)it- ants and the other domestic animals with the possibility of hydro- phobia, and prevent the pursuit of a profitable industry by many of our citizens. Kindness itself would put such dogs under the turf. 294 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. WESTERN METHODS IN NEW ENGLAND ORCHARDING. BY P. C. SEARS, PROFESSOR OF POMOLOGY, MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. Even the most casual observer, if he gives the subject any consider- ation whatever, must be impressed with the fact that eastern fruit has been almost entirely crowded out of the better class of our eastern markets. It still conmiands a part of the second and third and fourth class markets, where worm-holes and bruises and apple scab are not considered insurmountable objections to an apple; but who ever sees a sign displayed these days in any high-class fruit store, "Choice Mas- sachusetts Apples" (or Connecticut or Vermont or Maine apples)? There are honorable exceptions, of course, to this exclusion of our eastern fruit, men who care for their orchards and who pack their fruit carefully and skillfully, and whose fruit commands the highest market price. But these men have personally overcome the prejudice which exists in the minds of most consumers against our eastern apples. The vast majority of New England orchardists, however, send their fruit to the general market and take what is left after the several "middle- men" have received their share, and little enough it is, as a rule. All this is discouraging to any one who is interested in eastern orcharding, and who would like to see the industry take its place where it belongs, as one of the leading branches of farming in New England, and as the equal, if not the superior, of orcharding anywhere in the country. The situation would be far more discouraging were it not for the few cases alluded to above, where men are already making the orchard business a splendid success here in New England; and were there not certain factors which warrant one in believing that we have only to take hold of the industry in a business-like way to make it the e(|ual of orcharding in any other section. Let us briefly review the situation in the western apple section, and see what factors have contributed to their success. To begin with, their orchards are most of thorn young, many of them right in their prime and others just coming into bearing, so that the fruit which they are producing there at present is the very best that many of these orchards will ever produce. I do not believe that the importance of this factor is half appreciated by our New I'^ngland orchardists, who are trying to compete against this class of fruit with fruit from or- •^, 5= &3 c S g o i^ -J No. 4.] WESTERN METHODS IN ORCHARDING. 295 chards long past their prime. Until we get orchards on a par witli the west as to age, we shall not be comjieting with them on anything lilce an equal footing. In the second place, the orchard business is a great industry with them. Whole districts do little else than grow apples, and with this immense capital at stake, and with every man in the section talking and thinking and even dreaming of nothing but apples, the industry is bound to forge ahead. This is a well-recognized principle in any industry, yet one which we have systematically neglected here in New England. If Denmark had had only a handful of men scattered over the country who were engaged in dairying, it would never have become the leading dairy country of the world. And if we are to put the orchard industry of New England on a satisfactory footing, one of the first steps that must be taken is to get more people engaged in it. I have repeatedly urged the importance of tliis, for I believe that too much stress cannot be laid on it. The third factor which has certainly contributed to the success of the western fruit is the fertility question. Their lands are new, virgin soils, full of all the elem.ents of plant food, and the fruit grown on them has all the raw materials at its disposal which it can possibly use at any stage of its development. We here in New England are growing the fruit which we expect to compete with it on lands which are many of them already worn out with constant cropping, and which are in addition too often forced to grow two crops every year, — a crop of fruit and a crop of hay. The fourth factor in their success is spraying. It is a business prop- osition with them, and they never neglect it. One hears of orchards which are sprayed five, six, seven or even more times in a season; and experimental spraying at the Oregon Agricultural College has shown that 99 per cent of their apples can be kept free from worms or fungous diseases, and many of their orchardists are approaching very close to this in actual practice by proper spraying. With us in New England the orchard which is sprayed at all is the exception; and usually one, or at most two, sprayings are all that even these orchards receive. A fifth element of their success is certainly cultivation. It is thorough and continuous, so that all the power of the soil goes to making fine foliage and fine fruit, instead of being divided up among weeds, grass and fruit trees, as is too often the case with us. Tlie sixth factor in the conquest of our markets by western fruit, and the one which more than all others has given them the inside track, is, in the writer's opinion, their method of handling and grading and packing their fruit after it is grown. Even with our faulty methods of growing fruit, we produce a lot of fine apples, but nine- tenths of them are not marketed so as to command the highest price which their quality would warrant; while with the western grower the grading and packing is such as to insure the apples reaching the consumer in perfect condition. Not only is every apple perfect, or 298 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pulx Doc. practically so, — the few blemished ones which they produce being discarded, — but they are graded so that all the apples in each box are exactly alike. Fig. 1 shows two boxes of western apples, — a box of Spitzenbergs, from A. I. Mason, Hood River, Ore.; and a box of Grimes' Golden, packed by Stirling & Pitcairn, Kelowna, B. C, which the writer had shipped to Amherst for use in his classes in pomology. And though these boxes came clear across the continent alone, by express, thus receiving much rougher handling than they would if shipped in car lots, as is usual, yet so perfect was the packing and so careful had been the previous handling of the apples that they arrived with practically every apple in perfect condition; and the apples in the middle of the boxes and in the bottom were just as good as those on the top. This is certainly the key to western success in getting gilt-edged prices for their fruit. "A dozen Oregon Spitzen- bergs," or "a box of Colorado Winesaps," has a definite meaning, just as much so as "a dozen California navel oranges," and customers are willing to pay for this certainty of getting something which is good. The seventh and last factor in the success which I shall mention — though there are doubtless a few other minor ones which might Ije included — is their climate. I believe that the dry, sunny weather, which most of their famous apple sections have, puts a color and a " finish " on their fruit which it is diflScult to get here in the east. Mind, I don't say that it can't be done here, but certainly it is n't very often, even in the few well-cared-for orchards which we can boast. That, it seems to me, is the only factor in the situation which need disturb the man who wants to go into orcharding here in New England ; and, as I shall try to show, this is more than offset by advantages which we have. Let us turn now to the situation here in New England, and see what factors there may be to encourage the jirospective orchardist to select New England as his field of operations. In the first place, land values are very much in favor of New England. Men have been "going west to grow up with the country" for so long that prices for land in any of the good fruit sections are abnormally high, while they are corre- spondingly low here in the east. One hears constantly of the wonder- ful prices which are paid out there for raw lands, or for land just set to orchard, while $1,000, $2,000 and even $5,000 per acre have been refused for bearing orchards. Here in New England, on the contrary, splendid orchard land can be bought for $5, $10 to $50 per acre. No country in the world abounds more in ideal orchard sites than New England. Fig. 2 is typical of hundreds of sections here, where high, rolling lands, with splendid orchard soils, can be had at prices which will give the man starting an orchard on them a tremendous advantage over the man who starts on the high-priced lands of the west. If one can buy land ready to set out in trees at $25 per acre, — and this can be done in many parts of New England, — he has just one-quarter of the capital to pay interest on which the man has who uses $100 land, No. 4.] WESTERN METHODS IN ORCHARDING. 297 and his chances of paying dividends are that much better. The skep- tical may ask, "If this is so, why have our New England lands so long gone begging?" and the writer frankly admits that he would like to ask that question himself, though he certainly does not want to be classed among the skeptical as to New England's possibilities in or- charding. As nearly as it has been possible for the writer to figure out a reply to this question, — which is certainly a legitimate one and an important one, if we are to convince those intending to go into orcharding that New England has distinct advantages to offer them, — the reasons are about as follows : — 1. There is the almost universal feeling that an orchard is a long- time investment; that it is going to take years before any returns will be received from it; that, while it might be all right as an invest- ment for one's children, the one who planted it could not expect to get much out of it ; and this feeling has been heightened and strength- ened here in the east by the records of small family orchards, set years before the orchard was thought of as a serious business proposition, and which without any care whatever hcuve taken a long tiine to come into bearing. 2. We are so largely a suburban community here in New Eng- land that truck crops and dairying have been profitable; and once these branches were started, they naturally kept in the lead, as farmers are proverbially conservative and slow to change into new lines. 3. There has too long been a feeling here in the east that we could not compete with the west in any line of agriculture. When grain crops were the main feature of farm operations, and when the grain States of the middle west were first opened up, it ivas a one-sided fight; and our eastern farmers came to feel that anything which the western farmer could produce he was bound to win on, and they have therefore the more assiduously stuck to truck and dairying, where they were safe from that competition. But just as at the "National Corn Show " last year it was a young man from Connecticut who took the prize for the highest yield of corn per acre in the United States, and who is now giving pointers and selling seed corn to his western com- petitors, so I believe that if the eastern orchardists will only try it, they can as fully and easily upset the notion that the west has an absolute and iron-clad lead in the production of apples. Next to the question of land, and more important in some ways, I should place the matter of the quality of New England-grown fruit, I believe that there is no other section where the flavor and aroma and juiciness and sweetness, and, in fact, all those factors on which we base our estimate of the quality of an apple, are more highly developed than right here. This is not my own judgment alone, though I have had many opportunities of comparing the fruit from this region with tiiat from other sections, and particularly with the far western apples 298 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Piil). Doc. so generally found in full possession of our best fruit stores. And almost without exception, when our eastern apples were as well grown and had been as carefully handled, — which I am sorry to be obliged to admit was not always the case, — almost without exception I have had no hesitation in saying that the advantage in quality lay strongly on the side of our home apples. Prof. John Craig of Cornell, one of the highest authorities on such matters, one of the judges at Oregon's "National Apple Show" last year, and a man who has had frequent opportunities of testing this matter, has repeatedly expressed the opinion, both publicly and privately, that for quality eastern apples were in the lead. The late Charles Downing held the same view. He received apples from all over this continent where they were grown in his day, and expressed the opinion that the mountain regions of Virginia and North Carolina and the orchard sections of higher latitude — Nova Scotia, New England, etc. — produced apples of the highest excellence of any that he received. And the same opinion has been expressed to the writer on many occasions by those who have taken the pains to test the comparative merits of our New England apples and those of Oregon, Colorado and other western sections. Now, if this is so, the importance of this one fact more than outweighs all other possible advantages that the west can have over us. "Quality" ought to be our motto, to be kept constantly before the attention of our growers, from the time they select their varieties till the ripe fruit is put in the hands of the consumer in absolutely perfect condition as to growing and handling. It ought to be dinged into the ears of the customer and in every way possible brought to the attention of the other senses, — particularly his sense of taste, — until to call for New England apples would be not the last but the first thing that he would think of doing. A third factor which certainly ought to stand in favor of the New England orchardist is the matter of markets. If he is competing on anything like equal terms with his western competitors in other respects, it would certainly seem that the fact that he is right in the midst of the best markets in the world, while his competitors are three thousand miles away from them, ought to give him the difference in the cost of freight and express rates as a margin of profit, or a handicap on his competitors. The thing to do then is to make the terms equal, to so adopt up-to-date methods, — whether they be western, northern, southern or eastern, — that this market factor shall stand to our credit. Unfortunately, this nearness to markets has in the past worked as much, if not more, against as for New England fruit; for, while the grower of good fruit finds it easier to get his product in the hands of the consumer, so does the man with wormy or windfall apples for sale, and as at present the old, worn-out orchards of New England are producing an unfortunately large amount of this class of fruit, the customer is led to believe that this is about all we grow here. While No. 4.] WESTERN METHODS IN ORCHARDING. 299 our western friends are so far from market that no one is rash enough to ship windfalls or other refuse on here, so they are spansd I he reflected odium of this trash in the markets, and their fruit ranks correspond- ingly high with consumers and with everybody who loves a fine thing. Only a few days ago the writer was provided by the secretary of the State Board of Agriculture with a box of apples for demonstration purposes which cost So in hard cash. That was the market rate for these apples, held over in cold storage. They are less at the beginning of the season, of course, but such is their reputation that they are always high. The foregoing discussion presents the main facts of the orchard situation, both east and west, as the writer sees them. It only remains to "sum up the case," and to make some specific suggestions as to putting our orchard industry on its feet in accordance with the general principles already given; as to adopting some western methods. The writer suggests, to those who may be thinking of planting an orchard, the following points: — First, if possible, put out as much as 10 acres of orchard. The equipment for running the orchard costs as much for an acre as for 10, and the cost of setting it is very little indeed, comparatively. An orchard in which the writer is interested cost less than G cents per tree to fit the land and set the trees. The trees themselves for 10 acres ought not to cost over 15 cents each. Furthermore, with an orchard of this size one can afford to do many things, and will be enthused to do many more, in caring for it which one would not with a smaller orchard. By all means make the orchard large enough. Second, use the greatest care in choosing varieties. Get prolific ones, for there is no profit in growing an orchard which doesn't bear. You must get the bushels if you are going to get the dollars. If possible, get varieties which have been grown in that particular locality. By all means choose high-quality ones. In the writer's opinion, the Ben Davis ought never to be planted, — in Massachusetts, at all events. Possibly it may be allowable in parts of Maine, where better sorts will not grow; but an eastern Ben Davis is such a poor thing, as compared with those of the middle west, and the variety is such a poor thing anyhow, that we certainly cannot afford to grow it in the Bay State. Select popular varieties, if you can. People don't know the Rome Beauty nor the Wismer's Dessert as they do the Baldwin, the Rhode Island Greening and the Hubbardston. Third, plan to practise clean cultivation in the orchard from the beginning, if possible. It means better care in so many other ways. It means better acquaintance with every tree in the orchard, and consequently better attention to its needs. In particular, it means less borers, and in localities where they are troublesome this is a very important point. If absolutely impossible to cultivate, on account of the steepness of the land, — and there undoubtedly are thousands 300 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. of acres of splendid orchard land on the hillsides of New England, — then practise the so-called "sod-culture" method; that is, mow the grass and weeds which grow on the land, and leave them for a mulch about the trees. Fourth, begin to fertilize the orchard as soon as it is set, and keep it up every year. In the writer's orchard each tree is given 1 ounce of nitrate of soda and 1 pound of a mixture made at the rate of 5 pounds of basic slag or of acid phosphate, to furnish the phosphoric acid, and 3 pounds of high-grade sulphate of potash. This is scattered about the tree — not close enough to injure the trunk — as early as the land is in good condition in the spring. For bearing orchards we use 500 pounds of slag or acid phosphate and 300 pounds of high-grade sul- phate of potash per acre. Mr. J. H. Hale uses 1,000 pounds of bone meal and 400 pounds of muriate of potash. Either of these formulas is high feeding, but high feeding pays with trees as truly as with steers; and particularly if one is starting an orchard on old pasture land, or lands which have been otherwise depleted of their plant food, — and these sorts of lands often offer ideal orchard sites, — it is im- perative to get back the plant food into them, and in liberal quantities, too. Fifth, spray the orchard. It isn't always necessary to spray it during the first few years; but, on the other hand, it is sometimes absolutely necessary if the trees are to be saved. Rose chafers will sometimes drop down on them, or crawl up, in a night, and prompt measures and strong poisons are necessary to prevent great damage. A good spray pump ought to be bought when the orchard is set, and kept in readiness. Keep an eye out for the San Jos6 scale, and for anything else which may attack the trees, and keep ahead of them. When the trees come into bearing, spraying becomes still more im- perative. The codling moth is always rampant in our orchards, and wormy apples are tolerated in a way which is ruinous to our reputa- tion. Fig. 4 shows some Baldwins which were on sale at a fruit store in the town of Amherst, and practically every one had a worm in it. One of the most prominent orchardists of Massachusetts stated to the writer last year that in his opinion the Canadian law, which allows 10 per cent of wormy or otherwise defective specimens in No. 1 apples, was far too strict, and that his own No. I's that year would average nearly 50 per cent wormy. Until we get a different view from this of what is allowable in No. 1 fruit, the west will continue to take charge of our best markets. Sixth, practise thinning when trees set heavily. This gets rid of the defective specimens of fruit before the tree has had the drain of bringing them to full maturity, and the result is better fruit for that year, and more likelihood of a crop the following year. Some varieties need thinning far more than others, but any variety of any fruit which Fig. 5. - A well-packed barrel of apples. The " lace circle " adds to its attrac- tiveness, and with gooil apples it is good business to use it. No. 4.] WESTERN METHODS IN ORCHARDING. 301 tends to overbear will be benefited by it; and it is by no means as expensive an operation as many people think. Seventh, and last, handle the fruit with the greatest care, grade it with the greatest accuracy, and pack it with the greatest skill and honesty. In picking and sorting, the fruit ought never to be tossed about or let fall. No apple should be let go of until it is in contact with those already in the basket. Pad baskets and tables, to avoid bruising. For packages use the regular bushel box for all the best grades of apples; either 10 by 12 by 20 inches inside measure, or 10^ by 11^ by IS inches. The old, flat bushel box used for vegetables ought to be abandoned. The box ends should be of three-fourths-inch stock, the sides of thrcc-eighths-inch, and the top and bottom of one-fourth-inch. For the top, bottom and sides good clean spruce, straight-grained and free of knots, is best. It must be good stock, to provide strength and springiness with lightness. Where barrels are used, — and they will undoubtedly long continue to be our main package, — get new ones, if possible; second-hand ones are never entirely satisfactory. And grade and pack with the greatest care. Carry out J. H. Hale's famous motto, found on his labels, "U C Top U C All." Use the lace circles shown in Fig. 5, and do everything possible to make the package and its contents attractive. And, above and beyond all, have faith in the industry. Talk New England fruit to your friends and neighbors and customers. Tell them we can grow the finest apples in the world, and that we ought to take hold and recover our lost markets. And then practise what you preach. 302 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. THE CULTURE OF THE PEAR. BY GEORGE T. POWELL, GHENT, N. Y. The pear is one of the very desirable fruits, and one that is not pro- duced in sufficient quantities to supply the demand for it. It is some- what more difficult to grow than the apple, suffers under neglect, and hence it is not found on many farms, even in garden culture, in many instances. It will, however, well repay those who will select a suitable piece of land and plant pear trees, bringing to them the care they require. The tree is not as much subject to insect attack as the apple tree; but the pear blight is at times very hard to control, and causes heavy inroads upon orchards. It is only necessary to know the right conditions and to follow right methods, that this most excellent fruit, now mainly a luxury, may be grown with profit over a much wider territory. The Soil. The ideal soil for the pear is a clay loam. The temperature of such soil is somewhat lower than that of a more open or sandy character. The clay soil is more retentive of moisture, which is essential to the best development of the tree and fruit. If for want of sufficient mois- ture the pear receives a check in its growth, particularly in its early stages, it will not be so fine in quality; there will be more or less dis- colored specimens and unevenness in form, with roughness of skin, which is undesirable, and which lessens the value of the fruit for the best trade. Pears will grow on a variety of soils, but they are not adapted to many of them, hence pear orchards are not successful in many places. While the soil needs to be well supplied with plant food, it should not contain too much nitrogen, as an over-luxurious growth of wood is subject to blight. If bearing trees, in addition to producing a full crop of fruit, make an annual growth of from 6 to 10 inches, they are in the best possible condition. Many orchards are planted on sandy soil, and while under the best culture they often produce excellent fruit, the trees are shorter lived and are more subject to blight, because of higher temperature of the soil and from lack of moisture. The quality and character of the soil affect the quality of the fruit, which is indicated by the skin of the fruit. Where the skin is of a smooth, glossy character, with uniformity in the shape of the fruit, the highest quality is obtained. No. 4.] THE CULTURE OF THE PEAR. 303 The pciir cannot thrive in a soil too retentive of water, and under- draining is one of the first operations to be performed with a clayey or heavy soil. According to the amount of water to be carried off, the drains should be laid from 30 to 60 feet apart, using tiles 4 inches in diameter, with collars, and laying them 3 feet deep. Drains are valuable not only for carrying off surplus water, but they aerate the soil by the air drawn into them. They also convey the humidity or moisture of the atmosphere to the soil in times of prolonged drouth, thereby aiding the growth of trees and other vegetation; hence they become equally valuable in wet and in dry weather. Preparation of the Land for an Orchard. The soil should be plowed as deep as may be done to make a loose condition for the roots of the trees when they are planted. A crop of corn or potatoes grown the first year will put the soil in the best con- dition for the trees, as the tillage required for these crops makes a most excellent preparation. If corn is grown, the sowing of 18 pounds of crimson and red clover seed per acre in equal parts on the last cultivation will make an excellent cover crop, to be plowed in the following spring. This will give good physical condition to the soil, and aid in conserving moisture for the trees the first year after planting. Planting the Trees. Trees two years of age should be selected from the nursery, either in dwarfs or standards. At this age the trees have a good supply of roots, which are not so much reduced in digging as in older trees, and they will come into bearing as soon and sometimes sooner than older trees, which, from the loss of roots, require one or two years to become well started and established. The smaller trees cost less and may be planted in much less time than the larger size. For orchard planting, if of standard trees, 25 feet space should be allowed in each direction. Plant the trees 3 to 4 inches deeper than they stood in the nursery. Care should be taken to spread the roots well and have the earth well packed over them. The stem should be cut back one-third, leaving four branches well separated to form the tops of the trees. Where the winters are mild autumn planting may be done. Where the winter temperature reaches 20° below zero it is better to plant in the spring. Varieties of Standard Trees. There are many varieties of pears, and it is difficult to recommend for different sections, because of the wide variations in soil and climate. The pear is not adapted to general cultivation, and one may travel over a large territory and not see orchards of this fruit. For those who contemplate or desire to plant pear trees, it is well to look over the locality and note whether there are any old trees there, and, if so, to ascertain the varieties that have done well, and then plant those varieties. 304 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. For market, plant but few varieties; a large quantity of one variety is much more valuable than a small quantity of several kinds. Very early pears are not profitable; few varieties earlier than the Bartlett make much profit. Clapp's Favorite may be planted to a limited extent as a summer l^ear. It is a little larger than the Bartlett, is handsome in color, with a blush over a yellow skin. The fruit must be picked promptly and shipped as soon as it gets good size and color, as it decays at the core, which makes it a difficult pear to handle in any large quantity. Dealers do not like to handle this variety to any large extent, on account of the uncertainty of its soundness. The tree is vigorous in growth, while the fruit is good in quality, but not equal to the Bartlett. It should be picked eight or ten days before it ripens. The Bartlett is the best pear, most universally grown and in greatest demand. It is medium to large in size, yellow in color when ripe, and is often covered with a handsome shade of delicate red on one side. It is exceedingly juicy and of fine flavor; very desirable for canning. The tree is a good grower. The Bartlett leads all varieties in demand. The Scckel represents the highest excellence in quality. It is a russet and yellow, more or less covered with red when ripe. It is very fine and delicate in its flesh, and exceedingly sweet and juicy. The fruit is usually small in size. It always commands the highest price. The Bosc is a variety of high quality; the fruit is large in size, russet in color, juicy and sweet, and finer than the Bartlett. The tree is a poor grower, both in the nursery and in the orchard. It will make a better tree by being top-worked on a stronger variety, like the Anjou or Keiffer. This is done by setting buds of the Bosc upon the stronger variety in August or September, or by grafting in the spring. The Anjou is one of the most reliable market pears. The fruit is large in size, greenish yellow in color when ripe, and is of fine flavor. It may be kept in cold storage until after the holidays. The tree is strong in growth and is large in size. On account of the large size to which the Anjou tree grows, it is well to give it 20 feet space in one direction and 30 in the other. The tree is slow in coming into bearing, but when it does begin to produce, it is a regular annual bearer. The Winter Nelis is a late variety of high quality. The fruit is green with a yellow tinge when ripe, and it is very juicy and sweet. The tree is a slow grower and needs good soil. In a collection for home use the following would be desirable: for summer, — Osband's Summer, Gifford, Margaret, Tyson, Wildcr's Early; for autumn — Flemish Beauty (this should be thoroughly sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, as it is subject to the pear scale; it is excellent), Hardy; for winter — Sheldon, Worden, Seckel, Ver- mont Beauty, Laurence, Winter Nelis. These are all of excellent quality. No. 4.] THE CULTURE OF THE PEAR. 305 Excepting the Bartlctt, the Keiffer is planted more than any otlicr variety. The tree is hardy and vigorous iu growth. The fruit is al- ways hard, and ships well. Its color is attractive when fully matured, being yellow, covered mostly with red. As a dessert pear it is abso- lutely worthless. It is sold from the fruit stands in large quantities late in the autumn and winter, when other varieties are mostly gone; but it is most disappointing to purchasers, who are deceived by its very attractive appearance. Its chief value is for canning, for which it is used to an enormous extent. It is excellent in flavor when canned, its only defect being in a coarse, gritty core. Although the Keiffer sells for a less price than most other varieties, it has proved profitable to commercial planters. Dwarf Trees. The cultivation of dwarf trees has not been very extensive in our country. There are but few commercial orchards of dwarf trees that have been a success. But few varieties seem to make a good union upon the Angers quince, which is used' for dwarfing the pear. The Angouleme seems to be the best of the leading varieties for this pur- pose. The Angers quince is used for dwarfing pears because it is of slow-growing habit, and when the pear is budded upon its roots it also is slower of growth and becomes dwarfed in size. Quince cuttings about 7 inches long are planted in the soil, which root readily. In the summer these are budded with the pear buds, which grow and make the dwarf trees. One of the reasons why dwarf pear culture has not been more generally adopted is because some of the best commercial varieties do not grow well on the quince root, but are more profitable when grown on standard trees. The standards require less pruning than dwarfs, and will do well with less cultivation; hence the dwarfs have been confined more largely to gardens where a few trees only are planted. Where the soil is rightly adapted and the higher care and culture required by dwarf trees is given, they are profitable, as has been demonstrated in some instances. The Angouleme is especially well adapted to dwarfing. It is a large pear, yellow in color, somewhat coarse in its flesh, but of excellent flavor. The tree makes strong growth, and is the best of all varieties for dwarf culture. It is much better as a dwarf than a standard. The Anjou makes a good dwarf tree, but the fruit, growing to large size, drops heavily before the time for picking, and for this reason it is not profitable for commercial growing as a dwarf. The dropping of the fruit is a defect of the Anjou in either the standard or the dwarf trees. The Seckel makes a good tree as a dwarf, and it is well to have it in a garden collection. It is better to be double-worked, budding it upon another variety. This is done by putting buds of the Seckel 306 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. upon Angouleme or Anjou trees, which makes a better tree than when budded directly upon the quince. The Louise Bon de Jusey is excellent as a dwarf. The tree grows to good size, while the fruit is large and of the best quality. The fruit is yellow and green when ripe, and often with a handsome blush. It is very juicy and has a slight astringency, which makes it particu- larly good for canning. This variety is not grown much in late years, but for dwarf culture it is one of the kinds that will return profits. The Josephine is a pear of high quality, ripening in the autumn and early winter, grows well as a dwarf, and is a pear to be included in planting for market or for the home garden. Winter Nelis is one of the finest early winter pears, but should be top or double-worked if grown as a dwarf. Distance to plant Dwarf Trees. They should be planted 16 feet in both directions. Dwarf trees must have high culture; sufficient space should be given to allow a pair of horses to work between them at all times, and 16 feet is none too much. As the trees must be kept regularly pruned, this width between the trees will be sufficient to allow for cultivation, spraying and gathering the fruit. Planted at this distance, 172 trees may be set upon an acre. In planting dwarf trees, the point of union between the pear and quince should be set 4 inches under the ground. If the union is above the ground, as is often the case, the trees will break at that point and they will be short lived. The deep planting will insure the trees from breaking when loaded with fruit, and they will live to be a century old. The bark of the pear stock may at any time in the spring be split in one or two places with a knife, and changed into a standard tree if desired. By this process roots will be formed on the pear stock which will change its character to that of a standard. To hasten the process, after splitting the bark, making the cuts well down on the pear stock about 1 inch long in the form of a cross, turn up the corner of the bark and place a small wooden plug under it. Roots will be formed in a short time, that will extend out into the soil. At these points there will be a check in the movement of the sap that will result in the formation of roots. As the trees are set at distances for dwarfs, this operation would not be desirable unless a portion of the trees were taken out. Cultivation. The cultivation of the soil is of the highest importance after the trees have been set, and this should begin with the planting and be regularly continued. When the trees begin to bear fruit freely, they do not make so vigorous growth; and when growth ceases, the tree will soon begin to decline, hence some fertilizer should be applied. In addition to bearing fruit, the trees should make an annual growth No. 4.] THE CULTURE OF THE PEAR. 307 of from G to 10 inchos; and to obtain this, anniuil tilliufj; of tlio soil is necessary. Sod-bound trees will make little or no growth, and will produce but little and inferior fruit. After the trees are planted, the soil should be harrowed and no crops grown. This will keep down weeds, and make the soil loose and in condition to retain sufficient moisture for the needs of the trees. The harrowing should be continued until the middle or last of July, by which time, after the trees begin to bear, the fruit will be well developed and will fill out to full size. The soil should then have a cover crop to carry it over the winter without loss from the thorough tillage given. For this purpose clover is excellent, as it restores the nitrogen that is taken up by the trees and the fruit, while its roots and top hold and cover the soil during the winter, and prevent the washing away of fine soil, as also the nitrates that have been set free from the frequent summer tillage. A mixture of crimson and the common red clover seed, in equal parts, 18 pounds to the acre, is desirable to sow, as the former makes a quick autumn growth, while the latter will generally remain in the soil through the winter and spring. Both kinds add nitrogen to the soil while growing, and their roots aid in holding moisture after being plowed in the fol- lowing spring. As the pear tree needs constant tillage of the soil and does not withstand too much nitrogen, it is well to omit the clover cover crop for one or two years at a time, and substitute rye instead, which does not add nitrogen, as it has not the power or function of the clover plant to utilize the free nitrogen of the air. The rye when it is used should be sown at the rate of 1^ bushels to the acre, and sown by the middle or the last of August. All cover crops should be plowed in early in the spring, or as soon as the soil is dry enough. If allowed to grow in the spring, cover crops take up the water from the soil very rapidly, and for this reason soil that has upon it cover crops may be l^lowed a week earlier than that which is naked. The cost of the clover seed mixture would, one year with another, be about $1.90 and the rye $1.20 per acre. In some places, where August 1 would be too late to sow clover, winter vetch may be used. The cultivation for standard and dwarf trees should be the same. While it is quite generally considered that dwarf trees require higher culture than standards, the standards will give much more return for the higher culture when they receive it. The growing of crops between the rows for three or four years, such as corn, potatoes, vegetables or strawberries, may be carried on, provided each crop is grown with fertilizers liberally used at the rate of 10 two-horse loads of rotted stable manure or 600 to 800 pounds of chemical fertilizer per acre. While this will produce some income during the time the trees are growing to the bearing period, it is not quite so good for the soil as the clover and rye system; but when the income is needed, the cropping with liberal fertilizing is admissible. 308 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Pruning. This is an important part of the work of developing a pear orchard, and to do it properly requires a knowledge of the objects of pruning. These are: to give the trees right form; to stimulate growth, also to check it; to expose the foliage and fruit as much as possible to the sun, yet to so protect the body of the trees that they are not injured by the sun's rays; to check strong trees and to strengthen weak- growing varieties, — so that pruning means much more than cutting off a few branches at one time. It is applied to different parts of a tree, at different seasons and for different purposes. But little pruning is required for standard trees after their form is once well established. They should be branched low, the lower limbs to be not over 2 feet from the ground. The tree should be trained in a somewhat pyramidal form, though after it reaches 12 feet in height the leader should be kept cut out, and the top spread, rather than have the trees grow high. If the tops are not pruned the trees will grow from 50 to over 60 feet high, which makes spraying and picking of the fruit difficult. Excepting pruning the tops of the trees after the side branches are well developed and balanced, but little annual pruning will be required, and this makes the standard trees more acceptable to most planters. Dwarf trees require much more, and annual, pruning. They should be given a pyramidal form with a broad base, made by extending the lower branches and shortening in those above them. To develop fruit spurs close to the body of the tree, the annual growth should be pruned back about one-half. This should be done in July, when the growth is nearly made, which will check the flow of sap and distribute it more generally through the lower portions of the tree. Dwarf trees, from lack of judicious and timely pruning, are often allowed to grow too high. Occasionally a branch or two and sometimes a leader needs to be cut out of the tops to give the trees sufficient open form to allow the sun to reach all parts of the trees. The form of the trees may be easily controlled by the manner of making the cuts upon the branches. If an upward growth is desired, the cut should be on the under side of a bud on the annual growth; if a more spreading form is desired, the cut should be made on the upper side of a bud, — that is, on the under side of the branch. By following this method, either form of the tree desired may be produced. Summer pruning needs to be done with judgment. Its effect is to produce fruitfulness, but it is by a checking process to the growth of a tree. As the trees begin to bear fruit freely there will not be so much growth of wood, when the pruning should be done more largely in the latter part of winter or early spring, when the trees are dormant. It is important to obtain some annual growth of wood upon trees that are bearing, as tliis indicates a thrifty and vigorous condition, one No. 4.] THE CULTURE OF THE PEAR. 309 always desirable to maintain; and, in addition to cultivation and fertilizing, pruning becomes an important factor. Pear Blight. This is the most serious disease to which the trees are subject. It is caused by a microbe, which attacks the young growth and often the blossoms. The only remedy is to cut off all affected wood as soon as the disease shows, cutting several inches below the discolored parts. The spread of the disease is often from the old wood. The large branches will be affected, and it is shown in patches of dead bark. The most effective time to prune for blight is in the winter. All of the large branches that show the blight should be thoroughly treated ; the bark should be shaved so far as these patches show, cutting out all affected parts, and disinfecting with sulphate of copper or diluted carbolic acid. Blight has swept down the pear orchards so largely in all sections of the country, and particularly on the Pacific coast, that the supply of the fruit is now short, and prices aro ruling high for it. Eternal vigilance, however, in cutting close and disinfecting, and particularly the winter pruning, will control the disease and save the trees to a large degree. Thorough spraying with the lime and sulphur or with some of the sulphur preparations will aid in keeping the trees and fruit free from fungous injuries. Insects. The pear is quite free from the many insects that prey upon other fruits. The codling moth has to be dealt with, and arsenate of lead, If pounds to 50 gallons of water, very thoroughly applied, will save over 90 per cent of the fruit. This should be applied as soon as the blossoms have fallen, and one very thorough spraying is sufficient. The pear psylla is one of the most persistent enemies of the pear. It is periodical in its visitations, but often remains in orchards for ten to fifteen years, by which time the trees are useless. Many die from the injury done in six or seven years. By the use of the present power sprayers, and using one of the best of the soluble oils, — and there is nothing superior to Scalecide, — this pest may be entirely controlled. The oil will spread and work down in the axils of the leaves and on the stems of the fruit, where the young psylla work, and will destroy them. We had 2,000 trees ruined after fourteen years of contest with this insect, working with a hand pump. Had a power sprayer been brought out at that time, the orchard could have been cleared of the insect in two years. The San Jose scale flourishes on the pear, but it may be readily kept in check by the sulphur or oil spray, applied when the trees are dormant. 310 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. No. 4. Marketing. The demand for pears is so great that there is little trouble to dis- pose of them in any market. A large foreign demand has grown up, and large quantities of Bartletts and Keiffers are exported annually. Where pears are of fine or fancy quality, they should be wrapped in paper and shipped in bushel boxes. The boxes will cost 18 cents, but fruit well packed in boxes commands a much higher price than when shipped in barrels, provided the fruit is fine. In packing in boxes, the grading should be well done, so that an even number of pears may be packed, and the number stenciled on the box. This is of value to the buyer, who may know just what he will have to sell. Where there is uncertainty in regard to the number of pears in a box, the buyer will bid the lowest price. To export pears, the boxes should have cushions made of paper and excelsior placed on the bottom and top of each box, as the fruit will keep tight and ship better. It is important that the pears reach the market in good condition, as when they become slack, bruised and wet they have to be sold at a much lower price. Bartletts and later pears — the Bosc, Anjou, Seckel and Winter Nelis — may be held in cold storage for several weeks. For storing, the fruit should be shipped as soon as possible after it is picked and packed. Every day of delay in getting the fruit to the cold storage will shorten its keeping quality. For the most successful results in storage the fruit should be picked when fully matured, but not at all approaching ripeness. The right time for picking is when the pear will cleave from the fruit spur readily and without breaking the stem ; at this time the finest quality will develop. The pear differs from most fruits, in that it is much better ripened off the tree; and if left on the trees to get too near the ripening point neither the quality of the pears nor their keeping in storage will be so good. There is a large and growing demand for pears for canning, both in home and foreign markets, which gives a large outlet for the croj) when grown on a large scale. Eastern Massachusetts Superior for Pears. There are few sections of our country where better pears are grown than in the territory for 40 miles about Boston, The soil and climatic conditions are most excellent, the trees thrive, and the fruit is of the best in every point of fine quality. Other sections of the State have good conditions for this fruit, and a pear industry may be built up that will have large financial value. FINANCIAL RETURNS AND Analysis of Peemiums and Gratuities OF THE INCORPORATED SOCIETIES, WITH MEMBERSHIP AND INSTITUTES, For the Year 1909 312 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Financial Returns of the Incorporated •a 1 iginally Contri- . L. 124, d3.) tv held 1 3 Capi- (R. L. 3 and CD >i SOCIETIES. a o S.£g o a . ^ a, CTjg'^

No report. 2 Awarded in 1909; paid in 1910. 3 Awarded in 1908; paid in 1909. No. 4.] RETURN OF SOCIETIES. 315 FOR THE Year ending Dec. 31, 1909 — Concluded. .3 fc o s < i g .S i 1- Z o 3 O a 0 11 B o Q 3 eg a T3 . ?3. a 3 W •S o T3 V :c a 1 11 3W 2 01 O u «*" K H Ph o 0 < $3 00 $1,787 72 $2,311 75 $779 75 $1,532 00 1 - 75 00 $116 40 7,345 41 7,992 02 998 15 4,905 02 $38 90 $2,051 95 2 - 40 97 763 35 2,378 80 3.697 45 618 60 821 36 65 00 2,192 49 3 - 35 00 18 67 1,849 67 2,503 34 I.41S 30 776 64 8 40 300 00 4 - 23 00 - 5,828 17 6,395 59 912 12 3,375 76 259 SO 1,847 91 5 Sl,248 00 6 00 - 3,715 45 5,718 04 818 50 2,916 00 458 58 1,526 96 6 40 00 1 00 - 6,219 47 6,860 47 2.602 30 4,078 31 179 SO 7 - 55 00 100 00 1,271 11 2,023 69 660 76 632 18 130 75 600 00 8 - 135 00 - 11,391 75 10,424 63 1,401 25 2,155 00 253 53 6,614 S5 9 - 37 00 3 50 1,167 78 1,801 64 621 20 1,176 74 3 70 _ 10 - 35 00 17 00 745 87 1.321 35 702 55 618 80 - - 11 _ 151 00 11 70 199 32 909 92 602 20 307 72 _ _ 12 - 88 00 - 4,803 51 6.112 31 1,835 75 1,504 74 450 00 1,271 82 13 25 00 314 00 - 1,178 52 11.994 99 5,689 50 4,974 63 128 65 1,202 21 14 _ 55 00 90 00 5,448 66 5,620 38 2,128 10 3,386 45 105 83 _ 15 - 28 00 2 00 665 86 1,124 96 605 67 330 19 - 189 10 16 11,351 10 910 00 128 00 10,377 25 17,688 49 ' 4,745 00 - - 12,943 49 17 - - ~ _ 869 65 514 65 125 00 - 230 00 18 19 - 31 45 244 94 1,812 74 2.680 55 1,260 24 942 31 48 00 430 00 20 - 16 00 47 24 659 32 1,146 65 627 50 519 15 - _ 21 - 62 00 61 11 5,155 72 5,878 83 752 19 2,826 57 - 2,300 07 22 - 5 00 29 30 180 46 492 93 354 80 109 33 - 28 SO 23 - 5 00 23 00 2,068 53 2,616 64 1,366 17 1,213 42 37 05 - 24 - 35 00 - 1,704 83 2,147 28 920 63 960 23 - 206 42 25 _ 70 00 5 00 3,295 12 3,941 08 728 85 110 00 131 25 2,971 58 26 - 165 00 290 00 29,557 29 28,732 03 7,226 40 7,136 31 - 14,389 32 27 - 341 00 1,450 00 6,978 90 8,637 42 2,076 00 6,561 42 - - 28 _ 10 00 _ 6,808 45 6,829 85 1,510 75 2,673 60 230 50 2,415 00 29 - 124 00 - 5,924 35 6,488 54 1.156 93 4,933 45 20 00 378 18 30 - 15 00 12 00 3,059 52 3,933 83 1,958 30 1,130 28 35 50 S09 75 31 $12,664 10 $2,871 42 $3,413 21 $133,579 55 $167,896 30 $47,690 88 $62,792 51 $2,583 30 $54,739 88 * Represented on the board by special enactment and makes no returns. 316 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Analysis of Premiums and Gratuities, Membership and T3 :;2 :5o S oj 3 J >. -0 O m tS c3 cj 0 m & 0 TS.fcl ajQ £ ^a^S SQ £ "■« -oS SOCIETIES. *c5 ^ &^5 c«ffi^ a^2 a- °°3. G ^ OT ^oU «Wo 0 .*J o St.*' a-a . flT3 2 3 ~. S TO ■S-rj^a 0 « S Ht! 2 3 03 m s a a o - P 3 c3 c °-o.5 3 OS 3 O cu -t- O 41 CS Scot! 0 0 C3 s§1 IkI EKh 6WS E3Q5 EWS < <; <; < < < 1 Amesbury and Salisbury (Agricul- tural and Horticultural), $2 50 1 - $98 85 $98 85 $44 00 $44 00 2 Barnstable County, .... 5 00 $309 00 307 10 299 55 97 55 94 05 3 Blackstone Valley, .... 5 00 107 25 44 50 28 60 32 50 21 50 4 Deerfield Valley, .... 6 00 99 20 100 90 100 90 51 75 51 75 5 Eastern Hampden 24 00 60 00 58 85 58 85 59 00 59 00 6 Essex, - 254 00 153 75 147 50 87 75 76 25 7 Franklin County 13 00 200 00 82 55 82 55 i 75 4 75 8 Hampshire, 1 on 59 5« 32 00 32 00 - - 9 Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden, . 20 00 68 00 61 00 55 50 65 50 60 75 10 Highland, 5 00 76 80 68 20 68 20 25 10 25 10 11 Hillside, 75 105 00 84 15 84 15 45 45 45 45 12 Hingham (Agricultural and Horticul- tural) 4 00 161 75 115 35 115 35 63 15 63 15 13 Hoosac Valley, - 1 _ 144 85 144 85 20 10 29 10 14 Housatonic, 38 00 598 75 458 00 458 00 79 50 79 50 15 Marshfield (Agricultural and Horticul- tural), 14 00 177 50 160 00 160 00 53 00 52 00 16 Martha's Vineyard 4 00 1 _ 139 88 139 88 199 40 190 40 17 Massachusetts Horticultural, - - - - - - 18 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture, ' - - - - - - 19 Middlesex North, .... - 47 40 34 75 32 50 35 25 35 25 20 Middlesex South, .... - 97 80 56 00 56 00 33 35 33 35 21 Nantucket, - 60 00 38 00 38 00 85 00 85 00 22 Oxford, . ' 5 00 82 50 85 00 74 43 - - 23 Plymouth County, .... - 39 50 60 05 60 05 70 75 70 75 24 Spencer (Farmers' and Mechanics' As- sociation), 8 00 50 00 47 25 37 80 20 05 16 40 25 Union (Agricultural and Horticul- tural) 5 75 140' 25 102 35 102 35 57 00 56 90 26 Weymouth (Agricultural and Indus- trial), 50 109 65 16 85 16 85 35 50 33 25 27 Worcester 18 00 110 75 92 00 92 00 102 00 102 00 28 Worcester East 10 00 208 35 162 45 150 00 98 75 97 25 29 Worcester Northwest (Agricultural and Mechanical) 3 00 1 - 61 50 60 50 24 00 23 25 30 Worcester South, .... 11 00 79 25 68 85 68 85 63 75 63 75 31 Worcester County West, 8 00 101 58 82 00 82 00 10 00 10 00 $211 50 ?3,403 78 $3,006 98 $2,946 06* $1,572 90 ? 1,523 90 1 Not reported. * And gratuities. • Held no fair and made no returns. No. 4.] RETURN OF SOCIETIES. 319 Institutes, for the Year ending Dec. 31, 1909 — Concluded. '3 a a 2 ^2 §£:h •-on o o -a o — -73 "3 01 "3 a d 3 h ai 1^ C M o^I ^ o o ^ a "3 ^.5 1^ III 3H a 0 >- Oj Sg,x sa a « 2^ 0) 0 2 -^ f^ ij a : Q m w ^' ■< S M Z Im :S -'^ W » o m , J3 '^. S V- =S ^ ffi >? I- -fl m ^; . '^_^ O S ^ u ^ c3 ^ _jr ^ ft ^ ^' o ^ 03 < H .«i •-' O O t) ;« PP o w K O O i-s >i . . . . ^ hJ ■ 2 s w « rt o o s o § § 5f "S J3 t3 -r T3 — f [J c •<1 V J^ J c 3 _- ,.!!, ^' 3 fe C3 ^o ^; a a o S 3 "3 < a 8 o 1-5 6 ^« "-5 o < !>-:?, ■ b 'O >. Si JD a Lri to a -^: 3 2 £i _CLj a 3 a to ja 1 i 0 O >, a < -0 3 !lj OS C 3 03 3 W m mu Q S "q . w P-I ^ - .;:. S' i 3= ^ I S m "0^= - u -^ -^ ^ ••i O fe ^ * -2 ^ -r! ■S 3 2 5 9:3 g tn ir! 1— t 0) «S P3 2 * a s 3 5 -^ s ^ « o • "3 _: S J3 S • 3.ga2 .^^|3^ooS S ^ -^ f^ •>. Z M « 5^' ^ -3 S = CO g -a m H ►^ « m ^^ °* ^- a a^- -^=3 o-i 9".2« --. § 3 m . a 03 U Ah w Q P=H t: is § ^ C3 6 • 1-1 =3 ^ ..- 3 .S Q H r,^ O Z2 CO ^ C CO p ;;;^pd£o^^^«^o5H«_^b^^^i:^ so a 03 Valle alley mpd 3 , 3 .stone field V ■rn Ha U _3 r 3 pshire pshire iland, 4'' 3 h 5 W 327 -_ -s .2 ^- > a S „ 3 3 o 2 -" ^ -^ -4-- ua 03 o o s-s -s s I rt S ^'' ^ •- § ° =^ ^ ^ ^ v2 ISlllw«w««««^^^^^^^ 328 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. o M o Si t. ,.^^ 5-^ . o a ,_; 0) o *"' o.^oowh4^?«c3w - g s o a> 'r- o S S Lii 6 ^ a > S 3 o § o h-1 ■£ o S C/J " - :? s « -^3 haver cox, . .Che Rice, « Q H ■>: CO . -C --■ _ 1) J3 fiH O Ph a.' 1-* m fe 3 3 W ^ CO U 0 OJ o o o o o No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 329 o o A o oj . ^ K 2 . T3 . < H O w 02 m M. Webster, Gale, Springfie L. Day, Lynn stone, Lenox. ch, Boston, er, Manchester, avis, Springfiel xon, Worcester ■^^■a^ ■(5^«K S S;^K £ 3 £ 8 £ |<-| S g: S O is ^-5-^ -d 2: erhill ingfie nn. a ^ . w o 2 ^^ Q m l-^i O «3 m •^ d c P 'A Ah )drich, ndrick Vhipple ins, Le . Weld, Magnol n, Spri ce. Wo Ti £i-' -^ ^ _- .« rt ^ hJ aj ^ '^ "^ C 1 h o d ■^ "S S :3 1 a^ 8 ^ ^fc;^ M &: <; a Z' O o ■ 9 - "O . . >A "m bj . J- o a a S ^1 ^ § S ■= ? a .a =s a o W M J hJ H ^ cc :S H .... s -< 2 . . 3 ^ -2 >; d 3 - t « bill, den Co ton, husett Sliore, field A ter Co it^ii asac rth -ing rcea rt « o £ '.-: O ^ O ffi W W h-i S ii » :? 1 < Ph 9 W « J3 d o F -n 0) s V ^ d t3 bO Z 03 'E O Ph o pq .ia ? E >1 S PL, 3 E E t4 3 ^ :s ^ •-5 < -3 - H 2 m E E T3 ^ 0) PQ ^ (^ I d fi| 2 d 5f -a S K^ Ij d - d "> « i S 2 .9 d ^ di (U d O T3 .d " C ij 0) .14 d m m :^; o Ah & 330 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. a 4i -< ham. hertow n. olden. Pepper ey Cen ury. b -3 2 W ^ -5 ^ o m S . -a -^ >, J3 OQ < 2 >. ■o d i^ «^ Jefts, n L. P Sheed ddie H F. Sp . Long Stone, w 1 w< J^K^ g: ^ ^j s o s &; s 03 -a a 3 0 s ,,; Q CM ristall. South Ashb . Ward, Belchertow Liawrence, Groton. jrrick, Jefferson, utchinson, Peppere 7en, Shirley Centr rtlett, Shrewsbury. 1 w ^ ?. w w fS ^ B g^^'^< H K ^ W K W W ;2J o H £ ^ a 3 c8 >> a 1^ ^ 0 E tf ^ 13 tT 0 >> . ^ /, p3 0 3 0 ti tM 0 k 0 0 ri .S u ^ M « 0) . Q. tt i-s w a -< m m 9 9 ji o m cQ w 9 .9 OS ■- I I m I &m m -3 4> O O. IJ 9 a .2 2 ^ 9 pa « w a J3 3 i I M ^ .2 M No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 331 . -^ § g « g o •5 f^ d' fe o „- S ^ a CQ = a; t; Hi ^- & ^ ^ a S « S 2 si a 2 a ft' ^ . la • S ^ 1-; o ^ rt M t-T Bagn well, uffing &: u w-Hti^wQj io> 3 ml a -a" '2 -a ■^, < < ' O Ml P3 -w ti m c3 ,t " g iz; z ph '^^ ■i<%^^ o - •5 2 3!- -< cc w 3 a fQ 2 S .2 w S .2 .S pLi <: "S S ■? ^ 9 ^ >. O < £;" i Ph >> ■? "3 2 5 ^ Ph Ph -5 5^ 3 « a £ o -5 -5 H rt ? 5 t^H O ^-1 o — ^ a .£ *- t- I. r 'E — O O Ji' c 3 ^ 12; p< a 332 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. W S O &: 3 -2 . a ^ OS c) ^ a o. >> S K o 2 ta S 5 K 0 02 ffi ® » ■-s rt -3 w pi o 2 -^ OJ fc- C 13 O 03 fl S £? o ,^ ■« ^ S ,=« W o -c 2 8 „ O O W H ^ o -^ p^ fe IS -0 . W « ;S W.I o M .9 ^ O •S s Effi 2 J ^ is <^ * fl W fo fi. <" • . . W !?; fa fa ^ffi •3 S . H ^ ^ -IZI-^oo—TajajO^ aJaJar "8^-2.^,.^ m vi '^■^ m m m m S ffi O H Ji Hmm^OOOWHHHHHHH<^^&fa fcT C M O O .i .3 .S 8 ri .2 - ■§ ^ o 5) > o ^ 03 pq K 9 ■-- < ^ S ^ 1^ t^ Zl. SI P9 M ea bO sS 8 ►2 W cur::? T! J3 -g OJ OJ Oj 3 3*d J3 XI J= ^ ^ Q C3 o g rt a 2 a > 8 Si x: 3 13 J O O ?'. ^ fc (U 0) VJ- w -M +-; ■*t; Tj 7? (n Qj Ci dJ Qi o o o PQpqaCjUfaWKa C3 C3 03 C3 ti ccj 03 03 O 03 .0 .0 ^O ^ ??; M S^ Ei S^ tS No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 333 MASSACHUSETTS PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. Master, Overseer, . Lecturer, . Steward, . Assistant Steward, Chaplain, . Treasurer, . Secretary, . Ciate Keeper, Ceres, Pomona, . Flora, Lady Assistant Steward, Officers of the State Grange, 1910. Charles M. Gardner of Westfield. E. E. Cliapnian of Ludlow. E. F. Richardson of Millis. . L. R. Smith of Hadley. . E. H. Gilbert of Stoughton. Rev. A. H. Wheelock of Marlborough. Hon. F. A. Harrington of Worcester. Wm. N. Howard of South Easton (P. O. North Easton). . F. L. Warfield of Buckland. Mrs. Mary Olds Lakin of Brookfield. . Mrs. Ella D. Rice of Leominster. . Mrs. Philomene Cook of Methuen. Mrs. S. Mabel Thompson of Westborough. Executive Committee. W. C. .Tewett Worcester. George S. Ladd, Sturbridge. C. A. Dennen Pepperell. General Deputies. N. B. Douglas, Elmer D. Howe, Warren C. Jewett, George S. Ladd, C. D. Richardson, . Sherborn. Marlborough. Worcester. Sturbridge. West Brookfield. W. E. Patrick, F. N. Boutelle, W. T. Moore, Pomona Deputies. Warren. North Leominster. Huntington. Subordinate Deputies. Geo. W. Sherman, L. H. Cudworth, W. H. Sawyer, . W. A. Harlow, H. N. Jenks, . Elbridge Noj'ea, T. E. Flarity, . Moses U. Gaskill, E. B. Hale, Hermon W. King, John Burslej , . C. R. Damon, . W. T. Herrick, . H. W. Carter, . Chester B. Williams, Brim field. Oxford. Winchendon. . Cummington. Adams, R. F. D. Newbury. Townsend. . Mendon. Bernardston. East Ix)ngmeadow. West Barnstable. . Williamsburg. . Westborough. . Millbury. Cochituate. 334 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Subordinate Deputies — Con. Walter E. Morris, Billerica. Harold M. Shaw Great Harrington. Joseph \V. Baldwin North Easton. S. T. Brightman Weetport. Horace E. VVallis Waltham. Charles H. Preston, Danvers. Dr. M. H. Williams Sunderland. Fred E. Alden Greenwich Village. Special Deputies. Wm. N. Howard North Easton. J. P. Ranger North Brookfield. M. A. Morse, Belchertown. C. H. Shaylor Lee. No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY, 335 Q c o r" -^ a ■S -w o ^ s a - Q II PQ £ p :S &W 6 'S a Z .2 iJ H -' O flH ^ <5l .a' askill, Soi A. Gil No. 2. L. Hayw N. Steve lintree. a; a -ti O -g • 2 =J ^ • S Q E .-2 « Cf i^.^^5• o '3 '*. 3 g ^ a . ^ s 2 ►? H-5 -S S -; s OSp Ph a5 pi^ S 2 pi C3 CC T3 fl _QJ CQ < 2 ^ fa 3 a .D S Q S :?. p^:^ :^ fa _r svnsen Orang leton. s. Ford, I o a 9 o O - ft H X ^■3 S^o «1 S t is a 9 ,S .tl^.ll K^ Is m C. Flar White, Seaver Daniels to. Ho T3 is Is o o 2 Clara R. 0. H. H 0. A. Ernes Is Jfa 1 a ' W "^ K W 1|o T3 I S « = Q O . "^ fl &: .2 £ 9 9 >> -^ g ^►^fa S 3 w o "3 -S t; ^ 03 O C3 ^ >^" • b =s f^ fa a e: ■ . aj -o Q W W tq « Z S W S2^ 12 2 ^•3 o^oj g g 5^ S ^ o u ■>. " u O <^ Qi C 0) t^ © — 3 S "S S S fa ^ ffl ^ 00 . o II O I ft o E 2 cu o o 03 J?; ^ • £ -a >!::.. g o w' >5. »J-i '^ H i £ ^ S S J ^ 7^ n" 1 8 I E o am s? s ^ is HBO 2 ^ ^ -3 m .- S'^ £ 5 f-" ts »>- c S *-• O P w o w O « -<] Ph S K 2 S S fa -2 SP ^ « ■ ^ fe " -S M ^ o iS o 't- -2 3 -W c fa U O w g: s 0 o p > o 0) _ 0 n

  • ^ m m m M f-l ^ J^ S S "^ § " .2 S Ph o r o a c ci m *^ 2 - o g W "3 >-5 H w . . si's p^ iS^S ft >: g^ o 0) it m 0) h "^ •« ^ ro " CI «3 S 5« £ S fa . 0) w K -^ "^ 3 Sh BO a •i . 4) •4fa t ■ . cS « W £= a '^ ^p g K fan P mi -3 W ■ O M 2^0 P« ^ §2: O o J* p: M fa fa Ph _a) y tH o a ( ) > M & rt -.^2 - ^; 12; :2; ^ ^ 'qj t-- -^ _^ "^ S, 4) j3 T3 ya r <; O ffi is CO o "7 2 S^ ^"S « X ^ a£^ $ t % " alto land ew Ji? Q«;5 No, 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 337 . ^ -■ S i i "■ Q Q ? ^ d ^ . i S 5 . ^" ^ o g i & I -i I ^ 11 ■ ,S -§ i 3 S ■> g -g ^- 1 1 5 ^ = .5 e 5 -g ^- o c- S I £ S fll -g Ph 2 ^aloW ^r2T^t^U^ g,-f^K5£fW 3 03 S K siO b -y - 5 cT S >; g I c§ § « - ^-3 5 3 X 2 -c o .5 ^ ^- 5 ^ Q Q J. Q [it PS Q oT g - . . P 2 fe « P fe S^« -H-^-23 ^ .2 co'Es's-s^^iSKc'? ■::i^ g Q <,3 oa ^ & s 5: rt o t; ^ ^&: rt gtM os^ &: o &:; ^ &-> .a 0 -0 : a s 03 -a "o "> a 0 M a 0 3 0 % j2 a £ a 6 0 338 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. S ci ^ 2 2 6 "» ■^* m g «3 .2 s W §. fc ''^ ^ ^ O fl w .: » pq b: O . J i3 a g — "3 « Ina Stanhop W. Bigelow, Nellie Hale, C. P. Gridle erine Quinn, M. Rouvier Miller, Nort Elmer, Buck 2 . a ■ • 11"= s S S i-s s s W K^d > P S-5 > & • <-> Q m 03 w iz; Ph tq > 0) r3 Q B c > t- -*J S a ^ M *? C3 O . >> J ^ "5 j^ < ■■- a P^ o w f^ QJ O 0! ^ ^ Q -fl m rs ■ t> 03 - ►-) . iB - Q W W < > =rS " i«=i T3 ''^tnQ!?2'»''i'Kfn'nr-r'. tow tH.iiM-iOl-'(Hl-(-.t-H- a '-' o _ o ! ^ O t° J3 „- C 6 g m T3 eq o • 03 O Q 3 m f^ '^ o 03 03 § E S ■« a fc - 0) C On O " •S £ o .3 z s g § :^ g avo lire ow. o ^ 02 «J ->^ . -* ulloch Gates Scott, S c o W H i^' o £ 1 S zd ^ . . __ "O '73 O - o 0 -o ^ I; - -i^ " -^ c3 13 T3 M *^ O • o '-i E '"' S "1 S '-' -Q i •" 1^ « 2 -d 2 & "33 C £ 3 . > § c ir 5 0^ 0^ o - Q oj ti E o g 3 -g -Si -C CQ o -g <» ^ o t: .- Z p S' a) -r 03 Z PL, .^ Q c C3 r- O fq 3 .5 Q P^ • W £ b fe kJ 3 -a -2 ^ K O g - o 02 5 z ^ . - o ^^z ,n z 2 ^ § - g§ 2 1^:0 1.6 ^" Z P ^- ^ 2 OS J3 ^ Z Z « h-1 cot,. 5 Z 3 o m Z ?: COPnoaMCC :g iSgffi No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 339 Q a Q b .2 p fe Q M (X, P Pa '^. P 2S l-j-gta «^g ag^ O P -a f=^ d 3 2 fc« .2 aj i^ •^^, S > o g g. H |X4 ^ »3 ^ 0 CO ■:3 >. g ;^ O .§ « H w _r i^J ^9.^. — a> ej SUE. fe:S'~'pa=3T-t'^-'~5'/r'"tiir' ..^73 C-^. w .a to • £ pj O £ J f^ Br t." .S n t? o I ^-:i-a ill i|^J||^^l|g- ^-1 ^ s^l-i I! Ill li^^Hii" 3 lii 5i|| s [i, < o s g jg o o s g KiS s cQ w s s § ohs s ssww fa ^ S - ^ .03^ ^ i P ■ ^ °-S^|-2 i^ 5." dfe Sf ,-". ^ I o ^ I S c e -a « -s ^ g 'S 2 I '^. ^ ■£^==3 -^-oo o:2^-'.2-C-5g-^W :1a*, -g =^-2.i! « ^ ^ S o C13 ^. Q^ .~ c^. 9. .rS^W5«fa. H ^^ -'^ 3 d CO U >, < [j< OS 4 o a c < e « s s w '-' o fe ft • «l Q t-i fa 1' K 23 o Pi lg 5! « PQ -< bC 'fcH s ^ ^ -o rn ^ - kT 1^ d a o -2 on ^^^ U 5 w ^ o ^ ffi s < "S 15 g P Q -0 a ft tH •a fa«. ^Jpi J5 hO 3 O fa pi «^ > o -w ^ _o 0^ S' ^ s ^' o J2 fe -d - B (U O § is o ►i3 is u 2 C o 1« 2-5 -3 e ' ■ ^ ^ '^ tC J „- ?» ^ S. rs ^^Ph^ 3 fc ^ C3 K fa 2 O c3 ■fr V e - IK o3 3 Pi .3 "3 o U 6 12; 0 fa 2 < rr c3 W o (1) 03 -O a ■§ o ^ O K fa g a 03 "S ^ ^ >, . • m :=; £ t-> tH Pi £ ii h E J 2 S6 .2 2 0) K^S S )^ S S OS s W fa S S w c t fa^ Pi,^' o oJ" o a s ^rt C] bO 03 m 43 . h:^; P3 "S 0 f> "^ 1 1^ 03 CO i^ >;« m - ^ m" « >i & s S => -3 fl 03 £ 9 2 T) o fl o3 2 OJ Ph 3 P5 c3 O a s ^^ a R <1 2; w »J o .a ft fa -M . 3 d 03 2 fa 1 ■$ vS „-w fa s s ^ g "s ffi Ph « ^ H >, P3 fa CO K i^ CB o 3 CB S 1:3 ^•1 fa to % o a a u 3 o c 2 OJ -0 a 03 fa -a ^ o fa O m £d K 2 ^" 6 --'^ bo E _r t) 5 ii '3 « O 03 L- K O W ;? £ > l-H -.J lO M 1^ tu S S Ss O : ^ oo Pi CI n fc! 6 6 'Z ^ :?; No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 341 ^ Q >i 3 (^ n 3 & o S « K 2 Q fe ; «^ i.ii i I I «« ^ i =.'^ -.XrlT3(U OD.Oj'O est. oT fl a ,r .9 o h A. 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Doc. w P < d S '^ n . o >;z 1^ 2 •« n-S 3 .H o » H =: K O No. 4.] AGRICULTURAL DIRECTORY. 343 e^ H a S O •5 w a -d W H ■? li i5 i « B -S I Z •i« ^ W oq 2 S « P:2 c . ~ E . . o K t. ^g Is 3 ^ .-53 ^1^ -d H .S - ^ w ;::^ tn . • , ^ :S • >• S' £■ i^'^ -5 3 i a - _- C3 ^ 2 2 »- Q QJ CQ ^ O .S 8 K I « o g S B M Q § O O g M T3 -" P- .£ 3 2 2 S < ffi '-' g O < £ £^ g £ 8 s s w fe s o §••9 1 o - " P-i fl 3 . . -a -< Z W fa - ^^S S - fe 2 a o O Eh _2 e . 5 s 12; 3 ^ m i; '^ s ft =3 .* Z . <3 S 2 ° 03 O . o -O g g< p fa pi o i; Z 13 K H «} i) l^-l .-2 I w o >> =2 « ft o gfaS -< d • . . a « E E >> o g _ 5 03 U '^ Q W « I ^ S ^ S S S 2vM K -^ c g S r2 J CO tn --3 .Si .9 I Sal a a o i ^ P^ D . fa m fa 1- •s . 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Q a c3 O fl ja 3 ta b ja • a 12 M >. bl 3 o S X3 1 fl' 3 K? ■5 0 3 . 0 1 o o a 1 ■-5 6 c c3 XI s a 3 m w S a a 1 « £ O c s < 3 .2 Q K § d o a "a '$■ c 2 6 13 2 "a j3 3 d a M 2 '3 a 5 3 a" o "2 03 s i. s. a "a O -2 03 J3 II 8 i W 6 o ft S 3 m 2 ft =: £' 3 w g .2 OS o 2; S 3 i? 03 O 1-1 "3 3 c > 03 d > a ■3 00 01 a u 03 pq ►4 ■S, •3 K S d -0 d ^ "C -d -S w c -a; s eg o .2 2 3 s -i s > .2 2 2 _5 2 3 "-5 2 0) d 6 0 2 2 a .S P S:2 I feS^ i^^ ^-2^-' ^d§ 5 « : S tK '^ fc _r a a & p H ^- . a . W • = ii jj a ^ fi & ^ d- -- >. -S -s >; g -f ^ 3 g 1 :?' s o r § 2 s ? ^ a -jj ^^tSO-g ^"MtSof* > -CccftdXIferi^fl^Kj -< < •t.*j is di^oibCU a ■Ok--' S,'T'dj::5'a-°'.dOrT'- 0^0 fe & «sj O W »? a Q S W hJ W fe f:^ <1 pq ^ K h:i B <,< O 2 :2 =d I til In^o^Z °- ^ gn^S-fe •^ te to ^ '^ - o <>> ^ Z .-^ l^b^l ll^a l«^ll^i P3 Z H ftZ^ ^oscstia 346 o o o PL, BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P.D.No. a n . m d & -^ o lII .-i -*-^ fi^ S ;» O &: H O W 1-5 l3 Q 3 _■ J3 O O g S • ■ S 3 5 W ■a3 ►S ?^ • «} M H W o ~ t3 ^5 g 12 3 dJ O 0) <■ s «■ 3 p O J3 O « fe 2 . < f.-g§ s§ ;? • ^ 12; = . >. « -r " 3 O c 3 -Q C § -c ^ S c K? 3 S O &Q >H^ '-'S?; INDEX. INDEX. Address of welcome, by George H. Stevens, Response to, by John Bursley, . Agricultural College, Massachusetts, concerning the, Trustees and officers of. Agricultural legislation of 1909, Agricultural organizations, directory of, Miscellaneous, offices of. Agricultural societies, concerning, Financial returns of the, Institutes of the, . Membership of the. Officers of the. Premiums and gratuities awarded by the, Agriculture, State Board of, bulletins of the, . Cattle Bureau of. See Cattle Bureau. Changes in the, Crop reports of the, concerning. List of members of the, ^leetings of the, concerning. Organization of the, .... Publications of the, .... Public winter meeting of the, at Dracut, Report of secretary of the, . Agriculture, Massachusetts, bulletins of the, concerning, Agriculture, the development of, by organized effort, lectur by Eugene Davenport, .... Apple, Baldwin, the, for Massachusetts orchardo, . Blue Pearmain, the, for Massachusetts orchards. Fall Pippin, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . Gravenstein, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Hubbardston, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Mcintosh, the, for Massachusetts orchards. Northern Spy, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Oldenburg, the, for ]\Iassachusetts orchards, . Palmer Greening, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Red Astrachan, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . Rhode Island Greening, the, for Massachusetts orchard Roxbury Russet, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Sutton Beauty, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . PAGE 3 5 xxiv 325 xxviii 321 332 xvi 311 311 311 327 311 271 xiv xxvi V, 322 XV 323 xxvii 3 vii xxix 27 46 59 56 55 50 47 57 52 53 56 48 52 54 350 INDEX. PAGE Apple — Con. Yellow Transparent, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 58 Washington Royal, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 53 Wealthy, the, for Massachusetts orchards, .... 49 Westfield, the, for Massachusetts orchards, .... 57 Williams Early, the, for Massachusetts orchards, ... 51 Apples, score card for commercial variety of, 44 Varieties of, for Massachusetts orchards, lecture on, by Prof. F. C. Sears, 42 Associations, farmers' and mechanics', officers of, . . . . 329 Poultry, officers of, 331 Automobiles and motor cycles in forestry work, .... 229 Baldwin apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, .... 46 Balloons, fire, 230 Bark disease, chestnut, the, 239 Bee disease, legislation on, recommendation for, .... xix Beekeeping in Massachusetts, xix Beef cattle, concerning, 291 Bird life in Massachusetts, some changes in, 269 Birds, destruction of, by spraying, investigations of the, . . 262 Causes of destruction of the, in 1903 and 1904, . . . 249 Decimated by the elements in 1903 and 1904, recovery of those species of, 249 Birds, game, economic value of, . . 274 Partial recovery of, 250 Report on, by State Ornithologist, legislation on, recom- mendation concerning, xxiii Blight, pear, 309 Pine tree, 239 Blue Pearmain apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 59 Breeding of martins in Massachusetts in 1909, reports regarding the, 252 Breeds of poultry, Ill Brown-tail moths, gypsy and, concerning the, .... xxiii Brush, slashings or, should be burned, 231 Bulletins of Massachusetts agriculture, concerning, . . . xxix Of Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, 271 Bureau, Cattle. See Cattle Bureau. Bureau, Dairy. See Dairy Bureau. Burslcy, John, response to address of welcome by, ... 5 Butter, work of the Dairy Bureau on, . .... 177 Cape forest fires, 232 Cattle, beef, 291 Dairy, concerning, 287 INDEX. 351 PAGE Cattle Bureau, annual inspection by the, of neat cattle, farm animals and premises on whi(tli the former arc kept, 130 Financial statement of the, 160 Legislation on, recommendation for, xxii Meat inspection by the, 151 Sixteenth semi-annual report of the Chief of the, . . . 129 Work of, on miscellaneous diseases, 147 On glanders, 136 On rabies, 134 On tuberculosis, 142 Causes of destruction of birds in 1903 and 1904, the, . . . 249 Certificates of nursery inspection granted, list of the, . . . 126 Chestnut bark disease, the, " . . 239 Clubs, farmers', officers of the, 330 Farmers' and mechanics', officers of the, 329 Cook, Prof. H. E., lecture by, on the education of the dairyman and the dairy cow, . . \ G7 Corn Exposition, New England, concerning the, .... xxv Cow, dairy, the education of the dairyman and the, lecture on, by Prof. H. E. Cook, 67 Creameries, milk depots, etc., in Massachusetts, list of the, . . 186 Crop conditions for 1909, summary of the, xxx Crop reports of the Board of Agriculture, concerning the, . . xxvi Crop rotation for the dairy farm, lecture on, by H. O. Daniels, 85 Dairy Bureau, cases prosecuted by the, 173 Concerning the, xxi Financial statement of the, 188 Nineteenth annual report of the, . . • . . . , 165 Organization of the, 167 Recommendations of the, for legislation, 171 Summary of year's work of the, 172 Work of the, on butter, 177 On milk, 179 On oleomargarine, 175 On renovated butter, 177 Dairy cattle, concerning, 287 Dairy cow, the dairyman and the, education of, lecture on, by Prof. H. E. Cook, 67 Dairy farm, crop rotation for the, lecture on, by H. 0. Daniels, . 85 Dairyman, the, and the dairy cow, education of, lecture on, by Prof. H. E. Cook, 67 Daniels, H. O., lecture by, on crop rotation for the dairy farm, . 85 Davenport, Dean Eugene, lecture by, on the development of agriculture by organized effort, 27 352 INDEX. PAGE Davenport, Rev. W. H., lecture by, on poultry keeping on small farms, 99 Deer, damage by, concerning, x Removal of protection from, legislation for, recommended, . x Development of agriculture by organized effort, the, lecture on, by Dean Eugene Davenport, 27 Directory of agricultural and similar organizations in j\Iassachu- setts, 321 Donations, authority to accept, needed by State Forester, . . 233 Dwarf trees, pear, 305 Education of the dairyman and the dairy cow, the, lecture on, by Prof. H. E. Cook, 67 Exhibits, forestry, concerning, 239 iiy on Rev , by John W. H Fall Pippin apple, the, for ^lassachusetts orchards, Farm animals, annual inspection of, by the Cattle Bureau, . Farm, dairy, crop rotation for the, lecture on, by H. O. Daniels, Farmers' and mechanics' associations, officers of, Farmers' and mechanics' clubs, officers of, Farmers' clubs, officers of, Farmers' institutes, concerning. Fanner's interest in game protection, the, essay on, by Edward Howe Forbush, Farms, economy of labor in poultry keeping on, ess H. Robinson, Small, poultry keeping on, lecture on, by Davenport, Financial statement of the Cattle Bureau, Of the Dairy Bureau, Fire balloons, Fire fighting, forest, railroad co-operation in, . Fire, forest, deputies needed, .... Lookouts, plan for establishment of. Protection, State subsidy to towns for, . Firemen's association. State, meeting of the, . Lines, and protective moth belts, Work, forest, assistant needed in. Fires, forest, bulletin on, Cape, From smoking. Li Massachusetts, 1909, causes of, the, In 1909, Setting, arrests and convictions for, . Foord^ Prof. J. A., essay by, on live stock in .Massachusetts, 56 139 85 329 329 330 xvii 273 280 99 160 188 230 224 225 226 225 234 231 228 237 232 221 222 220 222 287 INDEX. 353 PAGE Forbush, Edward Howe, essay by, on the farmer's interest in game protection, 273 Forest fire deputies needed, 225 Ecjiiipment, power sprayer as, 228 Fighting, railroad co-operation in, 224 Lookouts, plan for establishing, 226 Protection, State subsidy to towns for, 225 Work, assistant needed in, 228 Forest fires, bulletin on, 237 Cape, 232 From smoking, 221 In 1909, 220 In ]\Iassachusetts, causes of, . . . . . . . 222 In towns, price to pay for fighting, 230 Setting, arrests and convictions for, 222 Forest Nursery, concerning the, 216 Larger, needed, 218 Forest service, United States, co-operation with, by State For- ester, 238 Forest wardens, conference of, 235 And local moth superintendents, list of, 196 ' Forester, State, authority to accept donations needed by, . . 233 Concerning the, xxii Examination of woodlands by the, 243 Examination of woodlands and assistance given owner by the, 212 Expenditures and receipts by the, 240 Lectures by the, 241 Organization of staff of the, 193 Public lectures and addresses by the, 234 Sixth annual report of, 189 Forestry exhibits, 239 New legislation on, 205 Work, automobiles and motor cycles in, . . . . . 229 Forests, municipal, 237 Fruit Show, New England, concerning the, xxiv FuUerton, H. B., lecture by, on market gardening, ... 7 Game, artificial propagation of, the, 279 Financial benefits derived from, 275 Game birds, economic value of, 274 Partial recovery of the, 250 Report on the, by the State Ornithologist, legislation on, recommendation for, xxiii Game mammals, the economic value of the, 275 354 INDEX. Game protection, the farmer's interest in, essay on, by Edward Howe Forbush, Glanders, work of the Cattle Bureau on, the, . Grange, ^Massachusetts State, officers of, . Granges, Pomona, officers of, . Subordinate, officers of, ... . Gravenstein, apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Gypsy and brown-tail moths, concerning the, Horses in Massachusetts, Horticultural societies, officers of, . Houses, poultry, or pens, Hubbardston apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Insects attacking pear trees. Inspection, meat, by the Cattle Bureau, Inspector. See Nursery Inspector. Institutes, farmers', concerning. 273 136 333 335 336 55 xxiii 291 328 101 50 309 151 Labor, economy of, in poultry keeping on farms, essay on, by John H. Robinson, 280 Lectures by State Forester, 234, 241 Legislation, agricultural, of 1909, xxviii Milk, concerning, . » xi New, on forestry, Legislation, recommendations for, on bee diseases. On Cattle Bureau, the, On deer, On milk, On salary of State Nursery Inspector, On report on game birds, On San Jose scale, the, Legislation for 1909, recommendations of State Ornithologist for Live stock in Massachusetts, essay on, by Prof. J. A. Foord, Lookouts, forest fire, plan for establishing, .... Mammals, game, economic value of, ... Market gardening, lecture on, by H. B. Fullerton, Marketing pears, Martin colonies, successful efforts to establish, Martins, breeding of, in Massachusetts, reports on, Swifts, swallows and, recovery of. We must bring back th(% Unsuccessful attempts to reintroduce, Massachusetts agriculture, bulletins of, concerning, 205 xix xxii X xi xxi xxiii xi 248 287 226 275 7 310 260 252 251 256 2(il xxix INDEX. 355 Massachusetts Agricultural College, coucerniiig, Trustees and officers of, IMassachusetts, beekeeping in, concerning, ]\Iassachusetts, eastern, superior for pears. Live stock in, essay on, by Prof. J. A. Foord, Massachusetts orchards, varieties of apples for, lecture on Prof. F. C. Sears, Mcintosh apple for Massachusetts orchards, the, . Meat inspection by the Cattle Bureau, .... Milk depots, creameries, etc., in Massachusetts, list of the. Milk legislation, concerning, Milk standard, the, concerning, Milk, work of the Dairy Bureau on, Miscellaneous diseases, work of the C'attle Bureau on, . Moth belts, protective, and fire lines, Moth superintendents, local, and forest wardens, list of the. Motor cycles, automobiles and, in forestry work, . Municipal forests, Neat cattle, annual inspection of, by the Cattle Bureau New England, advantages of, for orcharding, . New Engkind Corn Exposition, concerning the. New England Fruit Show, concerning the. New England orcharding, western methods in, essay on F.C. Sears, Northern Spy apple for Massachusetts orchards, the, Norway spruce as a forest tree, the, .... Nursery, forest, Larger forest, needed, Nursery inspection, concerning, .... List of certificates of, granted, .... Nursery Inspector, State, eighth annual report of the, Salary of, legislation on, recommendation for. Officers of agricultural societies, list of the. Farmers' clubs, list of the, Farmers' and mechanics' associations, list of the. Farmers' and mechanics' clubs, list of the. Horticultural societies, list of the. Miscellaneous agricultural organizations, list of the Pomona granges, list of the, .... Poultry associations, list of the. State grange, the, list of the, .... Subordinate granges, list of the, Oldenburg apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards. Oleomargarine, work of the Dairy Bureau on, ,hy , by PAGE xxiv 326 xix 310 287 42 47 151 186 xi xii 179 147 231 196 229 237 139 296 XXV xxiv Prof. 294 57 219 216 218 XX 126 121 xi, xxi 327 330 329 329 328 332 335 331 335 336 52 175 356 INDEX. Orcharding, advantages of New England for, 296 New England, western methods in, lecture on, by Prof. F. C. Sears, 294 Suggestions for improvement in, 299 Western, factors for success in, 294 Orchards, Massachusetts, varieties of apples for, lecture on, by Prof. F. C. Sears, 42 Organization of the Dairy Bureau, 107 Organizations, agricultural and similar, directory of the, . . 321 Organized effort, the development of agriculture by, lecture on, by Dean Eugene Davenport, 27 Ornithologist, State, concerning the, Recommendations of, for legislation for 1910, Second annual report of the, .... Work of the year, xxn 248 245 247 Palmer Greening apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 53 Pasture for poultry, 109 Peaches, varieties of, for commercial orchards, .... 65 Pear, cultivation of the, 306 Blight, 309 Dwarf trees of the, 305 Insects attacking the, . 309 The soil for the, 303 Varieties of standard trees, 303 Pear, the culture of the, essay on, by George T. Powell, . . 302 Pear orchard, preparation of land for a, 303 Pear trees, planting, 303 Pruning, 308 Pears, eastern Massachusetts superior for, 310 Marketing, 310 Pens, poultry, or houses, 101 Permit act, result of vote on the, 238 Personality of proprietor of poultry farm, 101 Pine tree blight, the, 239 Pippin, Fall, apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, ... 56 Pleasures of poultry keeping, the, 99 Pomona granges, officers of, list of the, 335 Poultry associations, officers of, list of the, 331 Poultry, birds, Ill Breeds of, . . . , Ill Houses or pens, 101 Pasture for, 109 Provender for, Ill Poultry farm, personality of proprietor of, 101 INDEX. 357 PAQB Poultry keeping on fa,rms, economy of labor in, essay on, by John II. Robinson, 280 Poultry keeping on small farms, lecture on, by Rev. W. H. Davenport, 99 Poultry keeping, pleasures of, 99 Profits of, .100 Powell, George T., essay by, on the culture of the pear, . . 302 Power sprayer as forest fire equipment, 228 Premises on which neat cattle are kept, annual inspection of, by the Cattle Bureau, 139 Profits of poultry keeping, the, 100 Propagation of game, artificial, the, 279 Provender for poultry, Ill Pruning pear trees, 308 Publications of the State Board of Agriculture, concerning the, . xxvii Rabies in Massachusetts, work of the Cattle Bureau on, . . 134 Railroad co-operation in forest fire fighting, 224 Red Astrachan apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 56 Reforestation work, 214 Renovated butter, work of the Dairy Bureau on, .... 177 Response to address of welcome, by John Bursley, ... 5 Rhode Island Greening apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . 48 Robinson, John H., essay by, on economy of labor in poultry keeping on farms, 280 Rotation, crop, for the dairy farm, lecture on, by H. O. Daniels, . 85 Roxbury Russet apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 52 San Jose scale, the, damage by, xi Legislation on, recommendation for, ..... xi Score card for commercial variety of apples, 44 Sears, Prof. F. C, essay by, on western methods in New England orcharding, 294 Lecture by, on varieties of apples for Massachusetts or- chards, . . . . '^ 42 Secretaiy of State Board of Agriculture, report of the, . . vii Sheep in Massachusetts, 292 Slashings or brush should be burned, 231 Small farms, poultry keeping on, lecture on, by Rev. W. H, Davenport, 99 Smoking, forest fires from, 221 Societies, agricultural, officers of, list of the, 327 Horticultural, officers of, list of the, 328 Soil for the pear, the, 302 Spraying, destruction of birds l)y, investigation of the, . . 262 Spruce, Norway, as a forest tree, 219 358 INDEX. PAGE State Cattle Bureau. See Cattle Bureau, State. State Dairy Bureau. See Dairy Bureau, State. State Firemen's Association, meeting of the, 234 State Forester. See Forester, State. State Grange, Massachusetts, officers of, list of the, . . . 333 State Nursery Inspector. See Nursery Inspector, State. State Ornithologist. See Ornithologist, State. Stevens, George H., address of welcome by, 3 Stock, live, in Massachusetts, essay on, by Prof. J. A. Foord, . 287 Subordinate granges, officers of, list of the, 336 Subsidy, State, to towns for forest fire protection, . . . 225 Sutton Beauty apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . . 54 Swallows, and martins, recovery of, 251 Swifts, swallows and martins, recovery of, .... . 251 Thinning, forest, bulletin on, 237 Towns, forest fires in, price to pay for fighting, .... 230 Trees, pear, dwarf, 305 Pear, planting, 303 Pear, varieties of standard, 303 Trespass laws, extracts from, concerning, .... xxviii Tuberculosis, work of the Cattle Bureau on, 142 United States forest service, co-operation with the, . . . 238 Varieties of apples for Massachusetts orchards, lecture on, by Prof. F. C. Sears, 42 Wardens, forest, conference of, Washington Royal apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Wealthy apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . Welcome, address of, by George H. Stevens, . Western methods in New England orcharding, lecture on, by Prof. F. C. Sears, Western orcharding, factors for success in, Westfield apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, . ' . Williams Early apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, Woodlands, examination of, b}'' the State Forester, Examination of, and assistance given owners by the State Forester, Yellow Transparent apple, the, for Massachusetts orchards, 235 53 49 3 294 294 57 51 243 212 58 Public Document No. 31 TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL KEPOKT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Part I., Being Part III. of the Forty-seventh Annual Keport OF THE Massachusetts Agricultural College. Januaiiy, 1910. BOSTON: WEIGHT & POTTER PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTERS, 18 Post Office Squake. 1910. Approved by The State Board of Publication. TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station. Part I. DETAILED REPORT OF THE EXPERIMENT STATION. INTRODUCTION. In accordance with the provisions of the amended act rela- tive to the publication of the reports of the Massachusetts Agri- cultural College, passed by the Legislature of 1909, the report of the experiment station, which is 'a department of the college, is presented in two parts. Part I. will contain the formal re- ports of the director, treasurer and heads of the departments, and papers of a technical character giving the results of investi- gations carried on in the station. This will be sent to agricul- tural colleges and experiment stations and to workers in these institutions, as well as to libraries. Part I. will be published also in connection with the report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, and will reach the general public through that channel. Part II. will contain papers of a popular char- acter, and will be sent to persons on our general mailing list. WM. P. BROOKS, Director. CONTENTS. P.UIT I. PAGE Station organization, 11 Report of the director, 13 Changes in staff, 15 Buildings, 16 Station activities, 17 Publications during 1909, 19 Publications available for free distribution, 20 Letters of inquiry, 22 Lectures and demonstrations, 23 Miscellaneous analyses, 23 Control work, 24 Testing pure-bred cows, 25 Mailing lists, 25 Asparagus substation, Concord, 26 Breeding experiments, 27 Fertilizer experiments, 27 Tent experiments, 28 Cranberry substations, 28 Fertilizer experiments, 31 Report of the treasurer, 34 Report of the agriculturist, 36 Report of the chemist, 46 1. Correspondence, 46 2. Numerical summary of work in the chemical laboratory, . 47 3. Resume of work of the research section, 47 4. Work in animal nutrition, 48 5. Resume of work of the fertilizer section, 48 (a) Fertilizers licensed, 49 (6) Fertilizers collected, ........ 49 (c) Fertilizers analyzed, 50 (d) Trade values of fertilizing ingredients, . . . . 51 (e) Summary of analyses and guarantees, .... 52 (/) Commercial shortages, 53 ig) Grades of fertilizer, 54 (h) Unmixed fertilizers, 56 (1) Nitrogen compounds, 57 (2) Potash compounds, 58 (3) Phosphoric acid compounds, .... 58 (i) Miscellaneous fertilizers, soils and by-products for free analysis, 59 CONTENTS. PAGE Report of the chemist — Con. G. Resume of work of the feed and dairy section, ... 59 (a) The feed law, 60 (1) Low-grade by-products should be sold under their true names, 01 (2) Protein v. carbohydrates, Gl (3) Weight of feed stuffs, 62 (4) Uniform feed law, 62 (b) The dairy law, 63 (1) Examination of candidates, 63 (2) Testing glassware, 64 (3) Inspection of Babcock machines, ... 64 Creameries, 65 ]\Iilk depots, 66 (c) Milk, cream and feeds sent for free examination, . 60 (d) Analysis of drinking water, 67 (e) Miscellaneous, 67 (/) Testing of pure-bred cows, ...... 68 Report of the botanists, 69 Diseases more or less common to crops during the year, . . 69 Shade-tree troubles, 71 Report of the entomologists, 73 Thomas slag. A short historical review, 77 Composition of the slag, 77 Manurial value of slag recognized, 78 Methods for determining availability and adulteration, . . 78 Chemical combination of phosphoric acid in slag, ... 80 The use of phosphatic slag, 80 Quantity of slag per acre, 81 Effect of Porto Rico molasses on digestibility of hay and of hay and concentrates, 82 I. Introduction, 82 II. Experiments at the Massachusetts Experiment Station, . 84 General summary, . . . -. . . . 102 General conclusions, 105 Observations at the Station, 108 Data of the experiments, 110 Stability of butter fat samples, 132 Physical changes, 133 Chemical changes, 134 Action of heat, 138 Additional notes for methods in fat analysis, 139 Volumetric determination of copper, 140 Reading the Babcock test, 142 Introduction, 142 Observations at this station, 143 Conclusions 14 J CONTENTS. The use of the Zeiss immersion rcfractometer in the detection of watered milk, .... Mahuitrition, Caheo or mosaic disease of cucumber and melon, Notes on the occurrence of fungous spores on onion seed, Plant breeding studies in peas, Character of variation in peas, Differences in variability, Correlation coefficients. Correlation of characters, Heredity in peas. Coefficients of heredity, Prepotency, .... The Ben Davis group of apples. Description of varieties, . Variation in apples, .... \'ariation in the college orchard, (a) From different trees, . {b) From different parts of the trees. Climatic \'ariations, . Discussion of the variation, Variability of the different lots. Causes of the variation, . Summary, Fumigation dosage, .... I. Tomatoes, .... Introduction, . Comments and conclusions, II. Cucumbers, .... Introduction, . Comments and general conclusions. 148 154 163 164 168 168 169 171 171 172 172 172 176 177 194 194 195 196 197 197 203 210 212 214 214 214 225 227 227 246 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, AMHERST, MASS. TWENTY-SECOND ANJ^UAL REPORT. Part I. ORGANIZATION. Committee on Experiment Department. Charles H. Preston, Chairman. J. Lewis Ellsworth. Arthur H. Pollard. Charles E. Ward. Harold L. Frost. The President of the College, ex officio. The Director of the Station, ex officio. Station StaS. Charles A. Goessmann, Ph.D., LL.D., Honorary Director and Expert Consulting Chemist, 40 North Pleasant Street. William P. Brooks, Ph.D., Director and Agriculturist, Massachusetts Agricultural College. Joseph B. Lindsey, Ph.D., Vice-Director and Chemist, 47 Lincoln Avenue. George E. Stone, Ph.D., Botanist and Vegetable Pathologist, Mt. Pleasant. Charles H. Fernald, Ph.D., Entomologist, 3 Hallock Street. James B. Paige, D.V.Sc, Veterinarian, 42 Lincoln Avenue. Frank A. Waugh, M.Sc, Horticulturist, Massachusetts Agricultural College. John E. Ostrander, C.E., Meteorologist, 33 North Prospect Street. Henry T. Fernald, Ph.D., Associate Entomologist, 44 Amity Street. Edward B. Holland, M.Sc, Associate Chemist, 28 North Prospect Street. Henri D. Haskins, B.Sc, Chemist (Fertilizer Control), 89 Pleasant Street. Philip H. Smith, B.Sc, Chemist (Food and Dairy Control), 102 Main Street. Fred C. Sears, M.Sc, Pomologist, Mt. Pleasant. Henry J. Franklin, Ph.D., Assistant Entomologist (Cranberry Investigations), 56 Pleasant Street. Erwin S. Fulto.v, B.Sc, Assistant Agriculturist, North Amherst. Edwin F. Gaskill, B.Sc, Second Assistant Agriculturist, R. J. Goldberg's, North Pleasant Street. George H. Chapm.vn, B.Sc, Assistant Botanist, Fearing Street. Jas. C. Reed, B.Sc, Assistant Chemist. Jacob K. Shaw, M.S., .Assistant Horticulturist. 12 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 1910. Joseph F. MERniLL, B.Sc, Assistant Chemist, 32 North Prospect Street. Caul D. Kennedy, B.Sc, Assistant Chemist, 88 Pleasant Street. John N. Summers, Assistant Entomologist, 66 Pleasant Street. Fred C. Kenney, Treasurer, Mount Pleasant. Charles R. Green, B.Agr., Librarian, Mount Pleasant. Rose J. Brown, Secretary to the Director, Draper Hall, Massachusetts Agricultural College. James T. Howard, Inspector, Feed and Dairy Division, North Amherst. Roy F. Gaskill, Assistant in Animal Nutrition, Massachusetts Agricultural College. C. M. Damon, Observer, 20 South College, Massachusetts Agricultural College. Jessie V. Crocker, Stenographer, Department of Botany and Vegetable Pathology, Sunderland. Harriet Cobb, Stenographer, Department of Plant and Animal Chemistry, 35 East Pleasant Street. Bridie E. O'Donnell, Stenographer, Department of Entomology, Hadley. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. The work of the station during the past year has followed the usual lines. There has been some increase in the amount of research work. This has been made possible by the increase in the amount received from the Adams fund for the current year. Especial attention is called to the fact that innnediate results cannot in most cases be expected from such fundamental scientific investigations as are allowed under the Adams fund. A number of important j)i'oblems are receiving most careful investigation and study. Among them, the more important are the following : — Studies in milk secretion. Molasses and digestion depression. Why arsenicals burn foliage. Plant breeding, and subsidiary thereto, variation in garden peas and apples. Determination of physiological constants. Investigation to determine the economic importance of digger wasps in relation to agriculture. Studies of pyrallidse and tortricidae. Experiments to deteiTuine the plant food requirements of asparagus. Cranberry investigations to determine plant food requirements. Relations of climate to plants in health and disease. Cranberi-y insect work. In some of the investigations, results, from which practical lessons which seem to be of importance even now, have been obtained ; but no one of them has yet been carried to comple- tion, and most of them are of such a nature that long and patient research will undoubtedly be essential before the funda- mental laws which determine the results can be determined. 14 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Particular attention is called to the fact that the ])assage of the Adams act has not in the slightest degree increased the amount of station funds available for more popular and directly practical station work. Indeed, in one direction the passage of the Adams act has imposed an additional tax upon other station funds, for the act provides that the expense of publication of the results of Adams fund research work cannot be paid from that fund. Such expense must be borne by other station funds. There has been no change in the amount of such funds available to this station, with the exception of an addition of $500 made about seven years ago, during the past twenty-one years. Mean- while, there have been constantly increasing demands upon the station for work of various kinds, while there has inevitably been a tendency to broaden the scope of such experiments as are al- ready carried on under these funds. The fertilizer control work, moreover, now encroaches ui)on ordinary station funds. The costs of th*e collection of samples, analytical work and the publi- cation of the bulletin now considerably exceed the amount of license fees received. This topic will be more fully discussed later in the report, but is mentioned here simply to emphasize the fact that available station resources are not sufficient to cover the costs of such additions to our work as are called for. Poultry men, tobacco growers and cranberry growers, particu- larly, are urging the experiment station to undertake experi- ments for the promotion of these industries. Every possible economy has been used in the expenditure of station funds. A snudl. amount has been made available for co-operative experi- ments with tobacco, and some work with cranberries will be un- dertaken during the coming year. The possibilities, howc\'er, of carrying on such work as the men engaged in these industries would like to see undertaken are comparatively small. The de- mands i]{)()ii the station during the past twenty-one years have greatly increased, and they have never increased at a more rapitl rate than within the past year. It would seem to be quite time, therefore, to ask for incr( ased funds to provide for the growth in station work which the times demand. 11)10.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 15 Changes in Staff. There has been no change in the heads of departments in the station stall" dnring the past year. This fact has been favorable to station efficiency, althongh in this connection it may not be out of place to point out the fact that the rapid growth of the college has imposed much additional work upon the educational side upon most heads of departments in the station. This fact has necessarily reduced the time and energy available for station work, and the further growth of the college will force upon those responsible for station management a careful consideration of the question whether there should not be connected with the station a larger number of men who have had such training and experience, and who possess such natural ability, that they are competent, without immediate supervision, to originate and carry on investigations of the highest order. The chemical research work of the station suifered a serious break in the resignation of Dr. R. D. MacLaurin. The place left vacant by his resignation has not been filled, but an addi- tional assistant in chemistry is now employed, thus making it possible to push chemical research investigations which are in progress under ]\Ir. Holland more rapidly than it has been pos- sible to do heretofore. The connection of Mr. F. A. Johnson with the experiments pertaining to cranberry insects has ceased during the past year. The station, however, has been fortunate in once more obtaining the services of Henry J. Franklin, Ph.D., for entomological work. Dr. Franklin will devote a large share of his time to cran- berry insects, but will be placed in local charge of other experi- mental work with cranberries in the cranberry district. He will be available also for other entomological investigations as time permits. Mr. P. V. Goldsmith has resigned during the past year to accept a more lucrative position as a sugar chemist. The two new assistants in chemistry are J. F. Merrill, B.Sc, and Carl D. Kennedy, B.Sc. 16 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Buildings. No important new buildings have been erected during the past year. We have, however, put ujd, by use of ordinary station funds, three portable brooder houses. These houses are of the Cornell University pattern. They are heated by gasoline and each will acconnnodate 200 chickens. Extensive improvements have been made in the old station barn and stables. A large part of the old floor in the main barn has been torn out and a concrete floor put in its place. A cellar 25 by 56 feet in size has been made under the stables. This will provide greatly needed additional room for winter storage of fruits and vegetables. The old stable partitions and fittings have been removed, and a solid concrete floor has been laid over the old plank floor, while new stall partitions and fittings will take the place of the old. These improvements have been carried out with funds appropriated by the last Legis- lature. Particular attention is called to the fact that additional room must be provided in our chemical laboratory. The provision of such room is made imperative by the demands made upon us for research work, the rooms upon one side of the laboratory being used in the fertilizer control and those on the other side in the feed and dairy control work. These rooms are fairly suffi- cient for the control work ; but they do not provide either the space or the conditions essential for chemical research work. In spite of all possible efforts to prevent such results it is inevitable that the analytical work connected with the examination of fer- tilizers and feeds will sometimes load the air with fumes which might vitiate absolutely the research Avork going on, and this might mean a tremendous loss of time and the sacrifice of the results of much skilled work. To undertake to carry on re- search work under such risks must, of course, be extremely un- satisfactory ; but even could such risks be avoided, the working conditions in a laboratory where control work is being prose- cuted are not favorable to research work. Research work re- quires undisturbed (juiet. In the presence of numerous men en- gaged in ordinary routine chemical work (here must necessarily 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 17 be a certain amount of movement and confusion. Research work side by side with routine control work cannot therefore be made to give the best results. Plans for the jjrovision of accommodations needed for re- search work have received the careful attention of the members of the station staff most concerned. It will be necessary, in order to carry out plans which will be at all adequate to our needs, to secure a special aj^propriation from the Legislature. Station Activities. Station activities have embraced work along all the different lines mentioned in our last annual report. These lines are experiment, research, dissemination of information and con- trol work. As already pointed out,, there has been little change in the amount of practical experimental work during the year. Pesearch work has been somewhat increased, as has also been pointed out. In the lines of work which come under the head of dissemination of information there has been comparatively little change during the year, although some heads of depart- ments have called attention to the fact that, since the organiza- tion of an extension department in the college, there is a slight decrease in the number of calls for information coming to the station. This has been noticeable chiefly in the number of letters of inquiry. It must be regarded as desirable, from the standpoint of station efficiency, that the members of the station staff should be relieved as far as may seem possible of the neces- sity of doing routine extension work. Such relief will mean more time and energy for investigational work, which must be regarded as the most important function of the experiment station. The amount of control work during the past year has been greater than in any previous year. The increase has been due chiefly to the fact that a greater number of samples of fertilizers have been collected and a greater number of analyses of fertili- zers carried out. Attention is called to the fact that three of our neighboring Xew England States have seed laws. These laws must tend to prevent to some extent the sale of inferior seed in these States, 18 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. aud it would seem probable that since there must always be a certain amount of such seed, there will be increased probability that it will seek a market in those States not having seed laws. This, it seems likely, will mean an increase in the amount of in- ferior seed brought into Massachusetts for sale. The laws in our neighboring States have not yet been long in effect, and the tendency to which I have referred has not yet shown itself. Should it seem, however, that Massachusetts is becoming a dumping ground for inferior seed, it will clearly be the part of wisdom to endeavor to secure the enactment of a law for the protection of honest dealers (who, it is believed, are in a large majority in the State) and of the buyers and users of farm and garden seeds. The investigation carried on by Dr. Burton N^. Gates and the correspondence of the experiment station have made it per- fectly apparent that both European and American foul brood are common among bees in various parts of the State. The ex- istence of this disease threatens an industry which is already of considerable importance, and which might, with great advantage to our citizens, receive much greater attention. The passage of an act providing for an inspector of apiaries would be most desirable. The work of this inspector would be largely and no doubt chiefly educational. These diseases can be eradicated or controlled. Many beekeepers would no doubt undertake to rid their apiaries of disease could they be shown how to do the work. Under existing conditions, however, a beekeeper unfortunate enough to have either of the varieties of foul brood would have little encouragement to rid his apiary of the disease for the rea- son that he must anticipate re-infection from the apiaries of beekeepers who should neglect to carry out remedial treatment with the thoroughness essential to success. The inspector of apiaries, therefore, must be given authority to compel remedial treatment, or, if other measures fail, to destroy infected colonies. N^ew York and Connecticut now have laws providing for such work as has been indicated, and it is quite time that Massa- chusetts also should enact such a law. It seems probable that a national law covering the manufac- ture and sale of insecticides and fungicides will be enacted by the Congress now in session. Such a law has been under joint 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 19 consideration by the Bureau of Entomology of the Department of Agriculture, a connnittce of Economic Entomologists and prominent manufacturers. A law was introduced into the last Congress, and has now been brought into such form that it seems to be fairly satisfactory to all interests involved. This law, of course, can be effective in the States only in governing interstate transactions, but since practically all manufacturers of insecticides and fungicides do an interstate business, the passage of the national law will probably prove effective in controlling the manufacture and trade in these materials. Publications dueing 1909. The new plan for the i)iiblicatioii of the annual report of the station referred to in my last report became effective for the first time during the past year. Under this plan a larger pro- portion of the material published by the station will appear in the annual report than has been customary heretofore. Thus, for example, the two parts of the annual report for 1909 make a total of 300 pages, whereas the annual report for 1908 in- cluded 172 pages only. The amount of matter to be published in bulletin form is reduced by the change just referred to, and the number of such publications during the past year has been considerably less than in 1908. The total number of printed pages, including both bulletins and reports is, however, the same for the two years. The amount of circular matter sent out is also practically the same, namely, 30- pages in 1909 and 32 pages in 1908. A full list of the publications for the year follows : — Publications during 1909. Annual report : — Parts I. and II. 300 pages. Bulletins : — No. 128. Inspection of Commercial Feed Stuffs, P. H. Smith and P. V. Goldsmith. 56 pages. No. 129. Beekeeping in Massachusetts, Burton N. Gates. 32 pages. No. 130. A Summary of Meteorological Observations, J. E. Ostrander. 28 pages. Circulars: — No. 20. The Use of Lime in Massachusetts Agriculture, Wm. P. Brooks. 6 pages. No. 21. No. 22. No. 23. No. 24. 20 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. The Control of Onion Smut, G. E. Stone. 2 pages. Poultry Manures, their Treatment and Use, Wm. P. Brooks. 4 Images. A Parasite of the Asparagus Beetle, H. T. Fernald. 4 pages. An Act to provide for the Protection of Dairymen. The Babcoek Test, J. B. Lindsey. 8 pages. No. 25. Cottonseed Meal, J. B. Lindsey. 8 pages. Publications Available for Free Distribution. Bulletins : — No. 33. Glossary of Fodder Terms. No. 41. Use of Tuberculin. No. 08. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 76. The Imported Elm-leaf Beetle. No. 83. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 84. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 89. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 90. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 103. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 113. Fertilizer Analyses. No. 115. Cranberry Insects. No. 117. Trade Values, and Fertilizer and Soil Analyses. No. 121. Seed Separation and Germination. No. 123. Fungicides, Insecticides and Spraying Directions. No. 124. Bee Diseases in Massachusetts. No. 125. Shade Trees. No. 126. Insects Injurious to Cranberries, and hoAV to fight them. No. 127. Inspection of Commercial Fertilizei's. No. 129. Beekeeping in Massachusetts. No. 130. Meteorological Summary — Twenty Years. Technical Bulletin No. 2. The Graft Union. Technical Bulletin No. 3. The Blossom End Rot of Tomatoes. Index to bulletins and annual reports of the Hatch Experiment Sta- tion previous to June, 1895. Index to reports and bulletins, 1888-1907. Annual reports : — Annual reports of the station for the following years are available: 10th (1898), 11th (1899), 12th (1900), 13th (1901), 14th (1902), 15th (1903), 16th (1904), 17th (1905), 20th (1908), and 21st, Parts I. and II. (1909). Of some few other bulletins and reports we have a very limited sn])])ly. These will be furnished only iu order to complete sets for libraries. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 21 Examination of the above list makes it apparent that rela- tively few of our earlier bulletins can now be furnished. The publications printed by the station during the early years of its existence were naturally issued in comparatively small editions. The demand was limited. The growth of interest in improved methods in agriculture was not fully anticipated. It is now apparent that it would have been well had many of our bulletins and reports, which are of a character to make their contents of some permanent value, — even if only for purposes of library reference, — been issued in larger numbers. Many institutions, especially those devoted to agricultural education, and hundreds of individuals, are now vainly seeking to complete files of sta- tion publications. We cannot recall the past. Its mistakes are irremediable; but we should heed its lessons. The growth of interest in such matters as station reports and bulletins treat will continue, and the rate of such growth w^ill be more rapid in the future than in the past. It would clearly seem unwise to figure our editions too close to present demand, and yet to this course we seem to be compelled on account of the pressure upon station funds, made greater by the last grant from the federal government, — the Adams fund, — since this fund provides means for increased research, while the act granting it expressly stipulates that no part of the fund shall be used in meeting the costs of publication of results. These costs are, therefore, an in- creased burden on funds already fully utilized in meeting the expenses of other lines of work. It may be urged that under the conditions above outlined the amount of work in other lines should be decreased, but this is an alternative which the demands of the times render most diffi- cult, and which I believe would be decidedly imwise. We are under constant pressure to undertake more experimental work and in new lines. The various special agricultural interests urge us to more fully recognize them. Poultrymen, asparagus growers, cranberry growers, tobacco growers, hothouse men and many others have their special problems, which they look to us, and rightly, to help them solve. We need more funds then, rather than less, for our experimental work, and hence the neces- sity of a more generous provision for publication. The size 22 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. of our editions should be increased, but under existing appro- priations this is imjiossible. A committee of the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, after a most careful study of the whole subject of station publications, has recently made a report strongly urging, among other things, that, with a view to making provision for future demands, station publications should be electrotyped when issued. The adoption of this course now does not seem to me to be our most pressing necessity, but some such provision in the near future will no doubt be de- sirable. The demand for general bulletins of information, referred to at some length in my last report, shows no sign of abatement. On the contrary, it is ever increasing. The information which may be furnished by such bulletins is greatly needed. Could it be placed in the hands of persons calling for it, marked im- provement in agricultural methods might be confidently antici- pated. I believe, however, that this demand should be chiefly met by private enterprise. Certainly it cannot be met by the station without special provision to cover its costs. Meeting it, however, would seem to be in the nature of extension rather than experimental work, and therefore, under the modern conception of respective functions, perhaps belongs rather to the college than to the station. Letters of Inquiry. The number of letters of inquiry annually received in the different departments of the experiment station continues to in- crease. During the past year the total number of such letters received and answered was 0,500. Attention to these letters con- sumes a very considerable proportion of the time and energy of members of the station staff, thus materially curtailing the amount of attention which can be given to investigation. The numerous letters of acknowledgment received from corre- spondents receiving suggestions and advice make it apparent that the assistance which the station is able to render by an- swering these letters is appreciated. The amount of work of this character which the public will call upon the Massachu- 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 23 setts Agricultural Expcriiiicnt Station to do is sure to increase. Tliis line of work is highly important and useful, and it would seem to l)e the part of wisdom to make special provision for it in order that station workers may be more free to devote them- selves to investigation. Lectures and Demonstrations. Members of the station staff have been frequently called upon during the past year to deliver public lectures and to conduct demonstrations. The number of lectures and demonstrations given during the year was 56, while a large number of invita- tions to accept such engagements were, of necessity, declined. Work of this character makes heavy inroads upon the time of station workers, for it involves in the long run the use of much time in travel and in preparation. In so far, however, as sta- tion men have special knowledge of certain subjects, it seems desirable that they should address a reasonable number of im- portant meetings, since in this way the results of the work of the station are carried to the public, while the lecturer on his part is brought into closer and wholesome touch with the public which he aims to serve. Miscellaneous Analyses. The chemist reports the usual large number of miscellaneous analyses. M^ork of this character done during the year may be summarized as follows : — Water, 99 Milk, 389 Cream, 2,933 Feed stuffs, ■ . . . 98 Fertilizeis and fertilizer materials, .... 234 Soils, 42 Miscellaneous substances, ...... 45 This summary includes simply the analytical work carried out for individuals. The results of these analyses are of interest in most cases only to the persons sending in the material. It is recognized that this work has its value ; but investioational work 24 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. is of wider interest and of greater value. It has been our policy, therefore, and must continue to be our policy, to confine work of this kind to relatively narrow limits. Should we comply with all requests for work of this character, it is probable that the time of all the chemists at present employed would be very largely occuj)ied in this work. The most marked increase in demands for private analytical work is for soil analyses. There appears to be a widespread mis- conception as to the probable value to the individual of a chemi- cal analysis of his soils. This subject was rather fully discussed in my last annual report ; but it seems wise once more to repeat that the results of such analysis do not constitute a satisfactory basis for determining either the crop adaptation or the manurial requirements in the great majority of cases. No accurate count has been made, but it is believed that the number of requests for such analyses made during the past year has been at least 300. To have made this number of complete analyses would have re- quired the continuous services of two chemists for a year ; while to have determined simply the leading fertilizer elements must have required the full time of one chemist. The leading soil types found in the State have already been analyzed repeatedly in most cases. Fertilizer requirements ap- pear to be determined in the majority of instances more largely by the crop than by peculiarities in the chemical composition of the soil. It is particularly pointed out, therefore, that corre- spondents need only to state the type of soil, the character of the subsoil, the recent manurial treatment and the crop in order to give us a basis for suggestions in relation to the selection of fer- tilizers. Samples of soil, if sent, will not usually be analyzed, unless the type of soil or the conditions which have afi"ected it ap- pear to be of unusual character. Control Work. The amount of work connected with the execution of the fer- tilizer and feed laws increases from year to year. During the past year 1,042 samples of fertilizers have been examined in ac- cordance with the requirements of the fertilizer law, and 946 samples of cattle feeds have been analyzed. Conditions as affect- 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 25 ing the trade in feed stuffs have been on the whole satisfactory. The fertilizer inspection has, however, resulted in the discovery of a larger number of fertilizers not equal to guarantee than has been found in any previous year. It has not been thought best to make any prosecutions during the past year ; but the particular attention of dealers is called to the fact that such conditions as existed this year must not continue, and that prosecutions will undoubtedly be necessary should serious shortages again occur. Details of the inspection work will be found in the report of the chemist. Testing Pure-bred Cows. Attention was called in the last report to the fact that a small increase in the scale of charges for testing pure-bred cows had been found necessary. There was at first some criticism of the station for making such an increase, but it is believed that the necessity for it was made clear to parties interested in the work. The new scale of charges now excites no opposition, while the amount of such work steadily increases. The fact that its re- sults are profitable to the parties concerned is made sufficiently apparent by the fact that the number of cows offered for test continues to increase. The present scale of charges is believed to be sufficient to fairly cover the cost, and it must, therefore, be regarded as satisfactory both to the interested public and to the station. Mailing Lists. During the past year we have undertaken, by correspondence with postmasters throughout the State, to revise our general mailing list. The last revision was made two years ago; but as the result of the revision now in progress we have cancelled 1,441 addresses because of death or removal as reported by the postmasters. Postmasters have also reported over 2,000 changes in address. Before these changes are made, we shall address the individuals concerned, and shall re-enter them under new addresses only in those cases in which they reply to the postal card inquiry. It seems probable that the total number of ad- dresses dropped from our list as the result of the revision will be at least 2,500. The facts stated make it apparent that post- masters do not as a rule comply with the postal regulations af- 26 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. fecting station publications, and return them in the event of non- delivery. These facts make it very apparent also that frequent revision of mailing lists is a necessity if wasteful distribution of reports and bulletins is to be avoided. There is little doubt that our lists for other States and for foreign countries also need revision, and this work will be undertaken as soon as conditions make it possible. The extent to which our general publications circulate is made apparent b}^ the following statement of the inimbers in our lists : — Residents of Massachusetts, 13,098 Residents of other States, 2,102 Residents of foreign countries, 196 Newspapers, 512 Libraries, 288 Exchanges, ......... 112 The number of additions to our general mailing lists on direct application of the parties concerned during the past year has been 1,500. In addition to the above lists, our publications are sent to those on the general Washington list, which includes members of the faculties and station staffs in agricultural colleges and experiment stations. The total number of addresses on this list is 2,350. We use also the following special mailing lists : — Cranberry growei's, 1,424 Beekeepers, 2,475 Meteorological, . 373 Asparagus Substation^ Concord. The work at this substation has made very satisfactory prog- ress. All details connected with the local execution of plans for planting, fertilization and culture have been, as heretofore, faithfully and skillfully looked after by Mr. Charles W. Pres- cott, from whom the land in use has been leased, and to whom the work has from the first been indebted for many valuable suggestions and services characterized by most unusual enthusi- asm and d(»v()tion. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 27 No new linos of work have been undertaken. Our principal investigations, it will be, remembered, are of two general classes, ^ — breeding experiments and fertilizer experiments. Breeding Experiments. — During the past year good prog- ress has been made in these experiments, which have for their object the production of more rust-resistant types of asparagus, which shall at the same time possess desirable market char- acteristics. The number of varieties in the experimental plots at the present time is G5. Mr. J. B. Norton, who began obser- vations in Concord last year, has devoted practically all of his time during the past season to the asparagus breeding experi- ments. It will be remembered that in this work we enjoy the co- operation of the United States Department of Agriculture, and Dr. B. T. Galloway, Chief of the .Bureau of Plant Industry, under whose direct charge work of this description comes, has definitely assigned Mr. Norton to take local charge of the work in Concord. Mr. Norton succeeded during the past season in making numerous promising selections and a large number of artificial fertilizations. Some of the seed resulting from this work will be jilanted in Washington, and a close preliminary study of the plants produced will be made there during the coming winter. It is hoped to shorten the time needed for testing the value of different types by following this course. Those which seem promising will be taken to Concord for fur- ther testing and observation. It is a pleasure to testify to the enthusiasm and faithful industry of Mr. Norton, who, be- sides devoting himself to the breeding experiments, has proved very helpful in taking observations and making records on the fertilizer experiments as well. An exhaustive chemical study of the roots as affected by the varying fertilizer treatment is now in progress and appears to promise results of importance and great value. Fertilizer Experiments. — The conditions in the fertilizer plots continue to be highly satisfactory. There was, it is true, considerable rust, as was the case almost everywhere in Con- cord last fall ; but it did not begin as early in the fertilizer plots as in many beds in the district, and it is believed that the injury was not serious. No differences in the extent of rust injury 28 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. which could be attributed to variations in fertilizer treatment could be detected. Cutting continued longer this year than last. The first cutting was on May 7, and the last on June 6. The quality of the product was especially good, as was perhaps only natural on a vigorous new bed. There were considerable dif- ferences in yield on the different plots ; but the product will not be reported at this time, as it is not clear that the differences recorded were connected with varying fertilizer treatment. The preparation of the entire area, as was pointed out last year, was so thorough that the growth even on the plots receiving least fer- tilizer is still unusually vigorous. Tent Experiments. — The fact was reported last year that it is the plan to conduct experiments for the purpose of deter- mining the influence of tent shade as affecting (1) yield; (2) quality of product; (3) extent of injury from rust. It was, however, found that conditions in the different j^lots of the old asparagus bed, in which this work was begun, were not suffi- ciently uniform to warrant the continuance of the work on that bed. During the jjast season, however, a new bed has been set for the purpose of continuing these experiments. Ckanberey Substations. It will be remembered that our cranberry work follows two principal lines of inquiry relating (1) to the fertilizer require- ments of the crop; (2) to the insect enemies of cranberries. The only work done in connection with insects during the past year has been of a preliminary nature, as during the early part of the season we did not enjoy the services of an entomologist who could be assigned to this work. The station, however, has been fortunate in concluding an engagement with Dr. Franklin, who conducted insect work which gave such valuable results two or three years ago. Dr. Franklin returns to this experiment station as an assistant in entomology ; but it is our expectation that he will be put in local charge of all our experimental work with cranberries, although he will, as heretofore when con- nected with the station, devote his time principally to a study of insects in their relations to the crop. Dr. Franklin was un- able to take up this work earlier than October 1, but he spent sev- 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 29 cnil weeks in the cranberry sections of the State laying plans and making preparations for the work of another year. The past year has been characterized by a significant develop- ment in the relations of cranberry growers to our work. As a result of extended correspondence and conference, a committee representing the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association came to the decision to solicit contributions towards the financial sup- port of experimental work with cranberries. The committee prepared a circular letter asking for pro rata contributions, and this letter, in printed form, was sent to all known cran- berry growers in the State. This letter follows : — To the Cranberry Growers of Massachusetts. A legislative committee appointed by the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association has conferred with Messrs. Brooks, Preston and Damon of the State Experimental Station, and finds them heartily in sympathy with a plan for a substation to be located in the cranberry- gTOwing- district. They are willing- to help ns in every way if we will help ourselves by bearing a reasonable proportion of the expense. As cranberry growmg is limited to certain areas, they do not feel justified in asking the State to bear the whole burden. Such a station would investigate cranberry insects and their parasites, giving particular attention to the ravages of the fruit worm. It would also consider the various diseases of the cranberry, and would deter- mine the best methods of spraying and flooding. Systematic experi- ments with fertilizers would be carried on with relation to their effect on the color, quantity, size and keeping qualities of the fruit, and to determine their retentive values in the soil. The propagation of new varieties, the destruction of weeds and mosses and the study of climatic conditions, with the probable assistance of the United States Weather Bureau, would all be included in this work. The station would, in short, be here to serve us. We have every reason to believe that, by acting promptly, we can secure the services of Mr. Henry J. FrankUn for this undertaking. Most of the growers are familiar with the earnest, conscientious investi- gations which he made during his connection with the Amherst station. His bulletin, " How to fight cranben-y insects," and the mounted speci- mens which he prepared for us, prove his ability. If every grower will contribute one cent for each baiTcl of berries that he shipped last year, we believe that, with the co-operation of the station, the necessary funds can be raised. If you are willing to con- tribute that amount, will you please fill in the enclosed postal card. We do not Avaut the money now, and shall not ask for it unless a 30 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. sufficient amount is pledged to insure the success of the plan. A prompt answer will be greatly appreciated. A large iiiiinber of growers responded favorably, and the total amount of money pledged toward the support of experi- mental work as a result of this movement was about $1,000. It is with especial satisfaction that this action on the part of cranberry growers and its results are reported, for it .is believed that this j)olicy of self-help on the part of sf)ecial in- terests has much to commend it. These interests may fairly be asked to contribute to the support of work especially de- signed to benefit them ; but this is by no means the only reason for the approval of this policy. It means a greater interest on the part of the growers in the work which is going on, for human nature is so constituted that what costs something is valued more highly than that which is a free gift. This policy means, moreover, closer co-operation, wholesome supervision and helpful criticism. It is to be hoped that the results of this initial movement in the direction of private support of experimental work on the part of special interests will so commend themselves to cranberry growers that not alone will they be inclined to con- tinue a measure of support, but that other special interests, recognizing the advantages of the system, may be led to adopt a similar plan of co-operation. It must be at once recognized that, in order that the experi- ments contemplated in the interests of cranberry producers may be carried on under satisfactory conditions, it will be necessary to control a moderate area of cranberry land and the buildings necessary for handling the crop, and to provide moderate labora- tory accommodations. Uidess the work can be located in per- manent quarters, fully under the control of the experiment station, it cannot possibly be prosecuted in a satisfactory man- ner. Two methods of acquiring control of such projierty as is needed are to be considered: (1) the needed land and buildings might be leased for a number of years; (2) the needed property might be acquired by purchase. The second of the two plans would seem to possess considerable advantages as com])ared with the first. Cranberry land ordinai-ily returns Bo large an income that the rental which would undoubtedly 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 31 be c'xi)cc't('d by an owiior would be kn-ge. Moreover, questions of possible damage to the property as a result of experimental work might arise, which would be difficult to settle in a satis- factory manner. Should the second plan be adopted there is little doubt that the net income derived from the croi)s pro- duced would be sufficient to constitute a material contribution to the funds available to pay the costs of experimental work. If, therefore, the needed property can be purchased at a satis- factory price, the methods of support of experimental work would be largely settled. It would seem, therefore, to be ex- tremely desirable either that growers unite in the purchase of the property to be placed at the disposal of the station, or that the State be asked to appropriate money for the purpose. It is quite impossible that the cost either of leasing the needed j)roj)- erty or of purchasing it should be met by the use of ordinary station funds. Such funds are quite inadequate in amount to meet so large an added expenditure. The co-operation of the United States government in certain lines of investigation has been asked for, and we are already assured of material assistance in the study of plant diseases and the climatic conditions which affect the crop. Fertilizer Experiments. — The fertilizer experiments at Red Brook Bog, lying at Waquoit, have been continued. This in- cludes 33 plots of one-twentieth of an acre which are subjected to varying fertilizer treatment. The use of fertilizers has been so planned that the results must ultimately afford a valualde basis for determining what should be the composition of cran- berry fertilizers. It is recognized, of course, that conditions vary in different bogs, and that no one formula can possibly be the best under all conditions. Our object is to learn if possible the specific effects of different fertilizer elements. When these are understood, it will be possible to adapt the fer- tilizer to meet varying conditions in different bogs. Most of the plots in our experiment gave a fairly good crop in 1909, but, owing to a misunderstanding on the part of men employed in harvesting the fruit upon portions of the bog out- side the fertilizer plots, the product from a few of the plots was mixed, and a comi:>lete record of results would be impos- 32 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. sible. There were, moreover, a few plots in which considerable damage was done by insects. The results, therefore, are not to be reported in detail at this time, but the following conclu- sions seem to be fully warranted as the result of observations and records so far made. 1. The use of some fertilizer will clearly prove profitable on many bogs. The average product on Ihe no-fertilizer plots (7 in number) in our experiments this year was 7.5 bushels per plot, or at the rate of 150 bushels per acre. The average prod- uct on the fertilizer plots (19 in number) was 13.4 bushels per plot, or at the rate of 268 bushels per acre. The average prod- uct on the 10 plots to which a comiDlete fertilizer was applied was at the rate of 306.5 bushels per acre. A complete fertilizer was made up by the mixture of nitrate of soda, acid phosphate and a potash salt, 2. The use of nitrate of soda greatly promotes the growth of vines, and seems also to be favorable to fruitfulness. Even with the smallest quantity of nitrate used in our experiments (at the rate of 200 pounds per acre) the growth of the vines has been very luxuriant, — so luxuriant that the fruit, although abundant, was poorly colored and probably inferior in keeping qualities. The vine growth was so rank that another year the rate at which nitrate is used will be greatly reduced. It is he- lieved thai nitrate in excess of 100 pounds per acre will seldom he necessary. 3. The influence of high-grade sulfate of potash appears to be decidedly favorable. It promotes fruitfulness, good color and high quality. The highest yield obtained on any of the plots (223^ bushels, which is at the rate of 450 bushels per acre) was produced where the maximum quantity of sulfate of potash was used in connection with a moderate amount of ni- trate of soda and acid phosphate. The total fertilizer applica- tion to this plot was at the rates per acre : — Pounds. Nitrate of soda, 200 Acid phosphate, ........ 400 High-grade sulfate of potash, 400 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 33 4. Phosiilioric acid appears in these experiments to have less eli'eet than either of the other fertilizers employed, though it appears probable that when applied in soluble form, such as acid phosphate, it will be likely to promote early ripening, and will be favorable to fruit of relatively high color. WM. P. BROOKS, Director. 34 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. REPORT OF THE TREASURER. ANNUAL REPORT Of Fred C. Kenney, Treasurer of the Massachusetts Agricul- tural Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricul- tural College, For the Year ending June 30, 1909. The United States Appropriations, 1908-09. Hatch Fund. Adams Fund. Dr. To receipts from the Treasurer of the United States, as per appropriations for fiscal year ended June 30, 1909, under acts of Congress approved March 2, 1887 (Hatch Fund), and March 16, 1906 (Adams fund). Cr. By salaries, labor, publications, .... postage and stationery, freight and express, heat, light, water and power, chemical supplies, . seeds, plants and sundry supplies fertilizers, .... feeding stuffs, library, tools, implements and machinery furniture and fixtures, . scientific apparatus, live stock, .... traveling expenses, contingent expenses, buildings and land, $15,000 00 $12,734 18 479 84 6 50 103 23 21 48 103 88 91 64 362 92 254 53 241 28 143 04 244 00 113 03 10 25 20 15 00 75 00 $15,000 00 $11,000 00 $8,163 08 1,004 41 46 75 32 20 230 76 338 80 302 75 260 48 24 85 50 CO 513 04 31 26 1 62 $11,000 00 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 35 State Appropriation, 19.0S-09. To balance on hand, Cash received from State Treasurer, from fertihzer fees, . from farm products, from miscellaneous sources, Cash paid for salaries, for labor, for publications, .... for postage and stationery, . for freight and express, ... for heat, light, water and power, . for chemical supplies, for seeds, plants and sundry supplies for fertilizers, for feeding stuffs, .... for library, for tools, implements and machmery, for furniture and fixtures, for scientific apparatus, . for live stock, for traveling expenses, . for contingent expenses, for buildings and land, ... Balance, $7,529 52 13,500 00 5,210 00 2,387 57 4,825 17 $8,616 19 8,155 03 1,837 45 992 11 853 48 423 66 336 41 1,670 95 586 10 1,115 02 318 71 10 07 337 47 566 61 12 00 1,882 73 95 00 604 77 5,538 50 5,452 26 },452 26 36 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURIST. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. WM. P. BROOKS, agriculturist; E. S. FULTON, E. F. GASKILL, ASSISTANTS. The work in the department of agriculture in the experiment station has followed the usual lines during the past year. The most important investigations in progress have reference to what in general may be denominated fertility problems. They are designed to throw light upon various questions connected with the selection, use and methods of application of manures and commercial fertilizers. A considerable number of the ex- periments in progress has already continued for a number of years, and the results are becoming increasingly valuable, as they afford, with the passage of the years, surer indications as to the ultimate effects to be expected. The number of field plots on the station grounds used in the experiments the past year was 351. Pot experiments have been continued and have been designed chiefly to throw light upon the relative values of different ma- terials which may be used, respectively, as sources of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. Tests of this character afford the surest indications as to the relative availability of different ma- terials. The principal crops used in this work are Japanese barnyard millet, soy beans and dwarf Essex rape. We have used 346 pots during the past year. In some phases of our work, mainly as a check upon field results, we use closed plots, and the number of these in use the past season was 167. The experiments in progress will not be taken up in detail in this report ; but attention is called to some of the more striking results. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 37 I. The experiineiits on Field A, wbieli have for their object the determination of the relative vakie, as sources of nitrogen, of some of the leading materials which may be used to furnish that element, have been continued. These experiments were' begun in 1890. The crops grown in order of their succession have been : oats, rye, soy beans, oats, soy beans, oats, soy beans, oats, oats, clover, potatoes, soy beans, potatoes, soy beans, potatoes, oats and peas, corn and clover for the last two years. These two crops have been considerably mixed with grass. The best crop' of the year was produced where dried blood was used as a source of nitrogen, but the crop produced upon nitrate of soda was practically the same. On the basis of 100 for nitrate of soda, the relative standing of the different nitrogen fertilizers and the no-nitrogen plots (total yield) was as follows: — Per Cent. Nitrate of soda, . . . 100.00 Dried blood, . 100.50 Sulfate of ammonia, .... . 87.14 Barnyard manure, . . . . 83.00 No nitrogen, . 72.34 The relative standing of the different materials for the twenty years during which the experiments have continued is as fol- lows : — Nitrate of soda, . Barnyard manure, Dried blood, . Sulfate of ammonia, No nitrogen, Per Cent. 100.00 94.05 92.34 86.47 70.99 On the basis of increase in crop as compared with the no- nitrogen plots the average of the twenty years shows the fol- lowing relative standing: — Per Cent. Nitrate of soda, 100.00 Barnyard manure, ....... 79.51 Dried blood, 73.62 Sulfate of ammonia, 53.36 It will be seen that the nitrate of soda has given a much larger average increase in crop than any of the other materials. 38 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. There would seem to be little doubt, therefore, that this ma- terial must be regarded as one of the most satisfactory of the nitrogen fertilizers, and since it can usually be purchased at a lower average cost per unit of nitrogen than other fertilizers containing that element, it would seem to be the part of wisdom to use it as largely as soil and crop conditions will permit. II. The experiments on Field B, for determining the rela- tive value for diiferent crops of the muriate and high-grade sul- .fate of potash when used in equal amounts, have been con- tinued. These experiments began in 1892. Five pairs of plots are under comparison. Up to 1899 the potash salts were used in quantities (varying in different years, but always in equal amounts on the two members of pairs of plots) ranging from 350 to 400 pounds per acre. Since 1900 the quantity used has been uniform on all the plots, and at the rate of 250 pounds per acre annually. In connection with the potash we have used the same amount of fine ground bone annually for each plot through- out the entire period of the experiment. The rate of application of the bone is 600 j)ounds per acre. The season of 1909 is the eighteenth year of these experiments. The crops during that year were corn on two pairs of pilots, asparagus and rhubarb oc- cupying each a portion of one pair of plots, raspberries and blackberries each occupying a portion of one pair, carrots on one pair of plots and cabbages on the other. The yield of berries was very small, on account of serious winterkilling. This was less on the sulfate of potash than on the muriate. On both pairs of plots occupied by corn the sulfate gave a heavier yield of grain, while the muriate gave a larger yield of stover. The dif- ference in favor of the grain amounted to about 5 bushels. The difference in stover in favor of the muriate was at the rate of about 600 pounds per acre. The asparagus gave much the heavier crop on the muriate, at the rate of 6,002 pounds per acre on that salt against 3,257 pounds on the sulfate. The rhubarb gave a crop at the rate of 22,786 pounds ])cr acre of stalks on the muriate and 28,349 ponuds on the sulfate. The carrots gave a better yield on the sulfate, at the rate of 822.4 bushels per acre against 799.1 bushels on the muriate. The cabbages gave much the larger yield of hai-d heads on the sul- fate, the figures being at the following rates per acre: — 1910.] rUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 39 Pounds. Muriate of potasli : — Hard heads, 17,406 Soft heads, 6,878 High-grade sulfate of potash: — ^ Hard heads, 21,960 Soft heads, 2,434 III. In Fiekl C wc liave under comparison for use in connection with manure three different materials used as a source of nitrogen, ^ — sulfate of ammonia, nitrate of soda and dried blood, — and the two potash salts, muriate and high- grade sulfate, each salt being used Avith each of the three nitrogen fertilizers and in connection with a liberal applica- tion of dissolved bone black, the same on all plots. The com- parison of these different fertilizers in this field was begun in 1891, but up to the year 1898' they were used without manure. Since that time all plots receive annually a dressing of stable manure, at the rate of 30 tons per acre. A large variety of crops has been grown in this field. The crops the past year were asparagus, rhubarb, cauliflower and onions. Rhubarb and cauliflowers have given the heavier yields on sulfate of ammonia as a source of nitrogen ; but both asparagus and onions have given smaller yields on this material than on either of the other nitrogen fertilizers. Nitrate of soda gave a yield of asparagus about 25 per cent, greater than sul- fate of ammonia, while for onions the diflerence in favor of the nitrate of soda was in much greater proportion. With muriate as the source of potash, the yield of No. 1 onions on the different nitrogen fertilizers was at the following rates per acre : — Bushels. Sulfate of ammonia, 359.2 Nitrate of soda, 565.1 Dried blood, 515.9 With sulfate of potash as the source of potash the rate of yield of No. 1 onions per acre for the different nitrogen fer- tilizers was as follows : — Bushels. Sulfate of ammonia, 412.0 Nitrate of soda 703.6 Dried blood, 557.5 40 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. The average yields on the different potash salts were at the following rates per acre : — Bushels. Muriate of potash : — No. 1 onions, 480.10 Pickling onions, ....... 77.80 Sulfate of potash : — No. 1 onions, 557.70 Pickling- onions, . . . ... . . 57.97 Eor rhubarb the muriate of potash gave the larger crop, at the rate per acre of 77,400 pounds, against 64,828.7 pounds on the sulfate. The cauliflowers gave the better crop on the sulfate, the rates per acre being as follows : — Pounds. Muriate of potash, 24,G95 Sulfate of potash, 30,691 The asparagus gave the better yield on the sulfate, but the difference was small. The rates per acre were as follows : — Pounds. Muriate of potash, 4,951.0 Sulfate of potash, 5,176.7 The results with onions and with cauliflowers are the most striking, and are in close agreement with results previously obtained. The cauliflower, like the cabbage, seems to be more certain to give a satisfactory crop on the sulfate than on the muriate on soils fairly retentive of moisture. The crops on the plot in this field, where manure is used without fertilizers, are in most cases still nearly as good as on the plots where fertilizers are used in addition to the manure; but we would again point out that the history of this plot and its manurial treatment previous to its inclusion in this field were different from those of the other plots. Nevertheless, the fact that the crops on this plot still compare so favorably with those on the plots where fertilizer also is used raises the question whether the latter is a benefit. TV. In the exjierimcnts ('oui])ariug the diffei'ont potash salts, which were begun in 1898, aud in which these salts are 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 41 used in quantities to furnish equal actual ])(>tasli per acre annually, the crop the past year was hay, mixed timothy, red top and clovers. The average yield of the no-potash plots was at the following rates per acre : — Pounds, Hay, 5,744 Rowen, 680 The average yield of all the potash plots, 35 in number, was at the following rates per acre : — Pounds. Hay, 6,412.6 Rowen, 1,555.4 It will be noticed that the increase in the yield of hay was not very large, and that the yield without the potash was for both crops slightly in excess of 3 tons per acre. The rowen crop on the potash plots is much greater than on the no-potash plots because of the larger proportion of clover. The most striking result of the experiments, indeed, is the comparative failure of clover on the plots to which no potash was applied, and its great inferiority on the five plots to which kainit is annually applied. On these plots, and especially on the plots to which the kainit is applied, the yield of timothy was re- markably heavy, the proportion of this grass being much greater than on plots to which the other potash salts are applied. V. In the field where ten of the leading materials which may be used as sources of phosphoric acid have been under com- parison since 1897, the crop during the past year was soy beans. The phosphates used in this experiment are applied in connection with equal and liberal quantities of nitrogen and potash in available forms, at such rates as will furnish equal actual phosphoric acid per acre. The average yield of the three no-phosphate plots was at the rate of 6,668 pounds, or 27.8 bushels per acre. The average yield on the ten phosphatic fertilizers was at the rate of 1,835.2 pounds, or 30.6 bushels. The average increase on the phosphate plots as compared with the no-phosphate was at the rate of 167.2 pounds per acre. The highest increase, at the rate of 296 pounds per acre, was produced on the steamed bone meal. This increase is at the 42 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. rate of 17.7 per cent. There was not a very wide difference between the crops produced on the different phosphates, and the most striking result of the experiment is the fact that the crop where no jjhosphate has been applied during the past thirteen years is nearly equal to the crops produced on the best of the phosphate plots. On the same plots last year, cabbage being the crop, the increase on the best phosphatic material of the year, bone meal, was GG7 per cent, of the average crop pro- duced on the no-phosphate plots. These facts serve to empha- size the point which I have previously many times referred to, that in considering the plant-food requirements of soils it is of the first importance that the crop be taken into consideration. For the successful cultivation of the cabbage on this soil a rapidly available form of phosphoric acid is essential ; but for the soy bean, the application of phosphoric acid seems to have been relatively unimportant. YI. The crop on the south corn acre, where manure at the rate of G cords to the acre annually has been under com- parison since 1890 with an application per acre at the rate of 4 cords of manure and IGO pounds of high-grade sulfate of pot- ash, during the past year was hay, mixed timothy, red top and clovers. The plots to which the large applications of manure alone have been made were materially larger than on the com- bination of a lesser amount of manure and potash. The fol- lowing are the average rates per acre : — Pounds. Manure alone : — Hay, 4,030 Rowen, ......... 530 Manure and potash : — Hay, 3,G70 Rowen, 490 The rowen crops of the past season were exceptionally small, on account of a very marked deficiency in rainfall. It is apparent, however, that although the combination of the lesser amount of manure and potash substantially equals the larger amount of manure for corn, which is grown in alternate two- year rotations with hay, it is not equal for the production of hay. VII. On the north corn acre, whore the combination of fertilizer materials rich in potash is under comparison with 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 43 a c'()iiil)ina(it)n of isiinilar materials in different proportions, and furnishing less potash and much more phosphoric acid, the crop the past year was hay, mixed timothy, red top and clovers. This experiment was begun in 1801, and for the ])ast fourteen years corn and hay, two years each, have reg- ularly alternated. Owing to the very dry summer the field was cut but once. The average yields were at the following rates per acre : — PoiinJs. On the fertilizer eoml)ination rioli in phosphoric acid and relatively poor in i)otash, ..... 5,094 On tlie fertilizer coniljinatiou richer in potash and poorer in phosphoric acid, ...... 5,320 The proportion of clover in the plots receiving the combina- tion richer in pDtash is noticeably greater than on the other ]»k)ts. The cond)ination richer in potash in these experiments has shown itself substantially equal to the other combination for the production of corn, and superior for the production of hay. VIII. The experiments for the production of hay, by nsing in rotation as top-dressing barnyard manure, wood ashes and a mixture of bone meal and potash, have been continued dur- ing the past year in the nine-acre field where these experi- ments have been under progress since 1893. The average yield on the entire area during the past year was at the rate of 5,036 pounds of hay. The yields on the different materials used in top-dressing were at the following rates per acre : — Pounds. Barnyard mannre 5,394 Wood ashes . 4,708 Fine g-round bone and potash, ..... 5,160 The average yields to date under the diiferent systems of top-dressing have been at the following rates per acre : — Pounds. Barnyard manure, 6,373 Wood ashes, 5,805 Fine ground bone and potash 6,164 The average yield of the nine acres, from 1803 to 1000 in- clusive, has been at the rate of 0,150 pounds per acre. The 44 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. average of the past year, it will be seen, is materially below the long-time average, a fact undoubtedly due to the deficiency of summer rainfall, previously referred to. IX. In the experiments comparing winter application of manure with spring application of an equal quantity, put into large heaps in the field in the winter and spread in the spring, the crop this year has been hay, mixed timothy, red top and clovers. The two systems of applying manure are under com- 13arison on five pairs of plots, and the experiment has been in progress since 1899. The average crops of the past season were at the following rates per acre : — Pounds. Winter application of manure : — Hay, 7,045.0 Rowen, 460.6 Spring application of manure : — Hay, 6,482.0 Rowen, 659.2 It will be noted that the winter application has given a larger crop of hay, but that the manure applied in the spring has given a heavier yield of rowen. If we combine the hay and rowen crops, the average yields have been at the following rates per acre : — Pounds. Winter application of manure, ..... 7,505.6 Spring- application of manure, 7,141.2 The field in which these experiments are located slopes con- siderably in a direction running lengthwise with the plots. The superiority of the results obtained where the manure is applied in winter becomes more strikingly evident when it is remembered that by following this system the labor cost is materially less than under the other, since when the manure is applied in the spring it must be handled twice. X. The leading feature of the poultry experiments during the past year has been the continuation of the experiments comparing the dry with the moist-mash system of feeding. We have carried through six experiments, three during the winter and three during the suunner, using in these experiments six different flocks of fowls. The results have been similar to those 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 45 olttaiiicd la.st year. In iLe majority of the experiments the fowls receiving the moist mash have produced a greater num- ber of eggs. The moist-mash feed has seemed to be superior to the dry feed in four out of the six experiments, and the num- ber of eggs in most of these experiments has been materially greater than the number produced under the dry system of feed- ing. In the two experiments in which the dry system gave the greater number of eggs, the diiferences were relatively small. Averaging the six experiments, the results are as follows : — Number of Eggs daily per 100 Hens. !Moist mash, ......... 36.3 Dry feeds, 34.5 46 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. JOSEPH B. LINDSEY. DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. Research section: Edward B. Holland, Robert D. MacLaurin.* Fertilizer section : Henri D. Haskins in charge. Feed and dairy section: Philip H. Smith in charge. Assistant chemists: Lewell S. Walker, James C. Reed, Philip V. Goldsmith,'' C. D. Kennedy.' Assistant in animal nutrition : Roy F. Gaskill. Inspector: Jambs T. Howard.^ Clerks and stenographers: Harriet M. Cobb, Alice M. Howard. In the following pages is given a brief ontline of the work carried on by the department for the year ending Dec. 1, 1900. 1. Correspondence. The nnniber of letters sent out during the year ending Decem- ber 1, on the basis of stanii)s used, has been 5,G-11, some 841 more than in the preceding year. Comparatively few stamps are nsed for packages. The correspondence divides itself principally into (a) answering letters of inqniry, (h) the ex- ecution of the fertilizer aud feed laws, (c) testing of cows, and (d) in the ordering of supplies. > Resigned Sept. 1. 1909. 3 Proin Oclolwr. 1900. 2 Resigned Dec. 1, 1909. ■* From April 1, 1909. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 47 2. Numerical Summaey of Work in the Chemical Labo- ratory. From Dec. 1, 1908, to Dee. 1, 1909, there have been re- ceived ;ni(l examined 99 samples of water, 389 of milk, 2,933 of cream, 98 of feed stuffs, 234 of fertilizers and fertilizer materials, 42 of soils and 45 miscellaneous. In connection with experiments made by this and other departments of the station, there have been examined 191 samples of milk, 157 of cattle feeds, 58 of fertilizers, 26 of soils and 534 of agricultural plants. There have also been collected and examined 1,042 samples of fertilizer in accordance with the requirements of the fertilizer law, and 946 samples of cattle feeds in accordance with the requirements of the feed law. The total for the year has been 6,794. This summary does not include work done by the research division. In addition to the above, 25 candidates have been examined and given certificates to operate Babcock machines, and 4,071 pieces of Babcock glassware have been tested for accuracy of graduation, of which 43, or 1.06 per cent., were inaccurate. 3, Resume of Work of the Ivesearcii Section. The research work was carried on jointly by Mr. E. B. Hol- land and Dr. R. D. MacLaurin. Mr. Holland has given atten- tion particularly to a study of methods for the determination of insoluble acids in butter fats, and has co-operated Avith the entomological department relative to the burning of foliage by insecticides. Quite satisfactory progress has been made in both of these lines of work, but they are not sufficiently ad- vanced to warrant any detailed publication. A paper on the stability of butter fat, prepared by Mr. Holland, appears else- where in this report. Work on the constitution of fats and the chemistry of fat formation has been suspended by the resignation of Dr. Mac- Laurin, Dr. MacLaurin devoted substantially a year to the study of this subject, and has signified to the writer his inten- tion of preparing his work for publication. 48 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 4. WoKK IN Animal N'utrition. Work to note the effect of molasses on the digestibility of the ration with which it is fed has been sufficiently advanced to warrant a jDaper on the subject, which appears elsewhere in this rej^ort. Experiments on the most suitable varieties of corn for the silo have been in progress for a number of years. The results show that such varieties as the Leaming, Pride of the North, Rustler White Dent, Longfellow and Sanford White are more suitable for this latitude than Early Mastodon, Improved White Cap, Brewer's Dent, Wing's White Cap and Eureka. We have noted the degree of maturity by September 15, the yield of dry matter, the proportion of dry matter in stocks, ears, husks and leaves, as well as the degree of digestibility of most of the sev- eral varieties. The excess in yield of green material from the latter varieties consists largely of water. In case the coarse dents are field cured, the stalks will not cure out well, and as late as the middle of November contain a much larger amount of water than the smaller varieties. The detailed report of this experiment will probably be ready for publication in another year. Digestion tests with alfalfa and red clover at the same stages of growth have been completed, biit a large amount of labora- tory work in connection with the samples still remains to be done before the final results can be obtained. 5. Resume of Work of the Eeetilizer Section. Mr. H. D. Haskins, in charge, presents the following re- port : — The activities of the fertilizer division have been confined chiefly to the fertilizer control work and the examination of fertilizers, soils, refuse by-products, etc., forwarded by farmers and others interested in agriculture. The results of the year's work would indicate that a larger number of private formulas and home-mixed fertilizers had been used by the l\Iassachu- setts farmers than ever before. The work of the collection and inspection of licensed fertilizers has also increased during the year. A larger number of fertilizers was licensed this year 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 49 than (liiriiiii' iho past season, and the collection and analysis of samples reach the highest nnniber ever attained (hiring the history of fertilizer inspection work in Massachusetts. (a) Fertilizers licensed. During the year 431 distinct brands of fertilizers and agri- cultural chemicals have been licensed in Massachusetts. Li- censes have been secured during the year by 78 manufacturers, importers and dealers, counting each branch of the x\merican Agricultural Chemical Company as a separate company. Two more licenses were issued and 22 more brands were licensed than for 1008. The brands licensed this year may be classed as follows : — Complete fertilizers, ........ 306 Fertilizers furnishing- potash and phosphoric acid, . . 9 Ground bone, tankage and dry ground fish, ... 51 Agricultural chemicals and organic compounds furnish- ing nitrogen, .......•• 6-^ Total, 431 (h) Fertilizers collected. An effort was made during the season to cover a larger terri- tory than heretofore, and to procure, so far as possible, repre- sentatives of every brand of goods sold in the State. As a general rule, fertilizers cannot be found plentifully in the open markets in ]\Iassachusetts until after April 1. Some of the fertilizer is used on early crops by the 15th or 20th of April, and by May 1 considerable of the fertilizer is in the ground. Our collecting season being relatively short, an extra man was delegated to gather samples during that portion of the season when the fertilizer was found most plentiful. The samples were in all cases taken by an authorized agent from the ex- ])eriment station. Mr. James T. Howard, the assistant usually delegated to this work, assisted by Mr. C. W. Gaskill, covered the eastern portion of the State, while Mr. E. C. TTall looked after the collection in the Connecticut Yalley and the central portion of the State. Samples were taken from over 280 different agents, and over 110 different towns were visited. 50 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. The total number of samples collected was 1,042, represent- ing 458 distinct brands, — being 418 more samples than during the preceding year. Wherever possible an analysis has been made of a composite made up of equal weights of the same brand collected in various parts of the State. Samples have been taken with the usual care and discrimination, the collecting agents being instructed to sample at least 10 per cent, of the number of packages of each brand, and never less than five bags, without making a special note of the fact on the guarantee slip which is sent to the laboratory with each sample taken. (c) Fertilizers analyzed. The following analyses have been made in connection with the inspection of licensed fertilizers : — Comi>lete fertilizers, ........ 384 Ground bone, tankage and tisli, ..... 61 Materials furnishing' phosphoric acid, potash and lime, such as ashes, ........ 16 Nitrogen compounds, such as nitrate of soda, sulfate of ammonia, blood, castor i^omace, cottonseed meal and linseed meal, ........ 68 Potash compounds, ........ 34 Phosphoric acid compounds, ...... 17 In addition to the above, 33 samples of fertilizer have been analyzed that were not licensed but which were goods manu- factured for private use. These goods were sampled officially by our collecting agents from stock in the possession of the consumer. This makes a total of 613 analyses which have been made during the season of 1909. In some instances, where the results of analysis of a coui- ])osite sam])le showeij a l)rand to be seriously deficieut in plant food, a new sample has been prepared for analysis from each original sample taken, and separate analyses have been made. This was done to ascertain if the shortage was general, or con- fined to one or more lots of the same brand. Thirty-five such com])lete analyses were made during the season from 13 com- posite samples; 172 more analyses have been made than during the previous year. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 51 (d) Trade Yahies of Fertilizing Ingredients. Cents per Pound. 1908. Nitrogen: — In atumonia salts, ........... In nitrates, . . • • • ■ . • Organic nitrogen in dry and fine ground fish, meat, blood and in high- grade mixed fertilizer.^ Organic nitrogen in fine hone and tankage,' . . . . . Organic nitrogen in coarse bone and tanlcage,! . . . . . Phosphoric acid: — Soluble in water, ........... Soluble in ammonium citrate (reverted phosphoric acid), . In fine ground bone and tankage,' In coarse bone and tankage,' ........ In cottonseed meal, linseed meal, castor pomace and ashes. Insoluble (in neutral citrate of ammonia solution) in mixed fertilizers, Pot.ash: — As sulphate free from chlorides, ........ As carbonate, ............ As muriate (chloride), ........... 17^ 20J^ 15 5 4 3 4 2 5 8 414 The above schedule of trade values was adopted at a meeting of the station directors and chemists from the New England and N^ew Jersey experiment stations, which was held in March, 1009. They represent the average cash pound cost, at retail, of the three essential elements of plant food in their various forms, as furnished by chemicals and unmixed raw materials, in the large markets during the six months preceding ]\larch 1, 1909. The trade values for nitrogen and phosphoric acid are somewhat lower than for the previous year. The following table shows the average comparative commer- cial values, the retail cash prices and the percentages of diifer- ence of the licensed complete fertilizers analyzed in Massa- chusetts durine' the season of 1908 and 1909: — - Year. Commercial Values. Retail Cash Prices. Difference. Percentages of Difference. 1908, 1909 $25 81 22 19 $.36 20 34 62 $10 39 12 43 40 25 56.01 Tt must be rememl)ered that the " commercial values " repre- sent the retail price of the raw or unmixed materials, and that ' Fine and medium bone are separated by a sieve having circular openings one-fiftieth of an inch in diameter, the valuation of the bone being based upon the degree of fineness, 52 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. the manufacturer cannot sell mixed fertilizers at these figures. He must obtain an advance sufficient to cover costs of manufac- ture, bagging, agencies, credits, etc. The above differences do not represent his profits. These are much smaller, and are probably not excessive in the case of reliable firms. It is probable, however, that the cash buyer of high-grade unmixed goods can secure needed plant food in that form at a cost con- siderably lower than in licensed complete fertilizers, and that by intelligent selection he can procure materials from which can be made home mixtures at least equally effective with such fertilizers. (e) Summary of Analyses and Chiarantees. T3 — o S^ a < £ a »"5 Ha, Manufacturer. 'S'o ■r 01 'g IE S S " ? o o c3 ■o B a S a 3h^ f- rt t., S 3 0) B£^ S.23 S^^ ^< SO B 3WO 3WO 3H 3 Z Z z; ^ Z ■z z o W. H. Abbott 3 1 2 1 2 _ American Agricultural Chemical Company, 69 37 65 23 9 - Armour Fertilizer Works 10 4 6 4 2 - Baltimore Pulverizing Company 2 - 2 2 _ - Beach Soap Company 4 3 4 1 - - Berkshire Fertilizer Company 6 4 6 2 - - Bowker Fertilizer Company, 34 19 32 15 - - Joseph Breck & Son 3 1 3 2 - - Buffalo Fertilizer Company, 9 4 7 4 1 - Coe-Mortimer Company 9 3 6 4 2 - Eastern Chemical Company, .... 1 - 1 1 - Essex Fertilizer Company, 11 S 10 3 - - R. & J. Farquhar & Co., 5 2 5 3 - - Hubbard Fertilizer Company, . . . . 3 2 3 1 - - Jordan Marsli Company, 1 - - - 1 - Listers Agricultural Chemical Works, . 7 7 7 - - - James E. McGovern, 1 - - - 1 - Mapes Formula and Peruvian Guano Company, 17 11 17 5 1 - National Fertilizer Company, .... lli 6 12 6 - - Natural Guano Company, 1 - 1 - 1 - New England Fertilizer Company, 6 3 5 2 1 - Olds & Whipple 6 5 6 1 - - Parmenter & Polsey, 6 3 6 3 - - R. T. Prenti.ss, 3 - - 1 1 1 Pulverized Manure Company, .... 3 - - - 2 1 W. W. Rawson & Co., 2 1 1 - 1 - Rogers Manufacturing Company, 9 8 9 1 - - Rogers & Hubbard Company 8 5 8 3 - - Ross Brothers Company, 3 1 2 1 1 - N. Roy & Son, . . . 1 - i 1 - - Sanderson Fertilizer and Chemical Company, 7 1 5 e - - M. L. Shoemaker & Co., Ltd 2 1 2 1 - - Swift's Lowell Fertilizer Company, 18 in 15 5 3 - Whitman & Pratt Rendering Company, 5 3 5 2 - - Wilcox Fertilizer Works, 6 0 6 - - - A. H. Wood & Co 3 ~ ~ 2 1 ~ 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — N(3. 31, 53 The above table shows : — 1. That 290 diHtinet brands of eoni]ilete licensed fertilizers were collected and analyzed, 2. That l-'>8 bi'ands (4r».(> per cent, of the whole number analyzed) fell below the nianiH'acturer's guarantee; in one or more elements. 3. That IOC) brands were deficient in one element. 4. That 30 brands were deficient in two elements. 5. That 2 brands were deficient in all three elements. In this connection it might be added that 80 brands were found deficient in nitrogen, 63 in potash and 28 in phosphoric acid. 6. That 45 out of the 206 brands analyzed (over 15 ])er cent, of the total number) showed a commercial shortage. The term " connuercial shortage " means that the brands in question did not show the quantity and value of 'plant food guaranteed, although the excess of any element of plant food was figiired in full value to offset the deficiencies. 7. Tliat certain manufacturers are either extremely careless in mixing or else they do not allow a sufficient margin for variation in the composition of crude stock. In other words, they fry to have their goods run too close to the minininni guarantee. (/) Commercial Shortages. The following table has been prepared to show the commer- cial shortages in the mixed fertilizers for the season of 1909, also to furnish a comparison with the previous year : — Commercial Shortages. Number op Brands. COST. 1909. 1908. Over $4 per ton, Between S3 and $4 per ton, Between $2 and $3 per ton, ....... Between $1 and $2 per ton Under $1, not lesa than 25 cents, 4 2 5 14 35 3 1 7 Not given. The season of 1909 shows the largest number of deficiencies and commercial shortages which has probably ever occurred 54 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. in this State. The hirgest nnniber occnrring are below $1 per ton, and yet many of the deficiencies are very serious, running 1 per cent, or over below the niininium guarantee. In the table of shortages, in all cases where an excess of plant food has occurred the commercial value of the excess has been used to offset the commercial shortage resulting from a deficiency in some of the other elements. This practice is certainly ex- tremely fair to the manufacturer. We should not lose sight of the fact, however, that serious deficiencies or excesses change the essential character of a fertilizer. A prosecution in every case this year must, from necessity, have contained a certain element of unfairness, as some of the cases of the most serious deficiencies occurred where the licensee was not the manufac- turer, and was, therefore, not directly responsible for the compo- sition of the goods, which were manufactured by parties outside of the State. Therefore no prosecutions have been made for shortages. It seemed wise, after a careful review of the situa- tion, to take up the matter with each manufacturer separately, and endeavor to secure an adjustment that would be as favorable as possible to the consumer. It is obviously not possible, how- ever, to follow such a method year after year. All manufac- turers whose goods have fallen seriously below their guarantees have been advised, and all others are hereby informed, that snch, conditions cannot continue to exist, and that another sea- son it will be necessary to prosecute violators of the statute. (g) Grades of Fertilizer. The 323 brands of complete fertilizers may be divided into three groups : — Low-grade fertilizers, havino- a commercial value of $18 or less per ton, 83 Medium-grade fertiUzers, having a commercial value of between $18 and $24 per ton, 122 High-grade fertilizers, having a commercial vahie of over $24 per ton, 118 The following table has l)oen com]iiled for the purpose of makinc: a studv of the three grades of i>oods: — 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 65 T3 g m "S 1 4> Average Composition. i s "a CO g o 1 •- .2 8 Grade of Kebtilizeh. 2 a 32 $39 05 33 85 29 51 $11 42 13 16 14 19 41.33 03. CI 92.62 The above table shows : — 1. That the per cent, of nitrogen and potash is much higher in the high-grade goods than in the medium or low grade. 2. That with about a 32 per cent, advance in price over the low-grade fertilizers, the high-grade furnished more than 60 per cent, increase in available plant food. 3. With about 32 per cent, advance in price over the low- grade goods, the high-grade furnished over 80 per cent, increase in commercial value. 4. A ton of the average high-grade fertilizer furnishes about 43 pounds more of nitrogen, SVii pounds more of available phosphoric acid and 99 pounds more of actual potash than does a ton of the low-grade goods. 5. The average high-grade fertilizer costs 151/0 per cent, more than the medium-grade article: it furnishes about 22 per cent, more jdant food and has about 35.5 per cent, greater commercial value. 0. The medium-grade fertilizers cost about 15 per cent, more than the low-grade and furnish over 35 per cent, greater com- mercial value. 7. The percentage of difference between cost and valuation in low-grade goods is more than double that for high-grade fer- tilizers. 56 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Table showing the Pound Cost of Nitrogen, Potash and the Various Forms of Phosphoric Acid in the Three Grades of Fertilizer. Low-grade Fertilizer (Ceuts). Medium-grade Fertilizer (Ceuts). High-grade Fertilizer (Ceuts).. Nitrogeu, . rotasli (as muriate), Soluble phosphoric acid Reverted phosphoric acid Insoluble phosplioric acid, .... 3G.C0 0.03 7.71 6.74 3.85 31.08 8.18 6.54 5.73 3.27 20.85 7.07 5.65 4.95 2.83 The above table shows : — 1. That nitrogen has cost 9.75 cents more per pound, avail- able phosphoric acid about 2 cents more per pound and potash 2.56 cents more per pound in the average low-grade fertilizer than in the average high-grade goods. 2. That nitrogen has cost 4.23 cents, the available phos])horic acid over ^ of a cent and the potash 1.11 cents more per pound in the average mediiim-grade fertilizer than in the average high- grade goods. 3. That every conclusion which can be drawn from the above table emphasizes the fact that the farmer cannot ali'ord to i)nr- chase low-grade fertilizers. (Ji) Unmixed Fertilizers. Ground Bones. — Twenty-nine samples of ground bone have been analyzed during the inspection of 1909. Eleven of the brands have been found deficient in phosphoric acid and 8 in nitrogen; 8 brands had a commercial shortage ranging from a few cents to $2.95 per ton. The average retail cash price for bone has been $30.39 per ton, the average valuation $20.09 and the percentage diiference ]t).57. Tanlxoge. — Nine samples of tankage have been analyzed and show the usual variations in composition ; only 1, however, has shown a serious shortage in nitrogen, and 4 tested low in phosplioric acid. There were no commercial shortages. The average retail cash price was $30.18, the average valuation $2t).8() aiid the ix'rci'utagc diirereiice 1.07. The average cost 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 57 of nitrogen per pound in this material has been 17.1 cents in line tankage and 13 cents in coarse tankage. ])i!,(»9 cents. Basic Slag Phosjjhalc. — Six samples have been examined and the available phosphoric acid in all but 1 sample has run somewhat under the amount guaranteed. There has been a connuercial shortage in only one instance, however, as the de- iiciencj was made up bv an excess of insoluble phosphoric acid. The pound of available phosphoric acid (by Wagner's method) from slag has cost, on the average, 5.79 cents. (i) Afiscrlhuif'ous Fertilizers, Soils and By-producfs for Free Analijsis. As in the past, free analyses have been made for farmers and others interested in agriculture so far as our time and facili- ties would warrant. Work of this nature, however, has been done when it would not contiict with the official inspection of commercial fertilizers. Including the materials which have been tested for the various departments of the experiment station, 385 analyses have been made. They may be grouped as fol- lows: 292 fertilizers and by-])roducts nsed as fertilizers, G8 soils and 25 samples of miscellaneous materials. Information has been furnished each applicant at the time the results of analyses were reported as to the best method of using ferti- lizer materials, also as to their average commercial value. In- formation has also been furnished with soil analyses as to the best method of treating the soil, also as regards the fertiliza- tion of the same. Both the fertilizer materials and soil samples have been taken according to instructions furnished from this office, and are therefore in all cases representative samples. These analyses do not appear in our fertilizer bulletin. The fertilizer section has, as in past years, been active in co- operative work with the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, and also with the fertilizer branch of the American Chemical Society. 60 EXPERIMENT STATION. , [Jan. 6. Resume of Wokk of the Feed and Dairy Section. Mr. P. 11. Smith, in charge, submits the following report: — (a) The Feed Law. Dnring the past year 946 samples of feed stuffs offered for sale in the Massachusetts markets were collected by the official inspector. These have been examined, and the results are being brought together for publication in bulletin form. Practically no misrepresentation was detected, although in a nund)er of instances feed stuffs lacked the guarantee and other information required by the statute. Wherever dealers appeared to be particularly careless in this respect the matter was put into the hands of an attorney for settlement, but thus far in every case a satisfactory agreement has been made without resorting to the courts. In the future it is the intention to prosecute where dealers cannot be lirouglit by less drastic means to com- ply with the law. The requirements of the ^fassachusetts law are simple and explicit, and afford protection to the reputable dealer as well as to the consumer, therefore the continued evasion of the law by a few dealers is inexcusable and should not be tolerated. The extent to which the national pure food law aids in pre- venting adulteration and misrepresentation where feeds enter into interstate commerce is perhaps not known and appreciated as it should be. State officials and others in close touch with the work can see that its effects are far reaching and of great assistance to those engaged in local control work. Cottonseed meal, usually one of the cheapest sources of protein for the Massachusetts dairyman, has for the ])ast season been quite satisfactory in quality. The results thus far obtained for new meal indicate that, on account of the short cotton crop of the present season, conditions will be much the same as for the season of 1900-07. In spite of the excessively high price many dealers have sold short, and considerable slightly inferior meal is being offered. This may l)e accounted for in part by the poor quality of the seed, but it is felt, in some instances at least, that hulls and lintcrs are intentionally added. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 61 (1) Low-grade Bij-produds should he sold under their True Nauies. On aocoinit of our increasing popnlation and prevailing high prices, it is becoming more and more necessary to ntilize all by-products having any substantial food value in the feeding of our domestic animals. AVhile screenings, weed seeds, oat hulls, corn cobs, cottonseed hulls and other low-grade material may contain some nutriment, the foregoing statement should not be taken to indicate that a compounded feed containing one or more of these materials, together with some high-grade con- centrate, is just as valuable as the high-grade concentrate it- self. Where such a mixture is offered at its face value, and no misrepresentation attempted, it is certainly a legitimate article of trade, and should be so recognized. The writer firmly believes, however, that, in order that the consumer may purchase intelligently, the ingredients going to make up a compounded feed should be stated on each package, but no legislation absolutely prohibiting the sale of low-grade material should be enacted unless it can be shown that certain kinds of material are 2)oisonons or injurious to the animal. The molasses feeds, of which there is an increasing number, form an excellent outlet for certain kinds of low-grade mate- rial, — • especially screenings, — the molasses rendering them more palatable. Most of the manufacturers now grind the grain screenings before using them as a constituent of these feeds. There are various feeds now oti'ered wliich contain more or less ground alfalfa. It is believed that feeders cannot afford to pay grain prices for alfalfa hay, even when fine ground ; it is decidedly more economical to purchase the high-grade con- centrates unmixed, and to depend upon home-grown English hay, alfalfa, clover hay and corn silage as sources of roughage. (2) Froieln v. Carbohydrates. Many manufacturers claim that the experiment stations place too much emphasis upon the value of protein and too little emphasis upon the value of carbohydrates. This station has never questioned the value and necessity of liberal amounts of carbohydrates in the ration. The question is rather an 62 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. economic one, especiallj for the New England feeder, who, under onr climatic conditions, can easily raise a sufficient quan- tity of carbohydrates and must depend largely upon purcJiased protein to balance or refund out the ration, particularly in the feeding of dairy animals. (3) WeigJd of Feed Stuffs. Up to this time we have paid but little attention to the weight of feed stuffs. Data recently brought together show that while the feed law states cxplicitli/ that the net iveiglit of each pack- age should be stated, the practice has been, except in a few instances, to state gross weight as net. When feed stuffs sold for $15 a ton and less, the difference in value between net and gross weight of sacked feeds amounted to comparatively little, but at the present time the " value difference " is much greater. In a few instances what appear to be a deliberate at- tempt to give short weight was noted, and consumers should be on their guard against such decejition. (-^) Uniform Feed, Law. It was the writer's pleasure to attend, durin.g September, a conference between a committee of the American Feed Manu- facturers' Association and State control officials, held at Wash- ington, in the interests of a uniform feed stuffs law. The decision of the conference was that such a law should be as simple as possible, and that a buyer of any feed stuffs should be informed of the following points: — 1. The number of net jtouuds in the j^ackage. 2. Name, brand or trademark. 3. Name and principal address of the manufacturer or jobber responsible for placing the commodity on the market. 4. Its chemical analysis expressed in the following terms: (cf) minimum percentage of crude protein, (&) mininuun per- centage of crude fat, and (r) maximum percentage of crude fiber. 5. If a compound or mixed feed, the specific name of each ingredient therein. The Massachusetts law does not require a guarantee of fiber or a statement of ingredients in a compoundod feed, and it is 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. G3 felt that if the i)reseut law could be amended to contain these statements it would be materially strengthened. (/;) Tlie Dairy Law. The work required b,v this act is divided into three natural subdivisions: (1) the examination of candidates, (2) the test- ing of glassware, and (3) the inspection of machines. (i) Exainiuation of Candidates. During the past year 25 candidates have been examined for proficiency in Babcock testing. Of these, 14 were students at the ten weeks' winter course and 3 were students in the regular college course; the other 8 held positions in diiferent parts of the State. All candidates were at least fairly proficient and capable of doing good work. At the last session of the Legis- lature, section 4 of the dairy law (chapter 202 of the Acts of 1901) was so amended as to give the director of the experiment station i)ower to revoke the certificate of an operator providing it is found that he is not doing satisfactory work. Following is the section as amended : — Section 4.' No person shall, either by himself or in the employ of any other person, firm or corporation, manipulate the Babcock test or anjf other test, whether mechanical or chemical, for the ptu'pose of measurinji' the butter fat contained in milk or cream as a basis for determining' the value of such milk or cream, or of butter or cheese made from the same, without first obtaiiiint;' a certificate from the di- rector of the ]\lassacliusetts' agricultural experiment station that he or she is competent to perform such work. Rules governinji: applica- tions for such certificates and the granting of the same shall be estab- lished by the said director. The fee for issuing the said certificate shall in no case exceed two dollars, shall be paid by the applicant to the said director, and shall be used in meeting the expenses incurred under this act. If the duly authorized inspector finds an operator who, after receiving his certificate of competency, is not, in the judgment of the inspector, correctly manipulating the Babcock or other test used as a basis for determining the value of milk and cream, or who is using dirty, untested or otherwise unsatisfactory glassware, he shall immediately report the case in writing to the director of the station. The director shall at once notify said operator in wi'iting and give him 1 See chapter 425, Arts of 1909. 2 Massachuscttti substituted for Hatch. See chapter 66, Acts of 1907. 64 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. not less than thirty days to make the necessary improvements. At the expiration of that time the director may order a second inspection, the cost of which shall be borne by the operator or by the person, firm or corporation employing him, and if the required improvement has not been made, the director is empowered to notify in writing said operator, or the person, firm or corporation employing him, that his cei'tificate of competency is revoked. In ease of any subsequent violation the said director may revoke the certificate of competency without giving the notice aforesaid. (2) Testing Glassware. During the past year -^,071 pieces of glassware were examined, of which 4f8 pieces, or 1.06 per cent., were inaccurate. Follow- ing is a summary of the work for the nine years that the law has been in force : — Year. Number of Pieces tested. Number of rieces Condemned. Percentage Condemned. 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, Totals, 5,041 2,344 2,240 2,026 1,G65 2,4.57 3,082 2,713 4,071 291 56 57 200 l;)7 763 204 33 43 5.77 2.40 2.54 9.87 11.83 31.05 6.62 1.22 1.06 25,639 1,844 7.19« The passage of this law has prevented 1,844 pieces of in- accurately graduated glassware, representing 7.19 per cent., of the entire number tested, from coming into use. (3) Inspection of Bahcoch Machines. In 1 !)()!, at the time of the first annual inspectifni, there were in Massachusetts 40 creameries and milk depots using the Babcock test as a basis for fixing the value of milk and cream. Owing to the increasing demand for milk, many creameries have either suspended operations or have been bought up by > Average. 1910. PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 65 \\\v large Bosttui milk (M>iii|)aiiit's, sn that at the j)rcs('nt inspec- tion (November, lUOU) but 2U places were visited, of which 1(> Avere creameries, 11 milk depots, 1 city milk inspector and 1 chemical laboratoi-y. Ten of the creameries were co-operative and (i pruj)rietarv. The 11 milk de^xits were in every case proi)rietarv. Twenty-nine machines were inspected, of which '2 were condemned, but on second inspection a few weeks later they were found to have been put in good condition. Those in use are 11 Facile, 8 Agos, 6 Electrical, 3 AVizard and 1 Twentieth Century. The glassware, as a whole, was clean, and so far as noted was Massachusetts tested. It is believed, on account of worn bearings and carelessness in keeping them clean and well oiled, that an excess of steam is necessary in many cases to give the required speed. Care should be taken to see that steam machines do not overheat thfe tests, which should be read between 120° and 140° F. The creameries and milk depots which pay by the test are as follows : — Creameries. Location. Name. President or Manager. 1. Amherst Amherst, .... W. A. Pease, manager. 2. Aslifleld Ashfield Cooperative, . Wm. Hunter, manager. 3. Belchertown, . Belchertown Co-operative, . G. B. Jackson, manager. 4. Brim field Crystal Brook, F. N. Lawrence, proprietor. 5. Cheshire Greyloc.k Co-operative, Carl Williams, manager. G. Cumniington, . Cumniington Co-operative, . W. E. Partridge, manager. 7. Egremont, Egremont Co-operative, E. A. Tyrrell, manager. 8. EaBtliampton, . Hampton Co-operative, W. S. AVilcox, manager. 9. Heath Cold Spring F. E. Stetson, manager. 10. Hinsdale, .... Hinsdale Creamery Com W. O. Solomon, proprietor. 11. Monterey Berkshire Co-operative, F. A. Campljell, manager. 12. Xew Salem, Xew Salem Co-operative, W. A. Rloore, president. 13. North BrookfleM, . 14. Northfield, North Brookfleld, . Northfield Co-operative, H. A. Richardson, propri- etor. C C. Stearns, manager. 15. Shelburne, Shelbnrne Co-operative, Ira Barnard, manager. 16. Wyben Springs, Wyben Springs Co-opera- tive. C. H. Kelso, manager. 66 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan, Milk Depots. Location. Name. President or Manager. 1. Boston, D. W. Whiting & Sons, Geo. Whiting, manager. 2. Boston, II. P. Hood & Sons, W. N. Brown, manager. 3. Boston, Boston Dairy Company, W. A. Grausteln, president. 4. Boston, Wallier-Gordon Laboratory, M. B. Small, manager. 5. Boston, Oak Grove Farm, . Alden Brothers, jjroprietors. 6. Canibriflge, C. Brigham Company, J. II. Blair, manager. 7. Chesliire, . Ormsby Farms, W. E. Penniman, manager. 8. Dorchester, Elm Farm Milk Company, . J. II. Knapp, manager. 9. Sheflield, . Willow Brook Dairy, . G. W. Patterson, manager. 10. Soutliboro, Deerfoot Farm Dairy, . S. H. Howes, manager. 11. Springfield, Tait Brothers, Tait Brothers, proprietors. 12. Springfield, Emerson Laboratory, . II. C. Emerson, proprietor. 13. Springfield, Milk inspector. Stephen C. Downs. Attention is called to the article on the " Babcock Test," ])iiMislie(l in Circular No. '24: of this station, and to the article on " Keading the Babcock Test," printed elsewhere in this report. (c) Mill-, Cream and Feeds sent for Free Examination. The experiment station will analyze samples of milk, cream and feeds sent for examination in so far as the time and re- sources at its command permit, and in addition will furnish such information as is likely to prove of valne in interi)reting the results of such analysis. Under the dairy law the station has the right to charge the cost of the analyses of milk and cream ; charges, however, are not made unless the number of analyses required is considerable. Only in exceptional cases should material intended for free chemical examination be sent except by previous arrangement. Upon application full iiisl ructions for sam])liug and directions for shipping will be furnished, Avhich will often obviate the necessity of sending another sample in place of the one improperly taken. 1910.] rUBLTC DOCUxMENT — No. 31. 67 (' that of tlio oini, was caused l)_v squirrels, and some was due to a natural shedding of the twigs. Dothidella ulmi, a leaf-s})ot fungus occasionally found on elms, was unusually abundant rather early in the season, and this was also re- sponsible for nnieli loss of foliage. The Italian poplar was more severely affected with the rust (Mehnvpsora) than usual, and the twigs and leaves of the ash suffered from a similar fungus to au unusual extent. Horse- chestnut foliage was badly affected with a leaf spot (Phi/Uo- sticta), and a black spot {Rhytisma) more or less common every year on the white maple was unusually abundant. It was more common on the white maple than usual, and the leaves of the red maple were literally covered with it. Ivy (Aiiipelopsis) was affected with a leaf spot. Tn some localities quite a few maple trees were killed by sun scald, while others were scalded only on their southern exposure. Following this outbreak of sun scald, Nectria, a fungus of saprophytic habit, develo])ed freely. 11)10.1 iniBIJC DOCUMENT — No. :\l. 73 REPOIIT OF THE ENTOM()LO(JISTS. c. H. feknald; k. t. pkunald; j. n. summers. The work of the Jcpartnicnt of entomology during the year 1909 lias differed little from that of preceding years. Corre- spondence, as usual, has required much time, and many inquiries involve considerable investigation where some of the less fa- miliar insects are concerned. This' has been particularly true during the past season, the number of insects concerned having been larger than usual, though serious injury from their attacks has been rather conspicuously absent. Ex})eri mental work in some subjects has been continued from previous years, while in others it has been temporarily sus- pended. The construction of the new entomological building has necessitated giving up the use of the present greenhouse, as this was liable to removal to its new site at any time, and when this should occur any experiments under glass would necessarily come to an end. For this reason further tests of the resistance of muskmelons to fumigation have been discontinued for the present, but it should be possible to resume them another year. .Studies on the number and relative importance of the different broods of the codling moth have been continued, but the orchard in which these have been made thus far has now been taken for other uses, and has been so treated that it is no longer available for this purpose. Unless another orchard, under conditions suitable for the work, can be obtained, this line of investigation will, therefore, have to be dropped, although in order to reach satisfactory results it should be continued for at least four or five years more. Experiments on methods for the control of the cabbage maggot have been repeated again, but without satisfactory results, the maggots, though more abundant than during the two j^ears pre- 74 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. ceding, being still too scarce to give rcsnlts which could he con- sidered entirely trustworthy. Observation of the dates of app(\irance of the young of our common scales have been continued, adding the records of an- other year to those already in hand. This work will also need to be continued for a number of years in order to provide data of sufficient value for general use. The experiments for the control of the onion thrips have I^roceeded far enough to show that spraying the onions after this insect has appeared on them is, at best, only a partial remedy. One of the results of the work of this pest is to curl the leaves of the onion, and the insects at once gather on the inner side of the curled surface, so that many of them cannot bo reached by the spray, though those which are reached in this way are destroyed. A study of the life history of these insects shows that they pass the winter at the top of the ground in protected places, such as are furnished by dead grass around the onion fields, in rub- bish heaps and similar places ; and a few attempts to destroy them by burning over the grass and rubbish around the fields have been followed by a reduction in the abundance of the insect the next spring. This method of control has not as yet been tested long enough to prove that the result was actually due to the treatment rather than to merely natural causes, but, in any case, it seems to be the most promising way we have yet found to check this insect, and it should be repeated until its value has been fully determined. Perhaps the most important entomological event of the year at the station was the discovery of an egg parasite of the connnon asparagus beetle, which was found actively at work about the first of June. Observations on this insect, its habits and life history, have been published as Circular No. 23 of the station, and also in the " Joiirnal of Economic Entomology." The control of wire worms, attacking seed corn in the ground soon after it has been ])lanted, is important, as these pests, when abundant, often necessitate the re])laiiting of many acres. Experiments to prevent the attacks of this insect liave hcou carried on by Mr. Ival])li 11. Whitcond) of Andierst, and his ingenuity has discovered tliat when the corn, wIumi y)lanted, has been covered with tar as a repellant for crows, as is (piitc gener- 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. .SI. 75 allv (loiic in this locnlitv, mid llicii trcntcd with a iiiixini'c of ]*aris oreeii and diisl until a i;i-ccnish cohn- is peiv('])til)k', it will not he eaten hv wire worms. 'Jdiese experiments will he rejH'ated the eoniino- ycai-. Witliin the last Iwcntv years Massaehnsetts has heen invaded hy several injurious insects whieh naturally belong farther south. Among these may he mentioned the (dm-leaf beetle, San Jose seale, eommon asparagus beetle and the twelve-spotted asparagus beetle. How far noi-tli these ])ests can s])read and be injurious is as yet unknown, but it is certain that there are limits to this spread, and for at least some of those named it seems quite cei'tain that these limits nuiy prol)ably be found within this State. It is not a particular degree of latitude Avhich marks the barrier to their further s])read northwai-d, but rather climatic conditions, and the^e are modified by elevation. In other words, the limiting lines of distribution appear to be isothennal in their nature, though their exact character is as yet unsettled. It nuiy be the average winter temperature, the mini- mum winter temperature or some other factor which settles whether an insect shall be a pest at any given place near its northern limit. In any case, the determination of this cause, and the resulting conclusion that an insect will or will not become injurious at a given place, will be of much importance. As an example of this it may be stated that such evidence as is now available, though as yet too little to be conclusive, suggests the belief that in ]\Iassaehusetts the elm-leaf beetle will not be likely to be of much importance in those parts of the State which are more than a thousand feet above sea level, exce])t, ])erhaps, near the southern edge of the State, where the altitude is to some extent offset by the more southern latitude. To work out problems of this nature fuller meteorological data are needed, as well as more observations of the disti-ibution of the insects themselves, and studies of this kind have been in progress for several years, and will be continued. Parasitism as one of nature's methods for the control of in- jurious forms has long been recognized. It has been utilized in numerous cases by man, who has conveyed parasites from one country to another to attack their hosts, wdiicli have already l)een by accident thus transferred. P( rhaps the most gigantic exi)eri- 76 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. iiient of this kind is that now being conducted bj the Bnrean of Entomology of the United States Department of Agricnltnre and those in charge of the gypsy moth work in Massachusetts, in importing from the old world the parasitic and other enemies of the gypsy and brown-tail moths, in the hope that they may be- come established in this country and bring these pests under control. No one seems to know, however, how effective parasites really are ; conceding their importance, we have only the most general statements on the subject, and almost the only paper giving more than these is a short one by Dr. L. O. Howard, entitled " A Study of Insect Parasitism." It would seem most desirable to substitute statistics for guess- work on a subject so important as this, and therefore the scope of parasitism by the insects of a restricted group, the conditions favoring and checking it, and all the factors entering into the problem have been taken u]i for prolonged study, and it is hoped that tangible results may in time replace the vague generaliza- tions on this subject which, thus far, are all that have been available. Investigations on spraying have been continued since the last report, but with disappointing results. As was stated last year, the first step was to obtain pure spraying materials, and it was supposed that these were available, as reliable manufacturers offered them as such. To be certain, however, these were ana- lyzed, and the results showed that the materials were not as pure as was necessary for the purpose, making it necessary to make these materials at the station. This has held up the. work to some extent, for while considerable time was spent in applying the materials to various plants, and watching the results, the later discovery of the unreliability of the materials used has made valueless the experimental work done with them. New spraying materials made here must, therefore, be obtained to use in these experiments, in order to obtain the results needed as a basis for the study of the commercial materials which is to follow, and at present the work is at a standstill till these ma- terials can 1h' pr('])ar('(1. It is ('X])ect('d, however, that they will be availabh' I'oi- use diii-iiiii' the (•(luiiiii;- suniuier. 1<)1().1 rriiLId DOCUMENT — No. ;u. 77 THOMAS SLAG. A SHORT HISTORICAL REVIEW. BY J. B. LINDSEY. Thomas slag, or basic phospbatic slag, is a by-product in the modern method of steel manufacture from ores containing notice- able quantities of phosphorus. The process of removing the phosphorus from the ore was discovered by the English en- gineers Gilchrist and Thomas, and, briefly stated, consists in adding to the so-called converter containing the molten ore a definite quantity of freshly burnt lime, v^^hich, after a powerful reaction, is found to l)e united with the phosj)horus, and swims upon the surface of the molten steel in the form of a slag. CoMPOSITIOISr OF THE SlAG. The composition of the Thomas or Belgian slag varies accord- iug to the character of the ore and the success of the process for removing the impurities. The following figures show such vari- ations:^ ■ — ■ Per Cent. Phosphoric acid, ....... 11—23 Silicic acid, ........ 3—13 Calcium oxide (lime), . . . . . . 38—59 Ferrous and ferric oxides, ..... 6—25 Protoxide of manganese, 1^6 Ahimina, 2—3.7 Magnesia, 2-8 Sulphur, 2-1.4 More or less metallic iron is enclosed in the coarse slag which is generally thoroughly removed from the ground material by the magnet. ' Agricultur Chemic von Adolf Ma^vcr, 11 Band, 2tc Abtl., 6 AuHaKC pp. 138, 139. 78 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Manukial Value of Slag kecognized. The mannrial value of the slag was not recognized for a long time ; finally experiments revealed that a considerable portion of its i^hosphoric acid Avas soluble in dilute citric and carbonic acids, which led to successful lield experiments. The only prep- aration of the slag for fertilizing purposes, when its value was first recognized, consisted in having it finely gromid in espe- cially prepared mills, so that 75 per cent, would pass through a sieve with perforations of .17 millimeter diameter. This re- quirement was suggested by M. Fleischer, Avho used the slag with much success in imi)roving the condition of marsh and meadow lands. Methods for determining Availability and Adulter/Vtion. Previous to 1890, by means of pot experiments as well as by laboratory investigations, Wagner demonstrated that the phos- phoric acid in different slags of the same degree of fineness varied in its availability from 30 to 90 or more per cent., and, further, that many brands were adulterated with Belgian or other insoluble mineral j^hosphates. The previous method, therefore, of determiuing the value of a slag by the percentage of total phosjihoric acid jiresent and the degree of fineness, was of secondary imjxu'taiice. In order to detect adulteration with mineral phosphates, Wagner originally used a dilute solution of citrate of ammonia and free citric acids, -^ The phos])horic acid in all of the mineral phosphates was sparingly soluble in such a reagent, while an unadulterated high-grade slag gave up 80 to 90 parts of its phos- phoric acid. Further investigations on various soils with many l)rands of slag made it clear that the results obtained from pot ex- periments corresponded quite well with those secured by means of the citric acid solution. This may be illustrated as follows : — 1 Cheniiker Zcitung No. 63, 18U5; also Dungungsfraf,aMi Ileft J., p. 16, von P. Wjigner, 1896. 1910. PUBLK' DOCUMENT — No. ;!1 79 Brand of Slag. Pliosplioric Acid avail- able in Citric Acid Solution. Phosphoric Acid avail- able in Fot Experiments. Ee8Tilf.s similar to the above were secured by Maercker,^ who stated that "■ the results removed all doubt that the citrate solu- bility and plant experiments were so nearly proportioned that one had the same right to value the slag according to its content of ])hosphoric acid soluble in citrate solution as to value a super- phosphate by its content of water soluble phosphoric acid." As a result of these investigations, the union of German ex- periment stations, at its meeting at Kiel in September, 189G, adopted the method of determining the relative value of the slag according- to its phosphoric acid solubility in a 2 per cent, citric acid solution, and did away with the previous standard of total phosphoric acid and fineness. Wagner as well as Macrcker repeatedly called attention to the fact that experiments both in the laboratory and with plants gave positive evidence that those slags of lil'e phosphoric acid content Avhich were richest in silicic acid gave the best results. G. Hoyermann, working independently, came to similar con- clusions. At the present time, according to Wagner, practically all of the iron works treat the molten slag as it flows from the converter with hot quartz sand, with the result that the avail- > Landw. Preesc 1895, No. 82. 2 Method slijrhtly modifipfl from the original. Present method described in Konip's Untersuchung landwirtBcbaltlich und gcwerblich wichtigcr Stoffe. Dritte Auflage.pp.nS, 174. so EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. ability of the pliusphoric acid is improved from 10 to 30 per cent.-^ Chemical Combination of Piiospifokic Acid in Slag. The form in whieli the phosphoric acid exists in the slag has never been fully explained. It was formerly supposed that it was combined with lime as a tetra-calciiim phosphate, and that this latter comjwnnd, being less stable than tri-calcium phos- phate, under the influence of dilute acids became easily available to the plants by being decomposed into the calcium salt of the dissolving acid and bi-calcium phosphate. The tetra-lime phos- phate, however, has never been made artificially,- although it has been recognized by the aid of the microscope in the slag, and exists as a mineral under the name of isoklas. More recent investigations having shown, as already indicated, that those slags richest in silicic acid of like phosphoric acid content gave the best results, the conclusion followed that a part of the lime must be in the form of lime silicate. It is now generally held, especially by Wagner,^ that the phosphoric acid is combined in the slag as a double salt of tri-calcium phosphate and calcium silicate, and that in this form the roots are able to utilize it. It is also believed probable that some of the jdios- jthoric acid is more or less united with iron as a basic iron phosphate. The I^se of Pjiospuatic Slag. Basic slag has been shown to work especially well upon sour marsh and meadow lands, upon poi-ous, well-aired soils rich in humus, as well as upon sandy soils deficient in lime. Wh(>n a rapid development of the crop is not desired, the slag may l)e used exclusively in ])lace of acid phosphate. On the other hand, in cases when it is feared that the cro]) will not mature early enough, u|)on heavy, cold land and in high alti- tudes, where the season is short, acid phosphate should be given the preference. » Already ritd, p. 28; also, Anwendung Kiinstlicher Biingeniittcl, vierte Auflapc von Wagner, pp. 74, I'k 2 HilgcnRtock : .Talircfllicr. Clicni. Twlinologie, 1887, p. 2S2, after Adiilf iMayer, already cited. ' Wagner, already cited. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 81 The phosphoric acid in slag is comparable in its quickness of action to nitrogen in barnyard niannre, tankage and green crops; and the phosphoric acid in acid phosphate to the action of nitro- gen in nitrate of soda. A combination of slag and sulfate of potash (500 pounds slag and 150 pounds potash) has been found to work especially well upon grass land, and to be very favorable to the development of clover. Ql'Axtity of Slag pee Acre. If the soil is particularly deficient in phosphoric acid, one can use as high as from 800 to 900 pounds of slag to the acre, plowed in and supplemented with 200 pounds of acid phosphate in the hill or drill. If, on the contrary, the soil is naturally rich in phosphoric acid, or has been made so by large additions of slag for a series of years (1,000 or more pounds yearly), then it is necessary oidy to replace from year to year the amount removed by the crop. In such cases Maercker states that one part of phosphoric acid in basic slag is as valuable as an equal amount in acid phosphate. 82 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. EFFECT OF PORTO RICO MOLASSES ON DI- GESTIBILITY OF HAA^ AND OF HAY AND CONCENTRATES. BY J. B. LINDSEY AND P. H. SMITH. I. INTRODUCTION. In New England, cane molasses bronght in tank steamers from Porto Rico has been freely offered for a number of years at from 12 to 15 cents a gallon of 12 pounds in barrel lots. The material is dark in color but quite satisfactory in quality. It has been found to contain from 20 to 28 per cent, of water (average 24 per cent.), about 3 per cent, of protein (largely as amids), 6 to 7 per cent, of ash, and the balance of sugars and allied substances. The following analyses made at this station represent the composition of three different samples of Porto Rico molasses : — Water, Ash, „ •■„ r,_ ♦„!„ ( Albuminoids, Crude Protein, | Amids, . , Cane supar, I Invert suijar. Extract Matter, I invert sugii ( Undetermined, 1904. Sample. 1.24, 1.93 I 24.40 7.13 : 3.17 29.72 ) 2.')!(« J 65.30 10.55 ) 190.'>. Sample. .96 1.S6 2S.50 6.04 ' 2.82 36.26) 19.38 I 62.64 7.00) 100.00 1906. Sample. 24.98 5.57 2.19 37.86) 20.48 67.26 8.92 ) It may be remarked that two analyses of the ash have shown traces of phosphoric acid and 3.GG and 4.84 per cent, of potash, the latter being by far the most predominant ash constituent. Eeet molasses has been shown to contain rather more ash than cane molasses. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 83 It can be assuiHcd with safety that molasses, being soluble in water, is easily digested and assimilated when fed in reasonable amounts. If fed in excess it is likely to affect adversely the heart and kidneys, and to appear undigested in the urine. ^ It is a well-kno\\ai fact that the addition of starch, sugar and similar substances causes a distinct depression in the digesti- bility of the material with which they are fed.- Various reasons have been advanced to account for this depression, which has as yet not been definitely proved. In case of beet molasses, Kell- ner ^ has shown an average digestion depression of 9 per cent., and he states that the value of beet molasses for cattle and sheep consists in its 55 per cent, of digestible carbohydrates (1,100 pounds to the ton). Lehmann,* as a result of three digestion experiments (nine single trials) with sheep, obtained an average digestion depres- sion of 11 per cent., which he deducts from the 71 per cent, of total organic matter in beet molasses, thus securing 60 per cent., or 1,200 pounds, of digestible organic matter to the ton. Grandeau and Aleken. have shown that molasses when fed to horses also causes a noticeable digestion depression. Alquier and Drouineau, in reviewing the work of both French and German investigators, state that in case of horses the addition of 3 iDounds of molasses per 1,000 pounds live weight caused a depression of 4.5 per cent., while with ruminants the feeding of 4 pounds of molasses per 1,000 pounds live weight produced an average de- pression of only 3 per cent, in the digestibility of the foods with which it was fed.^ Patterson ® reported, in case of two steers, when molasses con- stituted some 12 per cent, of the total dry matter of the ration, an improvement of 24 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay. Molasses fed to four steers in combination with hay and gTain, and comprising 14 per cent, of the total dry matter of the ration, improved the condition of the hay and grain ration 14.5 per cent, (coefficients of digestibility of the dry matter of the hay 1 Kellncr, Arbeiten der D. Landw. Ges. 152 Heft., 1909, p. 16. 2 Kellner, Die Ernahrnng Landw. Xutzthiere, fiinfte Auflage 1909, pp. .lO, .'51. Numerous references are cited by Kellner. 3 Landw. Verssuehs. 53 P.d., pp. 220 and 233, 234, .304 and .342, 343; 55 Bd., p. 3S4. * Landw. .Jahrlnicher, Vol. XXV., Ergiinzungsband IT., 1896. 5 Ann. .Sci. Agron., 2 s^rie, 1904, Tome 1, pp. 249-2.')4. 6 Molasses Feeds, Bulletin 117, Maryland Experiment Station. 84 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. and grain without molasses, 55.1 per cent. ; with molasses, 63.1 per cent.). Patterson's results are quite the opposite of all previous work along this line. II. EXPERIMENTS AT THE MASSACHUSETTS EXPERIMENT STATION. Experiments relative to the effect of Porto Rico molasses on digestibility have been in progress at intervals at this station since 1905. Different amounts of molasses have been added to a basal ration of hay, of hay and corn meal, and particularly of hay and gluten feed, llie experiments made during the winter of 1905 and 1906 have been published in detail.^ The numerous other experiments are here reported for the first time. Sheep were employed in all cases ; in Series XL and XII. grade Southdown wethers were used, and in Series XIII. and XIV. one and two year old Shropshires were employed. The hay was cut in 2-inch lengths before being fed, and was largely Kentucky blue grass, with an admixture of some clover and sweet vernal grass. The gluten feed represented the dried residue of Indian corn (Zea mais) in the manufacture of corn- starch, and consisted of the hulls and glutinous part of the corn, together with that portion of the starch and broken germs which could be removed by mechanical means. It was free from any indication of decomposition. The corn meal consisted of the ground corn kernels. The sheep were fed twice daily, — about 7 o'clock in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. The molasses was mixed with about its weight of water and sprinkled over the hay, or was mixed with the grain and eaten without the addition of water. The food was given in galvanized-iron pans which fitted closely into the wooden stalls in which the sheep were confined.^ Particles of cut hay that were thrown out of the box were care- fully brushed up and returned. Any waste remaining at the end of the period was preserved and analyzed. Water in gal- vanized-iron boxes was always before the sheep. The faeces were collected twice daily, preserved in wide-mouth glass- 1 Nineteenth report of the Hatch Experiment Station, pp. 126-149. 2 Illustratcil in eleventh report of the Massachusetts State Experiment Station, 1S93, p. 148. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 85 stoppered bottles and taken to the laboratory every twenty-four hours. The daily sample was poured upon a newspaper, well mixed and an aliquot part (usually Vio) weighed into a crystal- lization dish and dried at 00° C. After this drying was com- pleted the samples were allowed to stand at ordinary temperature for a number of days, and were reweighed, mixed, ground, placed in glass-stoppered bottles and eventually analyzed. Nitrogen was determined in the dry sample but not in the fresh fseces, as is frequently done at the present time. The entire period lasted fourteen days, seven of which were preliminary, the faeces being collected during the last seven. The sheep were kept in roomy stalls during the first three days, and then harnessed and placed in the digestion stalls for the last eleven days of the trial. The results of the different experiments are first presented, together with a discussion of the same. The full data follows the discussion. A. Hay and Molasses. Summary of EesuUs. Series XII., Period III. [800 grams hay, 100 grams molasses and 10 grams of salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Old Sheep II., Old Sheep III., 69.05 100.99 87.26 101.58 From the above coefficients it would appear that Sheep II. digested only 69 per cent, of the total dry matter of the molasses, while Sheep III. digested the entire amount fed. It can, how- ever, be safely assumed that molasses, being quite soluble in water, is easily digested and entirely resorbed in the digestion tract. Only minute traces of reducing substances have been recognized in the fteces. 86 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. (&) Depression noted (Grams). Old Sheep II. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 800 grams liay when fed alone, Digested of 800 grams hay plus 100 grams molasses, Minus 100 grams molasses fed, assumed to be all digested, Remains for 800 grams hay digested when fed with molasses, Difference or depression, .... 476.72 527.44 73.45 453.99 -22.73 23.31 23.17 5.35 17.82 —5.49 53.52 51.88 2.79 49.09 —4.43 179.27 177.82 177.82 —1.45 208.31 265.30 65.31 199.99 —8.32 10.67 9.27 9.27 -1.40 Old Sheep III. Digested of 800 grams hay when fed alone. Digested of 800 grams hay plus 100 grams molasses Minus 100 grams molasses fed, assumed to be all digested Remains for 80O grams hay digested whcu fed with molasses, . ' . Diflference or depression 476.72 23.31 53.52 179.27 208.31 550.90 25.52 55.76 184.40 274.65 73.45 5.35 2.79 - 65.31 477.45 20.17 52.97 184.40 209.34 + .73 -2.14 — . 55 +5.13 +1.03 10.67 10.56 10.56 — .11 'When the hay was fed hy itself the nutritive ratio of the digestible ingredients was 1 : 7.7, and when fed with molasses, 1:9; molasses constituted 9.5 per cent, of the dry matter of the hay-molasses ration. In case of Sheep II. the 100 grains of molasses created a very marked depression in the digestibility of the several ingredients of the hay, namely, 21.09 (22.73) grams of dry matter, equal to 4.7 per cent. In case of Sheep III. there appears to have been a very slight gain in the digestibility of the hay. Series XIII., Period I. [600 grams hay, 100 grams Porfo Rico molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Sheep I, Sheep II, 99.77 96.34 48.08 47.. 36 52.40 23.65 102.01 100.66 Average 98.06 47.70 38.03 101.34 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 87 (6) Depression noted (Grams). Sheep I. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 000 grains liay when fed alone, 3o4.34 18.07 40.41 110.27 178.99 G.54 Digested of (!00 grams hay plus 100 grams molasses 427.10 20.89 42.16 113.00 243.99 7.05 ISIiuus 100 grams molasses, all digested, 72.93 5.87 3.34 - 63.72 - Remains for 600 grams hay digested when fed with molasses, 354.17 15.02 38.82 113.00 180.27 7.05 Difference — .17 —3.05 —1.59 +2.73 +1.28 +.51 Sheep II. Digested of 600 grams hay when fed alone, 354.54 18.07 40.41 110.27 178.99 6.54 Digested of 600 grams hay plus 100 grams molasses, 424.60, 20.85 41.20 112.62 243.13 6.79 Minus 100 grams molasses, all digested. 72.93 5.87 3.34 - 63.72 - Remains for 600 grams hay digested when fed with molasses, 351.76 14.98 37.86 112.62 179.41 6.79 Difference, -2.67 —3.09 -2.55 +2.35 +.42 +.25 The nutritive ratio of the hay when fed by itself was 1: 7.5, and of the molasses-hay ration, 1 : 8.6 ; the dry matter of the molasses constituted some 12 per cent, of the dry matter of the hay-molasses ration. A slight depression only is noted, being rather more pronounced in case of Sheep 11. The depression falls upon the ash and protein. An apparent slight improvement in digestibility is noted in case of the fiber and extract matter. Sheep I. gained 3 pounds in live weight, and Sheep 11. main- tained equilibrium. Series XI., Period III.^ [800 grams hay, 150 grams molasses and 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Paige Sheep IV., .... Paige Sheep V 107.09 90.93 92.16 80.02 40.43 10.17 102.76 95.80 1 Already published in nineteenth report of this station, p. 145. The coefficients indicate that in one case the molasses de- pressed the digestibility of the hay and in one case it actually iini)r()ved it. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. (b) Depression noted {Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Tiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Paige Sheep IV Paige Sheep V., . . . +7.60 -9.73 —.71 -1.81 -2.52 —3.80 +8.03 — .04 +2.60 —3.95 +.42 + .19 The nutritive ratio of the hay ration was as 1 : 9.9, and of the haj-molasses ration, 1 : 10.7 ; molasses constituted 13.2 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. In this case the results are contradictory, in one case increasing and in the other depressing the digestibility of the hay. Each sheep lost 2 pounds in weight during the seven days. Series XIII., Period III. [600 grams hay, 200 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Sheep I, . Sheep II, 88.96 74.67 59.34 52.41 21.67 94.76 89.72 (h) Depression noted {Grams). Sheep I. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein, Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 600 grams liay when fed alone, Digested of GOO grama hay plus 200 grams molasses Minns 200 grams molasses, assumed to be all digested, Remains for 600 grams hay digested when led witli molasses Difference or depression 357.06 486.81 145.86 340.95 -16.11 18.22 25.24 11.83 13.41 -4.81 40.72 42.20 6.S6 35.34 -5.38 111.13 111.76 111.76 +.63 180.37 300.89 127.18 173.71 —6.66 6.60 6.75 6.75 + .15 Sheep II. Digested of 600 grams bay when fed alone, 357.06 18.22 40.72 111.13 180.37 6.60 Digested of 600 grams hay plus 200 grams molasses 465.99 24.42 40.71 100.14 294.48 6.25 Minus 200 grams molasses, assumed to be all digested, 145.86 11.83 6.86 - 127.18 - llemalns for 600 grams hay digested when fed with molasses, 320.13 12.59 33.85 100.14 167.30 .25 Difference or depression, .... -36.96 -5.63 -6.87 —10.99 -13.07 -.35 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31, 89 Tlu> nutritive ratio of the, liay when fed alone was 1:7.5, and of the liav-molasses ration, 1: 10.1; molasses constituted 21.4 per eent. of the drv matter of the hay rati(»n. The digestion depression is very noticeable, especially with Sheep 11. The average depression for both sheep was 13.50 grams of dry matter and 10.G3 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses. The total average depression was equivalent to 18.2 l)er eent. of the dry matter of the molasses consumed. The feeding of 200 grams of molasses caused an average loss of 7.4 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay. N^o particular change was noted in the live weight of either animal. Series XI., Period IV.' [8(»0 grams hay, 250 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Paige Sheep IV Paige Sheep V., .... 91.89 88. -21 47.38 57.. 54 - 95.35 95.30 (&) Depression noted {Grams). Average, Sheep, IV. and V. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 800 grams hay when fed alone. 404.56 23.19 32.51 132.44 208.07 8.03 Digested of 800 grams hay plus 250 grams molasses, 566.92 31.20 32.04 136.99 358.65 8.06 Minus 250 grams molasses, all digested, 180.30 15.24 7.10 - 157.96 - Remains for 800 grams hay digested when fed with molasses 386.62 15.96 24.94 136.99 200.69 8.06 Difference or depression, .... -17.94 —7.23 —7.57 +4.55 —7.38 + .03 The nutritive ratio of the hay-molasses ration was 1:11.2, and molasses constituted 20.6 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. The results show that 17.94 (17.60) grams less hay were digested when 250 grams of molasses were fed than when the hay was fed by itself ; or 100 grams of molasses caused 1 Already reported, loco citato, pp. 146, 147. 90 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. a depression in the hay of 7.2 (7.02) grams of dry matter and 4.1 grams of organic matter. The depression was eqnivalent to 9.9 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses fed. The total molasses likewise cansed a loss of 4.4 per cent, in the digesti- bility of the dry matter of the hay. General Summary. In the table below the results of the several experiments with hay and molasses are brought together for comparison. The results of one experiment by Kellner are also stated. RATION. Nutri- tive Ratio. Per Cent. Molasses in Dry Matter of Ration. Depression per 100 Grams FRBsh Molasses fed. Depression equals Per Cent. of Molasses fed (Dry Matter) . Percentage Loss in Digestibil- ity of Hay. Gain or Loss in Dry Matter (Grams). Organic Matter (Grams). Live Weight (Pounds) 800 grams hay, . 100 grams molasses, . fiOO grams hay, . 100 grams molasses, . COO grams liay, . 150 grams molasses, . 600 gi-aras hay, . 200 grams molasses, . 800 grams hay, . 250 grams molasses, . 800 grams hay ,2 . 100 grams molasses, . 1:9.0 1:8.6 1:10.7 1:10.1 1:11.2 1: nt. in the digestibility of the hay-gluten-feed ration. Both sheep were in good condition during the experiment; Sheep IV. showed an apparent gain of 4 pounds and Sheep V. a loss of 3.5 pounds. Such variations would hardly be exjDccted. Series XIV., Period IX. [500 gi'ams hay, 150 grams gluten feed, 150 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] («) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Sheep IV., 56.63 30.24 - 76.86 (&) Depression noted (Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 500 grams hay and 150 grams gluten feed when fed without molasses, . 423.47 16.91 49.53 107.16 241.60 9.90 Digested of hay and gluten feed plus 150 grams molasses, 487.01 19.75 44.90 97.32 315.49 9.55 Minus 150 grams molasses, all digested, 112.20 9.39 6.68 - 96.13 - Remains for hay and gluten feed digested when fed with molasses 374.81 10.36 38.22 97.32 219.36 9.55 Difference or depression —48.66 -6.55 —11.31 -9.84 -22.24 —.35 The nutritive ratio of the hay-gluten-feed ration was as 1 : 7.5, and of the hay-gluten-feed-molasses ration, 1 : 9.7 ; molasses com- posed 16 jDer cent, of the dry matter of the ration. The depres- sion noted was 33.52 grains of dry matter and 29.16 grains of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses fed, and is likewise equivalent to practically 45 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses consumed. The feeding of 150 grams of molasses caused a loss of 11.9 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay- gluten-feed ration. This sheep made a gain of 5 pounds in one week according to our weights. 98 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Series XIV., Period IV. [500 grams hay, 150 grams gluten feed, 200 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Sheep III , Sheep IV., 77.. 58 74.18 47.22 48.27 24.19 1.05 88.30 86.21 (h) Depression noted (Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Sheep III Sheep IV -33.41 -38.47 —6.55 —6.42 —6.52 —8.51 —6.46 —6.00 —14.98 —18.93 — 18 — .04 (c) Average, Sheej) III. and IV . [Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 500 grams hay and 150 grams gluten feed wlien fed without molasses, . Digested of hay and gluten feed plus 200 grams molasses Minus 200 grams molasses, all digested. Remains for hay and gluten feed digested when fed with molasses, . . . Difference or depression 408.00 521.08 149.02 372.06 —35.94 16.23 22.16 12.41 9.75 —6.48 48.55 49.64 8.60 41.04 —7.51 103.02 96.79 96.72 —6.23 231.48 342.53 128.01 214.52 -16.96 10.13 9.97 9.97 —.16 The ratio of the haj-gluten-feed-molasses ration was as 1 : 9.3, against 1 : 7.4 in case of the hay-glnten-fced ration, and 20.4 per cent, of the dry matter of the entire ration consisted of molasses. The depression was 18.6? (17.97) grams of dry matter and 15.43 (14.73) grains of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses, which was cqnal to 25 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses fed. The feeding of 200 grams of molasses caused a loss or depression of 7.60 per cent, in the digestibility of the 650 grams of hay-glnten-feed ration. Shcop III. lost 2 poniids and Sheep lY. 3.5 pounds in live weight during the trial. 1910. PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 99 Series XIL, Period VIT. [GOO grams Englisli hay, 200 grams gluten feud, 200 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Paige Sheep IV Paige Sheep V., . 76.78 73.71 76.59 81.06 - 85.72 84.21 (M Depression noted {Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Sheep IV, Sheep v., —34.18 -38.70 —2.51 —2.03 —7.66 ' —6.70 -6.19 —10.55 -18.70 —20.67 +.94 +1.30 [c) Average, Sheep IV. and V. (Grams). Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Fat. Digested of 600 grams hay and 200 grams gluten feed when fed without molasses, . 517.35 15.43 82.53 145.51 262.94 10.91 Digested of hay and gluten feed plus 200 grams molasses 628.13 23.88 80.94 137.14 374.17 12.03 Minus 200 grams molasses, all digested, 147.22 10.72 5.59 - 130.91 - Remains for hay and gluten feed when fed with molasses, 480.91 13.16 75.35 137.14 243.26 12.03 Difference or depression, .... —36.44 —2.27 -7.18 -8.37 —19.68 +1.12 The nutritive ratio of the hay and gluten-feed ration was 1 : 5.2, and with the addition of 200 grams molasses, 1 : 6.7 ; mo- lasses composed 17.2 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ra- tion. The depression observed was 18.2 grams of dry matter and 17.05 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses fed, and is equivalent to 25 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses fed. The feeding of 200 grams of molasses caused a loss of 7 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay-glutcn-feed ration. Both sheep lost in weight during the experiment. Sheep IV. losing 4 pounds and Sheep V. 5 pounds. This is not what would be expected from animals receiving more than a maintenance 100 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. ration. Sheep IV. iiassed throiigli the experiment in good con- dition. Sheep V. began to show signs of indigestion shortly after the beginning of the period proper, and the disturbance became so pronounced that the experiment was discontinued at the end of the sixth day. The results show that he digested a little less than Sheep lY. This and the trial immediately preceding show similar re- sults ; namely, an equal depression and a loss in weight, in spite of the fact that the several animals were receiving more than a maintenance ration. Series XI., Period VIII. [GOO grcanis hay, 200 grams gluten feed, 250 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for 'Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Extract Matter. Paige Sheep IV. Paige Sheep V. 76.50 72.53 64.12 65.25 86.93 84.80 Average, 74.53 64.59 85.87 (b) Depression noted {Groans). Dry Matter. Ash. Protein. Extract Matter. Digested of hay and gluten feed when fed without molasses Digested of hay and gluten feed plus molasses, Minus 2.50 grams molasses fed, assumed to be all digested Hay and gluten feed digested when fed with molasses 524.97 660.31 181.68 Diflference or depression. 478.63 -46.34 18.75 29.58 16.75 12. H3 -5.92 81.88 79.47 7.16 72.31 —9.57 148.40 1.39.96 139.96 —8.44 264.22 399.66 157.77 241.89 -22.33 11.74 11.61 11.61 — 13 The nutritive ratio of the hay-gluten-fecd ration was 1 : 5.3, and of the hay-gluten-feed-molasses ration, 1 : 7.1 ; molasses con- stituted 20.2 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. The average depression for both sheep was 18.5 grams of dry matter and 16.1 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses, and equals 25.5 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses fed. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 101 The foodiiig of 250 grams of molasses caused a loss of 8.8 per cent, ill the digestibility of the haj-gluten-fecd ration. Each sheep lost 3 pounds in live weight during the seven days. Series XII., Period XI. [GOO grams English hay, 200 grams gluten feed, 250 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Yoiiug Sheep 11 70.10 39.63 - 82.92 {h) Depression noted (Grams). Dry Matter.' Protem. Extract Matter. Digested of 600 grams English hay and 200 grams gluten feed when fed without luo lasses, Digested of hay and gluten feed plus 250 grams molasses, Minus 250 grams molasses, all digested. Remains for hay and gluten feed digested when fed witli molasses, . Difference or depression, 628.12 185.45 442.67 —55.45 15.47 20.82 13.50 7.32 —8.15 71.91 7.05 64.86 —9.43 1.39.31 131.24 131.24 —8.07 393., 59 164.90 228.69 —28.17 11.84 10.56 10.56 —1.28 The ratio of the hay-gluten- feed-molasses ration was as 1 : 7.G, and of the hay-gluten-feed ration 1:5.7; molasses constituted 20.4 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. The depres- sion observed was 22 (22.2) grams of dry matter and 18.8 (19) grams of organic matter for each 100 grams of molasses fed, and was equivalent to about 30 j)er cent, of the dry matter of the molasses. The feeding of 250 grams of molasses caused a loss of 11,1 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay and gluten feed. The sheep passed through the trial in good condition, and neither gained nor lost in live weight. Series XII., Period X, [600 grams English hay, 200 grams gluten feed, 300 grams molasses, 10 grams salt.] (a) Coefficients for Molasses. Dry Matter. Ash. Crude Protein. Extract Matter. Paige Sheep IV., .... 87.09 74.25 - 92.60 102 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. (b) Depression noted {Grams). Dry Matter. Crude Protein. Fiber. Extract Matter. Digested of 600 grams English bay and 200 grains gluten feed wlieu fed without mo- lasses Digested of hay and gluten feed plus 300 grams molasses Minus 300 grams molasses, all digested, Remains for hay and gluten feed digested when fed with molasses, . Difference or depression, 523.59 715.92 220.83 495.09 —28.50 15.63 27.57 16.08 11.49 -4.14 83.44 82.21 8.39 73.82 —9.62 147.41 146.52 146.52 -.89 447.82 196.36 251.46 -14.54 11.04 11.80 11.80 +.76 The nutritive ratio of the hay-gluten-feecl ration was as 1 : 5.2, and of the haj-gluten-feed-molasses ration, 1 : 7.6 ; molasses con- stituted some 23.5 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. The depression was 9.48 grams of dry matter and 8.1 grams of organic matter for each 100 grams of molasses fed, and was equivalent to 13 per cent, of the dry matter of the molasses. The feeding of 300 grains of molasses caused a loss of 5.4 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay-giuten-feed ration. The sheep kept in good condition during the experiment, but showed an apparent loss in live weight of 8 pounds. This is believed to be an error, although in a general way it confirms the results of previous trials, which indicate that when molasses constitutes more than 15 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration a loss of live weight results, although more than a maintenance ration is being fed. Genehal Summaky. Effect of Molasses upon Dujcstihillty of Hay and Gluten Feed. In the following table an attempt has been made to summarize the principal results of feeding different amounts of molasses upon the digestibility of a ration composed of hay and gluten feed. The results obtained by Lehniann^ and by Garland- are also appended. » Loco citato. 2 l?crichte des landw. Institutes der Univ. llulle, XV. Heft, pp. 23-25. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 103 Our Oicn Results. RATION. 500 grams hay, . 150 grams gluten, 50 grams molasses, 500 grams hay, . 150 grams gluten, 100 grams molasses, 600 grams hay, . 200 grams gluten, 100 grams molasses, 500 grams hay, . 150 grams gluten, 150 grams molasses, 500 grams hay, . 150 grams gluten, 200 grams molasses, 600 grams hay, . 200 grams gluten, 200 grams molasses, 600 grams hay, . 200 grains gluten, 250 grams molasses, 600 grams hay, . 200 grams gluten, 250 grams molasses, 600 grams hay, . 200 grams gluten, 300 grams molasses. 1:8.6 1:9.7 1:9.3 1:6.7 1:7.1 1:7.6 <5 « a* (2 6.0 11.3 9.4 10.0 17.2 20.4 23.5 Depression per 100 Gr.-vms B Molasses fed. gab Q a >> — a Si? Dry Matter (Grams). ?l ■fig as o 59.72 52.18 76.0 6.9 35.56 31.07 47.0 8.3 36.32 34.42 50.0 7.0 33.50 29.16 45.0 11.9 18.67 15.43 25.0 7.6 18.20 17.05 25.0 7.0 18.56 16.1 25.5 8.8 22.0 18.8 30.0 11.1 9.5 8.1 13.0 5.4 [—1.00 I —.50 / —.50 1+2.00 r+4.00 L— 3.50 +5.00 f — 2.00 1—3.50 —4.00 —5.00 r— 3.00 1—3.00 .00 Lehmann's Results. 500 grams hay, . . .1 300 grams cottonseed meal, \ 200 grams molasses, . . J 500 grams hay, . . . ] 300 grams palm-nut cake, . } 300 grams molasses, . . J 500 grams hay, . . .1 300 grams cottonseed meal, 't 400 grams molasses, . . J 1:3.3 18.01 19.75 22.2 28.5' - 8.2 1:9.5 24.01 8.8 11.6 15.0' 6.1 1:4.4 32.01 7.0 7.4 9.51 6.0 Garland's Results. 476 grams hay and grain, 68 grams molasses, . 1:5.7 11.0 16.7 3.8 1 Estimated, assuming that the molasses contained 78 per cent, of dry matter, the hay 88 per' cent, and the concentrates 92 per cent. 104 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. The nutritive ratio of the two hay and gluten-feed rations with which the molasses was fed varied from 1: 5.5 to 1: 7.5, hence the nutrients may be considered satisfactorily propor- tioned. After the addition of the molasses the rations were widened from 1:6 to 1 : 9.7; most of them could not be consid- ered unduly wide. In two of the three experiments reported by Lehmann the rations were quite narrow, due to the presence of so much cottonseed meal. So far as one is able to judge, the width of the ration did not bear any direct relation to the depression observed. In all of the experiments reported mo- lasses constituted from 6 per cent, to approximately 32 per cent. of the dry matter of the total ration. It is noted that when molasses made up from 9 to IG per cent, of the dry matter of the ration, the depression averaged 32.1 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of fresh molasses; when molasses composed about 20 per cent, of the dry matter of the ration, in case of eight single trials, it averaged approxi- mately 15.5 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses. The average of all of our experiments, excepting the first, show a depression of 21.8 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of fresh molasses. Lehmann's experiments show that when beet molasses composed 18 per cent, of the dry matter of the ration, the depression was 22.2 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses. This depression decreased to 7.4 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses when molasses composed some 30 per cent, of the dry matter of the ration. Results of a similar character are secured when one calculates the depression on the basis of the percentage of the dry matter of the molasses fed. When it composed 9 to IG per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration, the depression or loss was equiva- lent to nearly 50 per cent, of the amount fed. When, however, 20 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration consisted of molasses, the depression equaled only 24 per cent. In case of Lehmann's results, the depression decreased from 28.5 to 9.5 ])eY cent. The percentage loss in digestibility of the feeds with which the molasses was fed proved to be reasonably constant. The average percentage loss in case of twelve experiments, including nine of our own and three of Lehmann's, was 7.86. In most 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 105 cases the variations do not depart widely from this average. The smaller amounts of molasses in most cases caused practically as much absolute depression as the larger amounts. The amount of hay and gluten-feed fed to the different sheep was probably a little less than a maintenance ration ; this was intended in order that, when from 100 to 300 grams of molasses were added, the total amount would not be more than the animal could consume. With molasses composing G to 11.3 per cent, of the dry matter of the ration, one notes, on the whole, comparatively little change in the live weight, but when this was increased to some 20 per cent., the live weight of each sheep shows a pronounced decrease in almost e\'ery case, although the total ration was certainly in excess of maintenance requirements.. The reason for this loss in weight cannot be explained. Occasional qualitative tests for sugar in the fteces were made with negative results. The urine was not collected, but it is believed that sugar would not have thus escaped unassimilated. The loss of digestible material through depression hardly seems sufficient to account for it. A possible explanation lies in the fact that each sheep was given 2,500 grams of water daily, usually considered a liberal allow- ance. In most of the cases showing a loss in weight the sheep drank the entire amount', but the attendant, contrary to instruc- tions, failed to supply more. It may be that the molasses in- duced an increased thirst, and required more water for its complete metabolism than was supplied, and the intake of water being relatively less than the outgo caused a temporary loss of Aveight. In one case, however, where the 2,500 grams of water were entirely consumed, the sheep neither gained nor lost in weight. It is to be regretted, however, that this oversight occurred. General Conclusions. (a) Hay and Molasses. 1. Our own experiments indicate that molasses had relatively little effect in depressing the digestibility of the hay when the amount fed did not exceed 10 to 13 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration. 106 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 2. When molasses composed 20 per cent, of the dry matter of the total ration, the dejDression averaged 7.37 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of fresh molasses, and the molasses caused substantially a loss of 6 per cent, in the digestibility of the hay. (&) Hay, Corn Meal and Molasses. 3. In case of two single trials the depression was from 9.5 to 17 grams of organic matter per 100 grams of molasses. (c) Hay^ Gluteal Feed and Molasses. 4. When relatively small amounts of molasses were fed the depression was higher per 100 grams of molasses than when relatively large amounts were fed. 5. When relatively small amounts of molasses were fed the loss expressed in dry matter as percentage of molasses fed was higher than when relatively large amounts of molasses were con- sumed. 6. The feeding of small amounts of molasses have in most cases caused as much depression of the feeds with which they were fed as large amounts, the loss averaging substantially 8 per cent. Why molasses seemed to exert less depression on the hay than on a ration conii^osed of hay and a concentrate is ditficult of explanation. D. Tlie Cause of the Depression produced hy Molasses. Our own numerous experiments, as well as those of other in- vestigators, have shown that molasses exerts a distinct depression upon those feed stuffs with which it is fed. This depression appears to vary, depending upon the character of the feed, the amount of molasses fed and the individuality and condition of the animal. The addition of considerable amounts of sugar and starch have been shown to produce similar results.-^ The cause or ca*ises of this depression have never been fully demonstrated. Kellner - offers a joartial explanation substan- tially as follows: — » Seethe numerous experiments of Uenneberg and Stohmann, Kiihn and Fleischer, E. WollT, etc., In the Journal filr Landw. and in the Landw. Vorsuchssta. = Loco citato, fiinfte Auflage, pp. 50, 51. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 107 (a) The cause or partial cause of the depression of the pro- toid matter is due to the increased excretion of metabolic by- products in the fa3ces. It has been definitely proved that for every 100 grams of digested dry matter there is excreted A to .5 of a gram of nitrogen, or 2.5 to 3.1 grams of protein, hence the additional carbohydrates increase the digestible dry matter and cause the excess excretion of metabolic nitrogen, which is calcu- lated as undigested nitrogen. (h) According to Hirschler ^ an increase of the carbohydrates or of lactic acid in the ration checks the action of putrefactive bacteria, i.e., those acting upon the proteid matter, and G. Gothwald - has confirmed this for herbivorous animals. (c) It being known that the easily soluble and digestible carbohydrates are large yielders of lactic and butyric acids in the processes of digestion, it seems at least possible that it is these acids, when present in sufficient quantities, which check the further action of the micro-organisms, and prevents their attack- ing the more difficult digestible carbohydrates, such as the fiber, pentosans, gums, etc. Alquier and Drouineau ^ state that in case of ruminants the depression is caused because the food remains for a long time in the digestive tract, and is subjected to the action of various micro-organisms. These organisms follow the line of the least resistance, and attack the sugars and other soluble carbohydrates, leaving the cellulose, ligno-cellulose and pentosans, which they would, attack and dissolve more freely were the soluble carbo- hydrates not present in excess ; hence the depression falls largely upon these latter compounds. It is further explained that in case of the horse the action of molasses in causing the depression is not due primarily to the action of micro-organisms for the reason that the food remains so short a time in the intestines, but to the alkaline salts, — potash and soda, — which cause an increased action of the intestines (peristalsis). Grandeau's work is cited, in which, in an average of four trials with four different horses the first faeces appeared sixteen hours after the feeding of molasses, while 1 Zeitschrift fur phj'siol. Chem. 10 Bd. 1886, p. 306; also 39 Bd. p. 99; Abs. from Kellner. 2 Journal f iir Landw. 39 Jahrgang, 1888, p. 325. ' Ann. de Sci. Agron. 2 Serie, 1904. Tome I., pp. 252-258. 108 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. twenty-seven honrs elapsed before the first faeces from a normal ration were excreted. Observations at this Station. In order to note the effect of molasses in increasing peristalsis, thereby causing a less complete digestion of the food, a number of observations were made using lampblack as an indicator. October 21, at 4 p.m.^ Sheep III., receiving hay, gluten feed, salt and 200 grams of molasses, was fed in addition 10 grams of lampblack. The first indication in the fseces appeared at 1 p.m. on the following day, — twenty-one hours after feeding. The lamj)black could be observed in the faeces until 4 p.m. of October 25, — some four days thereafter. October 27, at 4 p.m., and October 28, at 7 a.m.. Sheep II., receiving a ration of hay, gluten feed and salt, was given in addition a total of 10 grams of lampblack. Indications of the lampblack first appeared at 2 p.m. on the following day, Octo- ber 28, — twenty hours after the first feeding. At the same time Sheep IV., receiving hay, gluten feed, salt and 200 grayns of molasses, was given in addition 15 grams of lampblack, which first appeared, in the fieces at 4 p.m. of the following day, — twenty-two hours later. ISTovember 6, at 5 p.m., and November 7, at 7 a.m.. Sheep I., receiving a ration of hay, gluten feed and salt, was fed in addi- tion with 10 grams of lampblack, which first appeared in the fseces at noon on November 7, — nineteen hours later. This lampl)lack was noticed in the fteces until noon of November 12, nearly six days (one hundred and thirty-nine hours) after the first was given. November 6, at 5 p.]\r., and November 7, at 7 a.m.. Sheep IV., receiving a ration of hay, gluten feed, salt and 200 grains of molasses, was given in addition a total of 15 grams of lampblack. It first appeared at 7 a.m., November 7, — ^ fourteen hours later, — and disappeared at 7 a.m., November 12, — one hundred and thirty-four hours later. November 7, at 4 p.tm., and November 8, at 7 A.^r., Shee]) TI., receiving a ration of hay, gluten feed and salt, Avas given in addition 10 grams of lampblack. The first indication of lamp- 1910.1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 109 black was at 7.30 a.m.^ November 8, — fifteen and a half hours later, — and it bad entirely disappeared from the fiicces on. November 13, at 4 p.m., — six days later. November 7, at 4: p.m., and November 8, at 7 a.m.. Sheep III., receiving hay, gluten feed, salt and 200 grams of molasses, re- ceived in addition a total of 15 grams of lampblack. The first colored fjvecs were noted Novend)er 8, at 2 p.m., — twenty-two hours later, - — and the color disappeared November 13, at 4 p.^r., — after a lapse of six days. The above data placed in tabular form are as follows : — Sheep Number. Normal Ration. Lampblack appeared (Hours). Molasses Ration. Lampblack appeared (Hours). Normal Ration. Lampblack disappeared (Hours). Molasses Ration. Lampblack disappeared (Hours). II 20.0 - - - I 19.0 - 139.0 - II 15.5 - 144.0 - IV - 22.0 - - III., - 21.0 - 96 IV - 14.0 - 134 Ill - 22 0 - 144 Average, .... 18.2 19.7 141.5 139 It is evident that these results do not show sufficient varia- tion to warrant a conclusion that the molasses exerted any peristaltic action. It is to be admitted that the lampblack did not prove as sharp an indicator as was desired. It is intended to make additional observations of a similar character, using another indicator, and also to continue our inquiry relative to the cause of the dej^ression. no EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Ph w W O P ^ b^ R< ■^ OS r^ COt^** T-J Tt< OO ■^ CO h- CO •^■^ CO 00 00 CD OJ Oi 05 Oi o »o r-- »o (M O) t^ CD -^ CSl 00 CD .-I 00 Oi 'o'o a> o o — — ® q q C C— o o oo CD O t^ »C CM CO ,-!(>. > ■ ■ .-> • rir*Sr^ IC '. >. . c3 c3 £S -Cj3 is. 2. Si bO M t. *;; t^ - O O O o O o o Eg p o Sk o o I.,II.,III.,IV., v., VI., VII., VIII., II., IV., VI., VII., VIII., I w>> XXXXX'^X ■^ coco c^ c^ -^ i-« Oi Tt< O l>- '-H 00 O t- "5 Ci oo 00 CO O C-l CO »o »c >o lO lO »0 »0 00 00 CC 00 CD CO 00 »0 t— C^ b* lO Oi lO t- CO C^ l>- O Oi Oi t-. t^ t-^ lO lO »o »o CO ) CO ^- CO Th 00 00 oo oo (U O GJ ■ >.T3 » >> >>^ 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. Ill o fc. S " wS (M CO O— •OS'— *iOTt*C^COC0»C«OO5 CJ»0OiCCCC00C0CC''-<05C^O rf« CO CO »0 C > OS O t^ OO i-H (>» CDOSI-"-ffOOOOcOCOOOiO '*Tj>iz:g>>>>>>>> >>t-IMM>-Hj_,j_, <1^ QJ C3 d> 0.> O 03 C3 03 5j C3 S ■ "o "o "o "o "o "3 ESHS g S c c c c c n ^ ^ c3 C3 c3 c3 cC S 13 -B T3 TJ TJ "d 3j aj cj oj oj ^ o c3 O' oj a> 0) 0) at fjgccaaaa 6Cb£tLCCc;a)cU(pa>a; 73 3 3 3 3 3 3 Wi'Sj'M'bJo'M'S) T3-a-a • O O QJ . o OJ a; CO Vh (+H t*H Qj a c c ^: 0) QJ Oj 03 3 3 S"© ■0T)T3-0 e a n c C3 c3 c^ C3 c^ ^ c^ c3 >i >. >. >.>.>.>, OJ ct ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Ph pH K ffi WPh W >^ >^r^^.k1Kf<^^f^ 112 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. o Ps s a If i 3.50 3.18 3.41 3.43 3.52 3.82 3.00 3.17 3.22 3.31 2.96 3 24 3.01 •^cccccococccccocceo li rHOOOSOOCX)— l-*Q0Q0U5 OQOoococo»ooaeo»-i03 o s .9 'S 1 aDrtlooo>-lMOaotO(^^«(^^<^^ OOCCXMCOCO'^Tt^COCO'^COiC < (MM.-.— lOOUiOO-Ht^rt OiOSOOOOOOOOOOl a 03 O fa "a "3 »,- „- 03- „- 1 1 ■ ■ J; Ji 0 0) oj (u^ — a 0 — — — — S ^ ooScScca a a a a a a^^ ^d <:i d a d d 0 0 >,>,>>>>>,>, >>>,B S jS jS J3 X) j3 J5 ^ J3 § g 'bi"33'3l'5)'bi'5l'hi)'bl) >i >> a a c c a c fl c^^ HWHWWWWWWW 0 0 c5 c3 o5 q3 0 -a-B T3 T3 g g S S S g S S oi $ m^iS^^^ °^ '^ • • ^ i« I.H ..^ "o "o "o "o "o "o "o ccjccssasass QJ OJ OJ 0 . . ti t^ -e te "^ "^ *^ "^ "^ "^ "^ ^^-H-z: C G G G c d d __fl3c3c!ScCt*-.^*-,<^-('4-i'j-(t.-Ht*-, >^>">j>i>^>>GCGdGdd "m "S "m "S "to "S '5i'3]'b('bi'bi)'M'3) ccacfla=atsc3c3esoi(jj KH l-H '-'S'-'lZlS>;K>K>S>> o 0) P4 ^y.BB»t>>>^^'^ U P,?)"■«( CO »C 10 »0 Oi 00 OOrt ^ t^ t^ ^H CO 1— 1 CM *— t C^l ^H c] c-1 ^'I'OiO lO lO »c 10 »o 0 ^ g-2 0: r^r- t^ Q COOOOO 0000000 ■^ rf c»0 -tJ "t^ CD »0 »0 lO IM 00 00-*t- (M CD (M CO -CO 000-* }" -*-*^ ^ ^ TJ^ Tt^ CO c 00 00-^ r^ ■* -^cooo 0000000 CO 0 0 0 00 qs t^ t^ C^ f^ COCOO-H 00 M 00 OJ 00 >>>>.>> >.>.>>>>>. >.>>>.>. >i >i >->>>>>> >, fiffiWW KffiiiliiiK KWWW WWffiWffiWK ^^ . . . > &^ »» mKmm K>S>K>> * •►^ - *►— ' >> J>> l-ll-H 2 Ml-I Hmm •1 i-H "^ i-H rS kj i-i ;> ri > t>m^^ i K >^>^ ><><><>< 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 117 Calculation of Coefficients. Series X., Period VI., Sheep IV. English Hay. D.\iLY Record. Dry Matter. Ash. Protein. Filler. Nitro- gen-free E.xtract Matter. Fat. 800 grams English hay fed, 321.50 grams manure excreted, 706.80 300.12 55.27 34.84 60.50 29.71 228.65 92.02 344.57 134.78 17.81 8.76 Grams digested, .... Per cent, digested 406.68 57.54 20.43 36.96 30.79 50.89 136.63 209.79 59.76 60.88 9.05 50.81 Nutritive ratio of ration, 1: 11.9. Series X., Period IX., Sheep V. English Hay. 800 grams English hay fed. 718.16 59.97 63.20 229.02 349.17 16.80 314.13 grams manure excreted, 298.67 33.54 27.60 95.37 132.88 9.29 Grams digested, .... 419.49 26.43 35.60 133.65 216.29 7.51 Per cent, digested, 58.41 44.07 56.33 58.36 61.94 44.70 Average per cent, for both sheep, . 57.98 40.52 53.61 59.06 61.41 47.76 Series XL, Period V., Sheep IV. English Hay. 800 grams English hay fed, 261 . 10 grams manure excreted. 709.20 240.79 47.87 26.92 86.74 33.95 237.23 58.27 316.80 111.34 20.57 10 31 Grams digested Per cent, digested, .... 468.41 66.05 20.95 43.76 52.79 60.86 178.96 75.44 205.46 64.85 10.26 49.88 Series XL, Period V., Sheep V. English Hay. 800 grams English hay fed. 709.20 47.87 86.74 237.23 316.80 20.57 270.20 grams manure excreted. 248.96 26.12 32.79 66.00 113.87 10.18 Grams digested, .... 460.24 21.75 53.95 171.23 202.93 10.39 Per cent, digested, .... 64.90 45.44 62.20 72.18 64.06 50.51 Average per cent, for both sheep, . 65.48 44.60 61.53 73.81 64.46 50.20 Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1: 7.5. 118 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Series XL, Period VI., Sheep II. English Hay. Daily Record. Dry Matter. Ash. Protein. Fiber. Nitro- gen-free Extract Matter. Fat. 900 grams English hay fed, 262. 10 grams manure excreted, 800.73 245.17 54.05 20 48 97.93 36 04 267.84 58.82 357.69 113.44 23.22 10 40 Grams digested, .... Per cent, digested 555.56 69.38 27.57 51.01 01.89 63.20 209.02 78.04 244.25 68.29 12.82 55.21 Series XI., Period VI., Sheep III. English Hay. 900 grams English hay fed, 288 grams manure excreted, 800.73 269.34 54 05 28.47 97.93 37.79 267.84 68.17 357.69 123.20 23.22 11.72 Grams digested Per cent, digested Average per cent, for both sheep, . 531.39 66.36 67.87 25.58 47.33 49.17 60.14 61.41 62.31 199.67 74.55 76.30 234.49 65.56 66.39 11.50 49.53 52 37 Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1: 7.7. Series XL, Period VII., Sheep IV. Hay and Gluten Feed. 600 grams English hay fed, 200 grams gluten feed fed, Amount consumed, . 208.20 grams manure excreted. Grams digested, Per cent, hay and gluten feed di- gested. 531.30 180.06 711.36 194.60 516.76 72.64 35.86 3.01 38.87 20 53 18.34 47.19 64.98 44.98 109.96 29.83 80.13 72.87 177.72 13.00 190.72 43 49 147.23 77.19 237.33 114.05 351.38 91.85 259.53 73.86 15.41 5.02 20.43 11.54 56.40 Series XL, Period VII., Sheep V. Hay and Gluten Feed. Amount consumed as above, . 711.36 38.87 109.96 190.72 351.38 20.43 200. 10 grams manure excreted. 187.31 19 91 28.19 42.78 87.74 8.69 Grams digested, .... 524.05 18.96 81.77 147.94 263.64 11.74 Per cent, hay and gluten feed di- gested. 73.67 48.78 74.36 77.57 75.03 57.46 Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1 : 5.4. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 119 Series XI., Period III., Sheep IV. Porto Rico Molasses. D.\iLY Record. Dry Matter. Ash. Protein. Fiber. Nitro- gen-free Extract Matter. Fat. 800 grams English hay fed , 150 grams molasses fed, . 705.20 107.24 57.83 9.06 61.28 4.23 226.65 342.45 93.95 17.00 Amount consumed, .... 311 grams manure excreted. 812.44 288.73 66.89 35.11 65.51 30.95 226.65 84.66 436.40 129.55 17.00 8.46 Grams digested, .... Minus hay digested. 523.71 408.87 31.78 23.43 34.56 32.85 141.89 133.86 306.85 210.30 8.54 8.12 Molasses digested (grams) , Per cent, digested, .... 114.84 107.09 8.35 92.16 1.71 40.43 8.03 96.55 102.76 .42 Series XI., Period III., Sheep V. Porto Rico Molasses. Amount consumed as above, . 328.60 grams manure excreted. 812.44 306.06 66.89 36.21 65.51 32 23 226.65 92.83 436.40 136.10 17.00 8.69 Grams digested, .... Minus hay digested, 506.38 408.87 30.68 23.43 33.28 32.85 133.82 133.86 300.30 210.30 8.31 8.12 Molasses digested (grams) , Per cent, digested, .... Average per cent, for both sheep, . 97.51 90.93 99.01 7.25 80.02 86.09 .43 10.17 25.30 - 90.00 95.80 99.28 .19 Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1: 13.6. Series XL, Period IV., Sheep IV. Porto Rico Molasses. 800 grams English hay fed, 250 grams molasses fed, . 697.76 180.30 57.22 15.24 60.64 7.10 224.26 338.82 157.96 16.82 Amount consumed 333.40 grams manure excreted, 878.06 307.83 72.46 42.05 67.74 35 31 224.26 83.51 496.78 138 09 16.82 8.87 Grams digested, .... Minus hay digested, 570.23 404.56 30.41 23 19 32.43 32.51 140.75 132.44 358.69 208.07 7.95 8.03 Molasses digested (grams). Per cent, digested, .... 165.67 91.89 7.22 47.38 —.08 8.31 150.62 95.35 : 120 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Series XL, Period IV., Sheep V. Porto Rico Molasses. Daily Record. Dry Matter. Ash. Protein. Fiber. Nitro- gen-free Extract Matter. Fat. Amount consumed as above, . 341.2 grams manure excreted, . 878.06 314.45 72.46 40.47 67.74 36.13 224.26 91.03 496.78 138.17 16.82 8.65 Grams digested, .... Minus hay digested, 563.61 404.56 159.05 88.21 90.05 31.99 23.19 31.61 32.51 133.23 132.44 358.61 208.07 8.17 8 03 Molasses digested (grams) , Per cent, digested, .... Average per cent, for both sheep, . 8.80 57.74 52.56 .10 .79 150.54 95.30 95.33 .14 Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1 : 16. Series XL, Period VIIL, Sheep IV. Porto Rico Molasses. 600 grams English hay fed. 533.52 36.01 65.25 178.46 238.. 32 15.47 200 grams gluten feed fed, 184.04 3.07 45.97 13.29 116.57 5.13 250 grams molasses fed, . 181.68 16.75 7.16 - 157.77 - Amount consumed 899.24 55.83 118.38 191.75 512.66 20.60 258.40 grams manure excreted. 239.02 26.65 39.10 50.82 113.39 9.06 Grams digested 660.22 29.18 79.28 140.93 399 27 11.54 Minus hay and gluten feed digested. 521.24 18.44 81.05 - 262 12 - Molasses digested (grams) , 138.98 10.74 - - 137.15 - Per cent, digested, .... 76.50 64.12 - 86.93 - Series XL, Period VIIL, Sheep V. Porto Rico Molasses. Amount consumed as above, . 899.24 55.83 118.38 191.75 512.66 20.60 258 . 60 grams manure excreted , 238.84 25.84 38.72 52.76 112.61 8.91 Grams digested 660.40 29.99 79.66 138.99 400.05 11.69 Minus hay and gluten feed digested, 528 63 19.08 82.70 - 266.27 - Molasses digested (grams). 131.77 10.93 - - 133.78 - Per cent, digested, .... 72.53 65.25 - - 84.80 - Average per cent, for both sheep, . 74.52 64.69 - 85.87 - Average nutritive ratio of rations for two sheep, 1: 7.1. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31, 121 siii to ]>ractically eliminate the oxidizing action of the air, and the remainder simjily protected by a single thickness of unbleached cotton cloth tied over the top, which readily permitted circulation of the air. One set of ' This work was undertaken jointly with Dr. R. D. MacLaurin, l)ut owins! to the resignation of Dr. MacLaurin it has been completed and prepared for publication by Mr. Holland. 1910.] ri niJC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 138 llie sealed bottles was guarded from light ^ and from moisture, and served as a cheek. Two sets of both closed and open bottles had 1 cubic centimeter of water added, one set of each being- exposed to north and east light (not sun) and one set protected from light. ^ Another set of both closed and open bottles was exposed to the light. From these various combinations it was thought deductions might be drawn as to the relative action of air, light and moisture upon butter fat. The fat was of fair average composition, as shown by the analytical results : — Saponification number, 2.32.47 Acid number, ........ 1.48 Reichert-Meissl number, 29.84 Mean molecular weight of volatile acids) . . . 90. 90 Insoluble acids (per cent.), ..... 88.21 Mean molecular weight of insoluble acids, . . . 253.08 Iodine number, ........ 28.40 Melting point (Wiley method), 32.95° C. Refractive index, 40° C, 1.4525 Yalenta test, 28.50° C. One or two samples were drawn from every series in June and December, 1908, and March and October, 1909, melted, filtered and analyzed. The testing in June, 1908, was more or less unsatisfactory, especially the iodine number, because of the high temperature prevailing, and what deductions may be offered will be based largely upon the remaining data, which represents periods of six, twelve and eighteen months. Physical Changes. The original fat, when melted, gave a transparent oil of a pronounced yellow color and a slight but characteristic odor. On standing, the color gi-adually faded. This, however, was far from uniform, even with members of the same series. The cheeks were very irregular, varying at the end of the test from yellow to almost white; with moisture the color was less intense, with light similar, and with moisture and light rather better » In providing for the circulation of air, a little diffused light reached the samplea. 134 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. than the checks. Light, in the absence of air, did not accelerate loss of color. Air induced the most uniform destruction of color. As the air always carried more or less moisture, it was impossible to differentiate as to the effect of light and added moisture. The most notable change was obtained from the combined action of all three factors. The sealed samples were porous, and developed a slight odor, imlike that of tlie original fat. The open samples were more like tallow, both in appearance and odor. Old sam})les contain- ing added water were turbid on melting, and required consider- able time to settle clear. Chemical Changes. As decomposition of fats and oil seems to progress along two fairly well-defined lines, that of hydrolysis and that of oxidation, only such determinations were planned as would readily serve to measure these changes ; acid and saponification numbers for the former, and iodine number for the latter. Too much must not be expected of these determinations for so complex a re- action, but they are at least indicative. If the decomposition became extensive, other tests would be warranted. As shown by Table 1, added moisture, in the absence of air, had no appreciable hydrolytic action in excess of the check. Light alone, and with moisture present, preserved the original fat practically unchanged for eighteen months while the check manifested a noticeable breaking down. ]\Ioist air increased hydrolysis, both light and added water intensified the reaction. Lewkowitsch states that dry air without light has no action on oils and fats, and his explanation will be presented later. Aldehydes were produced in lx)th open and closed sam]>les, as shown by the brown color of the saponification test (October, 1900), except in the sealed samples exposed to light. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 135 a n o o a 1 5 +1.81 +1.79 — .48 — 11 +3.16 +4,85 +6.81 H 234 28 234 26 231 99 232.36 235 63 237 32 239.28 ts' « •< a £ 5 + .34 + .19 — ,14 + .28 +2.72 +3 51 +5.74 232,81 232,66 232 33 232.75 235 19 235.98 238.21 00 W S a a in i5 + .46 + .13 — .14 + .06 + .50 + 1.25 +2.27 H 232.93 232.60 232.33 232.53 232.97 233 72 234.74 ee 1 1-5 8 a o ia (5 + .75 + .78 + 73 + .33 + 1.16 +1.77 +2.04 1 233.32 233.25 233.20 232.80 233.63 234 . 24 234.51 -1^ s 232.47 Check, Moisture Light and moisture, . . . ' . Air iind light, ; 1 CO •— I ■<(*' Ol lO "^ »C O O CO 05 CO o r-- GO CO oi CO O Oi I 1-H .-H CO ■* »0 SCO t^ CO CO CO CO -H O i— ' CD OO 00 I+I+++V CI OS 03 05 CJ CI 03 ■^ lO CO lO i— ' CJ CI ,-H ,-1 r-l r-. C^ C iC lO CO CI OO '-H CI O O OOO -H -«f ++ 1' I+++ i-H ^H O •* -^t< I~- 00 uo »o ■^ ■^ »o uo oo CO CI CO lO CO CI C3 oooooo -^ I I ++ O -rt< O i-H CO OO GO . . •E--S a f^ w »o o 00 CO 00 r- »0 M* CO ^O CI Cl CO ++ +++ CO CO 05 CO ■«*< OS oo »0 ■^ CO ^ CI CI CO ^H ^ O OC» CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO w c; C4 CI c^ C4 CI 00 CO t^ »C CD OO i-* CO OO «-! O CDCS ++I + +++ oa t^ ■<* CO t^ OJ CI CO O OS ■— ■ <0 CD OS »-i .-H O '— < CO CO *J< «-« 00 00 00 CJ •<*< »o M" OO O Tp — t oo ++1++ ++ Ca OS CO OS CO lO CO Tf O OS O ■^ »— I QO ^^o^ ^CICI CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CI CI dC^ CI CI CI I-* O OS 00 Cs kO CI 00 OO t-^ CO •-< t^ OS ++++nin:n: +++ C3 .-H O OS O CO CO 00 00 OO CO CI I^ Ci CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CI C4 CI CI CI CI CI _^'0 bC M >- t) t;' J 3 be 136 EXPERTxMENT STATION. [Jan. Uoo Ol 00 •* rt I I I I C^ CO -^ I I T - ^ CO 00 Oi IM r^ -* ^ (M CO o 00 CO o f o l' o o + r o + l' + + + + + + o 1 1 w-o tual ding, ttom liscus. »o o o lO o o o O lO >o g o CO 05 •o C-l (^ t^ o o t^ t~ lo CO iC »o CD c-i c-i -^t* .^ Tji 00 «^ (35 oi t^ CD o s o " IM M C) C-4 (M CO CO -^tf«l CO CO OJ OO C-1 C5 CO (^ 05 CO f. ^ >o (M t^ 9 o >^ o •rl •- o CO r^ 00 en O 05 "*. *^ fclfV CI f + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ctual lading, Top niscus. o o s o CO - o s >o o OO t- CD o o 00 OO c^ (M IM c^ -^« g 03 . ZJ bfl ■-Z: a CO S 05 s "5 OO O'S lO ■* N 00 ■* >ra o t^ r-5 »o »o CO IM Ml rji Tf' ,^ CO oi a> ^ CO M (M M .^ .— ' CO CO rH a ro © to >ra OS o O s CO 00 o o ii^ CO >o CO OO 00 ■»i* ^ So CO o 00 O •o M §. o 3 S2 >o en o .-H o o CO eo < T(« CO CO rt° ^ CO CO o Id 'b 1 a o £ I 0) A -M J -^j a a 13 la d fl a s d a a d a a d o a) 4) 01 01 O a> 01 Ot (O 0) o o o CJ" o o O o o CJ S o L. t( M Lh M t, L. L-< u t-< t, L^ t-, ki Ul o OJ (U aj o a> a a Q. a a a Q. a a a a a a a a lO 00 o o g § g g o CO o CO s U g s s 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 145 The results rci)or1ccl were all made with G-iiicli bottles, because we were attempting to find the most accurate method for read- ing tests made under conditions existing at the experiment station laboratory. It would have been quite instructive to have been able to run more tests, using the 9-inch bottles, which require a special machine on account of the longer neck. Conclusions. 1. With one exception the readings taken to the top of the upper meniscus were too high, the amount of error being in most cases proportional to the diameter of the bottle neck. 2. Where the readings were taken to the bottom of the upper meniscus the results were much more uniform. In several cases, however, there was considerable variation, due very likely to the difficulty of determining accurately the lowest point of the upper meniscus. 3. The alcohol method, where used, showed more concordant results, especially for the 10 and 30 per cent, bottles. The difference between these results and the theoretical test was no greater than might be expected between duplicate tests by the gravimetric method. The tests made in the 50 per cent, bottles varied materially, which might reasonably be attributed to the difficulty of reading these bottles accurately on account of the large diameter of the neck. It was suggested that the method might give somewhat dif- ferent results if a mixture of a definite amount of butter fat and skim milk was used in place of butter fat and water, the former mixture more closely resembling milk or cream. In order to test this ])oint butter fat was weighed into several 10 and 30 per cent, thoroughly cleaned bottles, together with sufficient separator skim milk (which had been previously tested) to make the contents of the bottles weigh 18 grams. Sulfuric acid was then added and the test completed as usual. The results are as follows : — 146 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. ^ ^ t. d o> ^ OS CO o V o C^l '—' o o to + + + + + 1 + 0-, '~-' . a ctual ■ading ringto 5tliod, g o o 8 S o c5 ^ >o .o to §5 (M CO <^^^ - ^ ^ u a Ol •^ ■^ t^ 0,CD o o '— ' o CD •^ i + + I' + + + o fe Actual Reading, Bottom Meniscus. 5 g s >o ° CO (M <^^ ^ ^ t. d o> .* CO 05 -c t^ O o o ■o Actui Readii Top Menisc «o CO -t^ o ^ 1^ ,_, CD Oi •^^ CO CD QO '^ ■.* CO o O 0) dJ •o lO >o CO ci C^l (M -^Ph H _^ o3 f^d 3 g5 o 8 05 o c> t^ m Qj r~ oc o lO ■o t^ s-^ o^ Ol 0:> o '^ ^-* gS .-i Tji I" ■* o Ed .J e 0 « b 0 Q 7-, fy ^ J^* -i? M 03 E i s B 'i 1 % t o a c d d a d d o D (J o u U u M ^ t-i b u a> il (D O o (D li results, proportional in most cases to the diameter of the graduated neck; reading to the bottom of the meniscus gave results more nearly corresponding to theory, while the re- sults with the alcohol method were quite uniform and consistent. The high results obtained by attempting to read to the bottom of the meniscus in the case of the three cream bottles was duo to the cloudiness of the fat, which made an accurate reading diffi- cult, if not impossible. Webster and Gray,^ as a result of experiment, recommend the following i)rocedure, in reading cream tests: '' Kead from the bottom to the extreme top of fat column, then read the depth of the meniscus and deduct four-fifths gf it from previous read- ITunziker - advocates reading to the bottom of the upper meniscus and adding one-third of meniscus to reading in cream tests. The introduction of any factor in reading the test tends toward making the method more complicated, and one unac- quainted with its scientific aspects may discredit it entirely. With our present knowledge, and pending further investigation, the writer would advocate reading the tests made in 10 per cent, milk bottles from the bottom to the extreme top of the fat column, including the meniscus, as is now generally prac- ticed; while for 30 per cent., 0-incli Connecticut cream bottles the reading should be taken from the extreme bottom of the fat column to the bottom of the upper meniscus, preferably by the use of alcohol, as described either by Eckles or Farrington. 1 Bulletin 58, Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. 2 Report read before annual meeting of Official Dairy Instructors and Investigators Associa- tion, at Milwaukee, 1909. 148 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. THE USE OF THE ZEISS IMMERSION EE- FRACTOMETER IN THE DETECTION OF WATERED MILK. BY r. II. SMITH AND J. C. REED. The campaign before the 1010 session of the Massachusetts Legislature, for a change in the niilk standard, brought promi- nently to the public mind the question as to whether slightly watered milk might be detected and differentiated from normal low-grade milk by methods available to the analytical chemist. In addition to the relative proportion of solids and fat, the index of refraction of the milk serum, as determined by the Zeiss im- mersion refractometer, has been advocated as a valuable aid in the detection of added water. The details of this method were l)erfected by Leach and Lythgoe ^ who claim, after careful inves- tigation, that " if a milk serum is found with a refraction lower than 3U, it is safe to allege that the sample was fraudulently watered, especially if, in addition to this, the solids not fat stand below 7.3 per cent." In order to obtain further light on the subject we have made a complete analysis of the milk from three herds, together with the analysis of several samples systematically skimmed and watered. The analytical methods used w^ere those advocated by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, while for deter- mining the refractive index the procedure given by Leach - was adopted. The results follow in tabular form: — > Thirty-fifth annual report, Massachusetts State Board of Health , 1 903 , p . 483 ; Journal Amer- ican Chemical Society, 1904, 26: 1195. * Food Inspection and Analysis, Leach, p. 765, published by John Wiley & Sons, New York. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 149 X(>rl]i((t)i])ton State TIof>"3 ■w 0 lis t- o c C. >- 53 > g O o 1 a O i CB "3 o 6 Oh o Ph, "5 no--- 'a ^ 'S a a ."3 C3.2 M < a O 1 o O o 'S g go CI O < -§ a 1 Jersey, . . . . 3 24 14.68 5.70 8.98 3.71 .71 4.56 44.30 2 Jersey, 12 13 15.28 6.10 9.18 4.00 .77 4.41 44.56 3 Jersey grade. 8 13 14.19 5.70 8.49 3.34 .75 4.40 43.70 4 Guernsey grade. 2 26 15.21 6.10 9.11 3.72 .73 4.66 44.39 5 Guernsey grade. 4 23 13.14 4.50 8.64 3.18 .75 4.71 44.10 6 Ayrshire, . 10 5 14.75 5.45 9.35 4.42 .85 4.03 44.45 7 Ayrshire, . 3 41 12.04 4.20 7.84 2.81 .69 4.34 41.65 8 Ayrshire, . 10 9 12.75 4.60 8.16 3.72 .69 3.74 41.70 9 Ayrshire, . 10 13 13.77 4.85 8.92 3.50 .74 4.68 45.15 10 Ayrshire, . 2 20 13.70 4.90 8.80 3.32 .69 4.79 45.60 11 Ayrshire grade, . 1 36 14.11 5.55 8.56 3.60 .72 4.24 43.05 12 Ayrshire grade, . 1 38 12.56 4.10 8.46 3.03 .69 4.74 44.27 13 Ayrshire grade , . 1 43 12.46 4.00 8.46 3.04 .71 4.71 43.59 14 Ayrshire grade, . 2 33 13.39 5.05 8.34 3.03 .71 4.60 44.14 15 Ayrsliire grade, . 5 23 12.16 4.00 8.16 2.85 .69 4.62 43 26 16 Ayrshire grade, . 7 24 13.75 5.10 8.65 3.63 .70 4.32 43.28 17 Ayrshire grade, . - 17 12.37 3.50 8.87 3.27 .69 4.91 44.11 18 Holstein , . 7 22 13.02 4.35 8.67 3.34 .70 4.63 43.84 19 Holstein, . 15 5 13.43 4.40 9.03 3.85 .82 4.36 43.88 20 Holstein, . 1 46 11.58 3.75 7.83 2.97 .74 4.12 42.08 21 Holstein, . 6 29 13.98 4.80 9.18 3.95 .73 4.50 44.05 22 Holstein, . 9 9 14.85 5.50 9.35 4.00 .74 4.61 45.15 23 Holstein grade, - 22 13.62 4.80 8.82 3.63 .72 4.47 41.05 24 Holstein grade, 5 43 12.19 3.80 8.39 3.10 .72 4.57 43.30 25 Shorthorn grade. 3 33 12.32 3.90 8.42 3.12 .67 4.63 43.60 26 Mixed herd. - - 12.77 4.10 8.67 3.17 .72 4.78 43.22 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 151 MisccUancous A nali/se o iz; < h fe «5 (^ « '5 8 1 d i 0 o o 1 1 'd o i i o t O m m Q .3 a a .s C d D O c •3 d" M m ■3 to 0 (U 0) -w ■*J "o ■§ "o 3 'S o "o 3 3 'd o 3 CO PM !> (S rt U pS rt « U PS P o -f^ X o tT z d 0 •k 3 3 0 S Z s 3 S 3 .2 2 iJ (U o o O o o o t^ I-. M a Lh o "^ 3 3 3 rt 'd a) 3 w ^ w K 3 . . . . PL, . ^ E E E s s . a . 3 3 3 3 _3 s _3 6 ;3 3 .'§ ;« 0) !§ ;§ ;s O ;§ O d fl n tn a 'S a t^ d »-. tn OJ OJ s^ OJ o 0) 3 3 X^ (1. PL, < PL, Ah P^ w pi w -t; *j &^ d OJ i!i <3 "a ■a t. a 3 O « >>0 i^ a o n CI d d d d d c pfe ^ S 0) S S o o 0 ^ (-< 2J ^ J2 2 ^ S ^ XI -^ Pi, fi, < -i; PL, < Ph < < O 0 o P -a? • a 3 O B& 03 K & O . ^ _ . . . . O Si -^ iz; CI 0) cl fi d d d CD a d t £ ^ s 2 t J3 t PL( Ph <; p^ -< Ph Ph Ph <5 Ph o 0. CO 0 to S O g o Vh fl d d d d d d d >^ a g g S 0) S 0) S ^ (B A ^ ■Q .o ^ .s J3 XI > < <; < <; < <; P^ j 0. a <; i/j " c-T CO ■w »o CO t>r 00 OT o 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 167 No attempt has been made to specifically identify many of these spores as that is not within the scope of this experiment. By disinfecting and sterilizing the seed nsed for germination tests, and also for planting, it is believed that much of this ex- cessive molding may be prevented. Work of this character is being carried on in this laboratory. Some favorable results have been obtained, but these have not been verified sufficiently to Avarrant publication at present. 168 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. PLANT BREEDING STUDIES IN PEAS. BY F. A. WAUGII AND J. K. SHAW. The department of horticulture has had various plant-breeding investigations under way for several years. These have in- cluded studies in variation, correlation and heredity in peas. Two reports on this general subject have already been made.^ The year 1909 has enabled us to collect a large amount of ad- ditional data, the most interesting of which are here presented. Character of Variation in Peas. At the beginning of these experiments, a commercial strain of Nott's Excelsior was made the basis of study. The same strain has been maintained till the present time, so that we may now discover whether or not the range and character of variation have changed. In looking over the figures, it must be remembered that absolute figures have been greatly aifected by the nature of the growing season. Thus, in 1908, with severe drought on naturally dry land, the size of plants and all other measurements fell very low. With this in mind we may profitably study the following table, giving statistics of variation for three years : — ' Massachusetts experiment station report, 20, p. 171 (1908), and Massachusetts experiment station report, 21, p. 107 (1909). 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 169 Variation in Peas — Nott's Excelsior. Series I. 1907. 1908. 1909. Number of vines measured, 179 225 1,770 Length of vine (centimeters): — Minimum, 20.00 19.00 6 00 Maximum 88.00 61.00 83 00 Range, ......... 68.00 42.00 77.00 Average, 54.70 38.22 45.90 Number of pods per vine: — Minimum, 1.00 1.00 1 00 Maximum 13.00 12.00 37 00 Range 12.00 11.00 36.00 Average 4.68 3.91 6.74 Number of peas per pod: — Minimum, — — *- Maximum 9 00 8.00 9.00 Range '9.00 8 00 9.00 Average 3.46 3.44 ~ Length of pod (centimeters): — Minimum, 2.00 2.00 - Maximum 9.50 8.00 - Range, 7.50 6.00 - 6.88 6.10 " Differences in Variability. As was shown in our last report, there are great differences in variability to be seen in different strains, even within the same variety. The progeny of nine different parents, all belonging to the same variety, was compared in this respect. These same strains may now be compared again, bringing into comparison the progeny gro^^'n in another year's crop. In the following table CV stands for " coefficient of variability," which is simply a mathematical function showing the relative variability of the various strains. It is secured by dividing the standard deviation l)v the mean. The larger the figure the greater the variability indicated. 170 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Comparison of Variability — Nott's Excelsior. Vine length: — ■ Strain A, Strain B, Strain C, Strain D, Strain E, Strain G, Strain H, Strain J, Strain K, Pods per vine: — Strain A, Strain B, Strain C, Strain D, . Strain E, . Strain G, Strain H, Strain J, Strain K, Total peas per plant: ■ Strain A, . Strain B, . Strain C, Strain D, . Strain E, . Strain G, . Strain H, . Strain J, Strain K, CV. 1908. 12.1 14.1 11.8 15.8 20.2 14.7 15.1 10.1 25.3 10.1 52.1 8.1 9.1 16.7 8.0 6.3 7.4 40.6 23.7 49.0 41.7 46.2 31.3 40.2 23.9 27.7 1909. 22.4 25.4 16.5 23.9 27.8 21.4 22.8 23.1 19.9 43.7 45.7 50.2 45.1 50.8 38.1 44,6 41.4 57.5 49.3 54.1 51.6 41.1 52.1 45.9 46.5 45.6 57.8 Rank. 1908. 1909 Three interesting facts appear from this table : — 1. The plants were markedly more variable in 1909 than in 1908. This appears in all characters, and there is hardly a single exception to the rule. On the surface, it would seem that the dry season and unfavorable conditions of 1908 decreased the amount of variation, while the comparatively strong growth of 1909 increased the amount of variation. 2. The amount of variation is less and the fluctuations less in the case of vine length than in pods per vine or peas per vine. In other words, the vegetative characters seem to be more stable than reproductive characters. 3. There is a manifest (though not very strong) tendency to transmit the quality of variability (or stability). In a number of instances the strains which were most variable in 1908 were the most variable in 1909, and those which were most stable one yviir were most stable the next. Out of the 27 comparisons made in the foregoing table, 11 show a decided correspondence, while 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 81. 171 only G show decided shift. Counting the disagreements in rank hy nnits, the results are as follows : — In vine lengths, ........ 16 In ])ods per vine, ........ 20 In peas per plant, ........ 26 These figures indicate once more the relative stability of the vegetative character — vine length — as discussed in paragraph 2 above. Correlation of Characters. In former reports, some figures have Ix'en given on correlation of character, particularly between the average inimber of peas per pod and the number of pods per vine. It might be supposed that the vines bearing the largest number of pods would have the smallest pods with fewest peas. The general fact seems to be the contrary, — a fact which is of considerable practical importance in the development of prolific strains and varieties. This year we have fresh figures at hand for three separate groups. Series I. consists of a number of strains of Xott's Ex- celsior, all having the same origin. They are, in fact, the same plants spoken of as Strain A, Strain B, etc., in the experi- ments reported herewith, p. 170, — the whole series being com- bined for the purposes of this computation. Series II. is the group of Xott's Excelsior from which the progenitors of Series I. were selected in 1907. Series III. is a strain of Earliest of All which we have had under study for two years. Taking this material, therefore, and computing the correla- tion coefficients (in which complete correlation equals + 1 and no correlation equals 0), we get the following results : — Correlation Coefficient.^ Series I. (Nott's Excelsior), . . . —.0081^.0012 Series 11. (Nott's Excelsior), . . . + .1300 dz .0095 Series III. (Earliest of All), . . . -f .3200 dz .0120 ' It is probable that the coefficient of Series III. most nearly represents the true correlation, and the lower coefficient for Series I. and possibly Series II. is due to rather strict selection that has been practiced. Series I. being the second generation from 10 selected plants. See Pearson, Phil. Transactions A, Vol. 193, p. 278; also Rietz, Biometrika, Vol. VII., p. 100. 172 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. In Series I. no relation between nnniLer of pods and peas per pod is shown. In Series 11. there is exhibited a distinct ten- dency toward the production of the largest and fullest pods on those plants which produce at the same time the largest num- ber of pods; and this tendency becomes fairly emphatic in Series III. Heeedity in Peas. One of the prime objects in this series of experiments has been the study of heredity. We have wanted to know in what degree the various characters were transmitted in peas. Some figures in this field were published last year.^ The figures this year are still more interesting, especially when compared with last year's results. The reader may know that heredity is now commonly calcu- lated by a mathematical formula which gives results theoretically varying between + 1 and — 1 (practically between + 1 and 0). Ordinary inheritance, in which parental characters are trans- mitted in the usual degree, will show a coefficient of +.25 to +.40. Larger coefficients are rare ; lower coefficients are sur- prisingly frequent. Taking our jieas in Series I. (omitting Strain C on account of its abnormal character), we secure the following heredity coefficients from the crop of 1909 : — Coefficients of Heredity. Vine leiiETth, + .2483 ± .0164 Pods per vine, + .0792 ± .0017 Total peas per vine, + .0544 ± .0018 Here it will be seen that vine length is transmitted much more fully than either of the other characters. This fact is apparently closely related to the one mentioned above (p. 170). The vegeta- tive character is more stable and is more perfectly transmitted than the reproductive characters. Prepotency. In all old-time discussions of heredity, much was made of prepotency. Though this word and the idea have to a large extent been submerged in recent discussions of plant breeding, » Massachusetts Experiment Station Report, 21, p. 171 (1909). 1910.] PUliUC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 173 tlu' idea is still sound and the word still holds. Moreover, the facts are of great practical importance to the actual breeder. The question is, Does one individual transmit its characters more perfectly and surely than another ? In order to answer this question, it was found necessary to adopt a new method of calculating coefficients of heredity, explained in the article re- ferred to.^ The study of the material which we then had in hand seemed to give a positive answer to the main question. Apparently, certain individuals did show decided superiority over others in their ability to transmit their characters to their offspring. This conclusion seems to be confirmed with all the other material which we have been able' to study, and it would be very interesting to see the same method — or some improve- ment of it — applied to other plants and animals. For the l)resent, the most interesting feature of our experiment lies in a comparison of the prej)otency of parent and offspring, — in an attempt to answer the question whether prepotency is in- herited or not. In the following tables we will present first the figures show^ ing the inheritance of vine length, then those dealing with pods per vine, and finally those dealing with total peas per vine. In each case we present first the coefficients of heredity (computed as shown in the footnote), followed by figures denoting the rank of the several strains in each comjiarison. The designations fi, {-2 and f;; will be understood at once by students of threm- matology. They refer to the three generations of peas com- pared : fs re]n'escnts the crop of 1909, f2 represents their parents (crop of 1908), while fi represents the grandparents, with which this experiment began. • Ibid., p. 172. The formula is C = -^. crD C =: coefficient of heredity, tr ^standard deviation. D = difference between the numerical value of the parent character and the mean of the same character in the progeny. This we have been calling " Waugh's formula," for the sake of a distinctive name. 174 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Coefficients of Heredity — (Prepotency). Vine Length. Coefficients. Rank. fi:f, h-fs fi:f3 i^-.i. {,:f. h-h Strain A, .0068 .0383 .0028 7 3 9 Strain B, .0085 .0183 .0065 5 6 4 Strain C, .0106 .0079 .0244 2 9 1 Strain D, .0086 .0090 .0093 4 8 3 Strain E, .0042 .0265 .0031 9 4 8 Strain G, .0061 .0260 .0045 8 5 6 Strain H, .0071 .0158 .0054 6 7 5 Strain J, .0095 .0596 .0042 3 2 7 Strain K, .0250 .0707 .0126 1 1 2 Pods per Vine. Strain A, .145 .193 .076 7 5 7 Strain B, .011 .210 .222 9 4 4 Strain C, .104 .023 .047 8 9 9 Strain D, .512 .093 1.562 4 8 1 Strain E, 3.003 .144 .387 3 6 3 Strain G, .327 .350 .145 6 1 5 Strain H, .490 .279 .075 5 2 8 Strain J, 5.555 .262 .532 2 3 2 Strain K, 14.285 .121 .135 1 7 6 Total Peas per Vine. Strain A, .007 .010 .006 8 4 6 Strain B, .027 .012 .221 3 2 2 Strain C, .006 .001 .002 9 9 9 Strain D, .013 .006 .068 5 6 3 Strain E. .016 .006 1.000 4 8 1 Strain G, .008 .009 .005 6 7 7 Strain H, .007 .012 .004 7 3 8 Strain J, .027 .012 .021 2 1 4 Strain K, .068 .008 .013 1 5 5 It can hardly be claimed that these figures show any fixed lines in prepotency. Certain individuals are plainly relatively prepotent with respect to certain characters, though not always with respect to other characters. While the figures do not show any striking inheritance or prepotency, there are a few instances wherein such inheritance may be strongly suspected. Certain points will bear statement at least. 1. In the transmission of vine length, Strain X is notably prepotent, while Strain E is notably dclicient. 2. In the transmission of jjods ])er vine and total peas ])er viiu! (reproductive characters representing fecundity), Strain C is remarkably defective. This is curious from the fact that Strain C is notably the most prolific one in the experiment. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 175 3. lu the traiisiiiissiou of pods per vine, Strain J leads by a good margin ; while in the transmission of total peas per vine, Strains B and J stand equal. 4. Strain K, which in last year's comparison stood first in every column, now, in the whole comparison, ranks first in the transmission of vine length, seventh in pods per vine and third in total peas. It seems fair to conclude, in general terms, that a careful study of prepotency will sometimes reveal tendencies sufficiently strong and trustworthy to be useful to the practical jilant breeder. 176 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. THE BEN DAVIS GROUP OF APPLES.' BY J. K. SHAW. It is generally agreed by pomologists that the most feasible and satisfactory method of classifying varieties of frnits is by segregating them in gronps typified by more or less well-known sorts, each differing in considerable degree from the type of the neighboring gronps. Many writers speak of the Ben Davis gronp, bnt so far as is known to the present writer the only real attempt to single out the members of this group is that given by Hedrick, Bui. 275 of the Xew York State Experiment Station. Starting with the group as given here as a foundation, a somewhat thorough examination of all available literature and suggestions from several men, authorities in systematic pomol- ogy, gave a list of forty varieties which were considered as can- didates for this group. In order to decide, with some feeling of certainty, just which of these properly belong here woulj require much longer time and more material than has been avail- able. The personal study of material was necessarily limited to the fruit with nearly every variety, and with many of the varieties it was impossible to obtain specimens, making it neces- sary to rely upon printed descriptions and the opinions of others, and everything of this kind available has been carefully con- sidered. As a result of this study the following varieties are believed to belong here, and arc separately considered and described in this paper : — * This article ia a condensation of a part of a thesis presented to the faculty and trustees of the Mass!ichus«'tt3 Agricultural College for the degree of M .S. The work was done under t ho direct ion of Prof. F. C Sears, and special thanks are due him and to VnA. F. A. Waugh for advice and en- couragement in the work; also to many horticulturists, fruit growers and others who have sup- plied information regarding the dififcrent varieties. 1910.1 ri'BLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 177 Arkansas Beauty. Arkansas Belle. Ben Davis. Ben Hur. Black Ben Davis. Coffelt. Cole Davis. Eicke. Etris. Extra. Flat Ben Davis. Gano. Improved Ben Davis. Nordbaussan. Ostrakavis. Paris. Shackleford. Shirley. Sweet Ben Davis. White Ben Davis. Many of these are of minor importance, and doubtless some are not propagated and will soon disappear from cultivation. Almost without exception they are of southern origin and best adapted to growing under southern conditions. When grown north of the southern Missouri and Ohio valleys they are in- ferior in quality, though fairly hardy and bearing good crops. The fruit is generally roundish conic in form, nearly regular, with regular cavity and basin, the latter generally more or less abrupt. In color, greenish yellow, usually overspread with bright red, more or less striped. The flesh is generally white and firm, of medium or coarse texture. They are of only moderately good quality but long keepers and good shippers. With one exception they are more or less acid in flavor, generally a mild subacid. A notable characteristic common to all varie- ties examined was the presence of a pistil point or the persistent base of the pistil, a character rarely found in apples not belong- ing to this group. Descriptiox of Varieties. Arkansas Beauty. T have not seen this apple and have been able to learn little about it. Stinson gives the following description and notes con- cerning it : — Size, medium to large; form, roundish, slightly inclined to conical; stem, very long and rather slender; cavity, small, smooth; basin, small; core, open, with a peculiar marking of a white growth or doAvny sub- stance in seed cavities; color, skin yellow, striped Avith two shades of I'ed, rather dull in color, giving it a brownish-red appearance; flesh, 178 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. yellow, fine grained, subacid and very good, juicy. It is grown to some extent in a few sections of the State; it is probably more grown in Johnson County than elsewhere. It has not proved valuable. Arlnnsas Belle. This variety very closely resembles the Gaiio, and it has been claimed that the two are identical. A letter from Mr. D. Branchcomb of Ehea, Ark., states that he planted the seed from which grew the original tree. It does not seem to have been much planted and probably will not be, as it does not appear that it is in any way superior to the Gano. Ben Davis. The place of origin of this variety has always been in doubt. Downing, in " Fruits and Fruit Trees of America," edition of 1857, says it is supposed to have come from Todd County, Ky., but in the edition of 1872 he says that the origin is unknown. It has been attributed to Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. The statements giving New York and Missouri origins are without doubt erroneous. Those attributing it to North Carolina and Virginia are to the effect that the trees or scions were taken from one or the other of these States to Kentucky, from whence it was disseminated. So far as the writer is aware, there is no record of its occurrence in either of these States except as introduced from outside nurs- eries. It is extremely probable that the apple originated or at least was first propagated from scions in either Kentucky or Tennessee. The late Wm. M. Howsley of Kansas gives the following account of its origin : — In the year 1780, AVm. Davis and John D. Hill emigrated to Ken- tucky and settled in that part of Logan County now called Butler County. They located near Capt. Ben Davis, the brother of Wm. Davis and the bi"other-in-law of Hill. A few years afterward, Hill returned to Virginia on business, and when he returned to Kentucky he brought some apple grafts with him. Hill and Wm. Davis raised fruit from these grafts. Capt. Ben Davis, finding the apple a desii-able one, grafted the same for himself, as well as raised a young nursery of it. These were sold throughout the country. For want of knowing any other name, the people called it the Ben Travis apple. The Davis family, however, called it the Virginia Pippin.^ ' Watts. Bulletin Tennessee Exucriment Station. IX.. 1. d. 7. lcn Davis in White C\)nuty, 111., about 1825, ob- taining the scions from a neighbor, IMr. Fnnkhouser, and he DISTRIBUTION 07 THE BEN DAVIS. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 181 fi'din Mr. Ncwnuui, who brought them from Kentucky l>efore 1820. Hero is cx})hiintHl how the variety ohlaiiicd the uaiiies Fuukhouser and Newnum. A nursery was established in this neighborhood in 18-'}!), and w^as instrumental in disseminating the variety far and wide. With the rise of eonnnereial orcharding in this region, after the civil war, the variety attained widespread favor, and it may justly claim the first place among commercial varieties, taking the <'ountry as a whole. No other eonnnereial variety is so widely planted, and none succeeds so well under such widely varying conditions. It is a sure, abundant bearer, the tree is \igorous, reasonably healthy, a good grower in the nursery, and comes into l)earing early, and the fine appearance and excellent shipping and keeping qualities of the fruit are well known. That it is of excellent quality as a dessert fruit no one will contend, but much of its evil reputation in this way comes through its being grown in localities where it should never have been planted. When well grown, near the region of its origin, it is not of poor quality ; when grown in the colder north, it does not have time to fully develop, and is most decidedly an in- ferior apple. An attempt was made by means of library research and by correspondence to learn something of the limits of culture of the Ben Davis, The map shown herewith shows approximately the northern limit of the variety, and also what may be spoken of as the Ben Davis belt, where this is easily the leading com- mercial sort. It will be noted that the limit of hardiness is a little north of the isotherm of an absolute minimum temperature of — 30° F., indicating that a temperature of between 30° and 35° below zero is likely to kill the trees. In the Rocky Moun- tains the limit of hardiness is indicated only in a general way, as it here depends largely on altitude, and would be difficult to accurately define. It is interesting to note the coincidence of the limits of the Ben Davis belt wnth the normal surface temperature for July of 75° on the north, and, more especially, for 80° on the south. In as nnich as the line showing the limits of the belt is intended to show where it is actually grown, and not where it is possible to grow it well, it is probable that it would succeed 182 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. equally well farther to the southeast in the mountains of north- ern Georgia and Alabama, and thus its southern limit of success- ful growth conform more closely to this isotherm than is in- dicated. Ever since the Ben Davis became known, fifty or more years ago, there has been much unfavorable comment on its quality, .and many have predicted its speedy disappearance from the orchard and market. All the while the Ben Davis trees have borne full crops and have filled the owner's pocket in years when other sorts were delinquent in these most important qualities of a commercial apple. During the past season (1908-09) reply postcards were sent to over 225 nurserymen in the United States and Canada asking the following questions : — How do your sales of Ben Davis compare with those of other va- rieties ? In what States are your sales of Ben Davis increasing', and how rapidly ? In what States are they decreasing, and how rapidly? In what States are they practically stationary? Is it being replaced by other varieties, and if so, what ones? One hundred and thirty-one of these cards were returned. A few gave no definite replies, owing to various reasons, but from the great majority the following facts are gleaned : — Number reporting increased sales, ..... 8 Number reporting decreased sales, , . . . .59 Number reporting no change, 27 Erom the replies to the question as to what varieties are re- placing the Ben Davis the following summary is made : — Jonathan, .... Gano, Winesap, .... Arkansas {Mam. Blk. Twig), Grimes Golden, York Imperial, Rome Beauty, Stayman Winesap, . Northern Spy, Stark, Arkansas Black, Number of Times mentioned. . 26 . 19 . 17 15 12 12 9 7 6 6 Baldwin, Esopus Spitzenburg, Mcintosh, Newtown Pippin, . Delicious, Wagner, Missouri Pippin, . Oldenburg, Paragon, WeaUhv, Number of Times meutioued. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 1S3 And the following, once each; Aiken, Black Bon Davis, Blenheim, Belleflower, Cox Orange, Faniense, Gates, Ingram, Janet, Kinnaird, Maiden Bhish, Oliver, Ived Rnssett, Salome, Transparent and Winter Banana. It is evident that, on the whole, the sales of nursery tr(H>s of this variety are decreasing, and with some nnrservmen with con- siderable rapidity. One firm reports a falling off of one-half in three years, another of 90 per cent, in five years and another of 50 per cent, decrease this year. One says, " We formerly grew as many as of all others ; now 5 per cent." A few say they have ceased to propagate it. !None report any marked increase in sales. The firms reporting an increase are largely in Xew York, and a few in Canada and some parts of the south. Among the large nurserymen in the Ben Davis belt, the report is almost unanimous that there is a falling off, and often a large one. West of the great plains it is planted hardly at all. In some parts of Maine and in southern Ontario and the Georgian Bay district it seems to be slightly on the increase. In the northwest prairie States it has not proved hardy and has been discarded. The variety mentioned the most times as replacing the Ben Davis is Jonathan, which is of much better quality, and of the others that are taking its place in the Ben Davis belt, York, Winesap and Grimes Golden are notably better. In the north- east Stark is coming in and the Mcintosh is gaining in popularity. In the northwest the ISTorth western Greening is increasing, and in ISTew York and Ontario the Spy is frequently mentioned. In the Pacific northwest it is scarcely planted at all, and many of the bearing trees are being worked over to other sorts, such as Jonathan, Gano, Eome Beauty, Xewtown Pippin and Esopus. On the strength of this inquiry the writer ventures to predict that the longdooked-for decadence of the Ben Davis is at hand, and that twenty-five years hence it will have become a variety of minor importance. Description of Fruit.' — Size, below medium to large, fairly uniform; form, roundish to roundish conic or oblong, base broad and flattened 1 Descriptions are original where not otherwise noted. This description is intended to include all forms of the variety as grown in the United States and Canada. 184 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. to narrow and rounded, apex rounded to sharjj conic, fairly regular, slightly compressed, fairly equal sides, fairly uniform in any given locality; color, clear greenish yellow, covered with dull pinkish red to "bright or deep red, 50 per cent, to 90 per cent, mottled, splashed and striped, deepening almost to blush on sunny side; bloom, medium, greasy or waxy; skin, medium thick, rather tough, smooth and shining; dots, inconspicuous, few to medium, small to medium, roundish, whitish to yellowish or russet, scattered, slightly raised; cavity, shallow to very deep, medium to very wide, flaring to abrupt, acute to acuminate, fairly regular, filled with russet; stem, short to very long, medium to slender, curved, brownish red, smooth; basin, very shallow to very deep, medium to very wide, generally abrupt, round obtuse, almost always very regular; calyx, closed to partly open, medium size, pu- bescent; segments, medium size, long, pointed, reflexed; tube, vei'y short to very long, medium width, conic or funnel form, median sta- mens, pistil point present ; core, axile to very abaxile, medium or below, central, turbinate to oval, with clasping core lines; cells, closed to open, medium in size, symmetrical to asymmetrical; cari:)els, roundish to obovate, emarginate, usually slightly slit, medium concave; seeds, few to medium, fairly plump, medium in size, brownish red, oval, pointed; axis, straight, rather short to very long; flesh, white, sometimes slightly tinged with yellowish, rather coarse, generally very firm, medium juicy to di-y; flavor, mild subacid, often slightly aromatic, sometimes rather flat, sometimes slightly astringent; quality, poor to good. Ben Ilur. This a comparatively new sort, offered by Stark Brothers of Louisiana, JMo., who state that it originated in Perry County, Ind., and that it is a cross of the Ben Davis and Rome Beauty. Prof. J. C. Whitten writes me, " From the characters of both fruit and tree, I should unhesitatingly put Ben Ilur in the Ben Davis type." Stark Brothers describe it as follows : — Tree, a strong, thrifty grower, young bearer, productive; fruit, fully as large or larger than Ben Davis, brilliantly striped and splashed with red; flesh, tender, fine grained, juicy, highly flavored, excellent. BlacJi- Ben. Davis. This variety is said lo have oi-igiuated near Fayettcvillo, Ark., about the year 1880. An earnest controversy has arisen as to whether it is identical with the Gano. A number of samples of apples were received und(>r these two names and examiued with some care. It was easy t(t distinguish two tyjjcs of apples, but 1010.] PURLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 185 tlu'v wore ooiincctcd by intonuodiatc forms in such a way as to rc'iuler it ditticult to say whether two distinct varieties were represented or not. The most striking dilference was in color, this varying from a distinctly striped apple to those with a clear l)lnsli, with no sign of stripes, a rather remarkable variation to ap})ear in a single variety, but which exists in the ]\IcIntosh. It was evident that if the varieties were really distinct the names were confused, for the apples that were the most typical of the Black Ben Davis were called Gano ; and of another sample, con- sisting of two apples, one would be called Gano and the other Black Ben Davis. In addition to examining these apples, the writer has consulted all the available literature on this point, and after considering everything with care, is, on the whole, in- clined to the opinion that these are two distinct varieties, and describes them accordingly. Description of Fruit. — Size, below medium to above, not uniform; foi'm, round conic, almost regular, slightly compressed, generally with unequal sides, rounded base and round conic apex; color, bright greenish yellow, covered with rich, dark red, 20 per cent, to 95 per cent., blushed and mottled, sometimes showing slight tendency to striping; bloom, medium to heavy, waxy; skin, medium thick, rather tough, smooth and shining; dots, inconspicuous, medium in number, small, round, graj^, scattering, scarcely raised ; cavity, medium in depth and breadth, sloping, acute, nearly regular, slightly compressed, partly filled with greenish russet ; stem, long, very slender, curved, brownish red, smooth ; basin, rather shallow, medium, generally abrupt, nearly regular, slightl}' com- l)ressed; calyx, closed or partly open, medium, pubescent; segments, medium, reflexed; tube, short, medium width, conic, medium stamens, pistil point present; core, axile, large, central, turbinate, core lines meeting or clasping; cells, closed, medium; carpels, broad oval, emar- ginate, smooth, medium concavity ; seeds, few to medium, plump, medium size, medium brown, oval, medium pointed; axis, medium to rather long, straight; flesh, white, firm, medium coarse, rather dry; flavor, sub- acid; quality, good. Described from six specimens received from the New York Experiment Station. Coffelt. This apple originated with Wyatt Coffelt of Bentonville, Ark., and is said by Henthorn to be a seedling of the Bed Limbertwig, though Beach says that some nursery catalogues state that it is a seedlinc: of the Ben Davis. As received from the New York 186 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Experiment Station, it strongly resembles the Ben Davis. It has been planted to a limited extent in Arkansas, bnt it does not appear that it is snperior to others of this group. Description of Fruit. — Size, small, unii'orm ; form, roinidish oblate, nearly regular, slightly unequal sides, rounded base and roundish, slightly conic apex, uniform; color, yellowish green, covered with rather dull deei> red, 65 per cent, to 95 per cent., mottled, more or less ob- scurely splashed, deepening almost to blush on sunny side; bloom, medium, waxy; skin, rather thick, medium texture, fairly smooth and bright ; dots, more or less conspicuous, few to many, medium size, angular, russet, slightly raised; cavity, rather shallow, wide, flaring, broad acute, nearly regular, sometimes partly filled with russet ; stem, long, slender, inclined, brownish red, smooth ; basin, shallow, broad, flaring, flat obtuse, pentangular; calyx, open, medium size, slightly pubescent; segments, medium size, long, pointed, reflexed, separate at base; tube, medium in length and breadth, funnel form, medium sta- mens, pistil point present ; core, axile, small, central, oval, clasping core lines; cells, closed, small, symmetrical; carpels, obvate, emarginate, smooth, concavity medium; seeds, few, plump, medium size, medium brown, oval ; axis, medium, straight ; flesh, white, slightly yellowish, a little tinged with green, fine, medium firm, moderately juicy; flavor, mild subacid, almost sweetish ; quality, good. Described from specimens received from the New York Experiment Station. Cole Davis. This variety originated with S. T. Cole of Lincoln, Ark., abont a dozen years ago, the original tree appearing in an orchard of Ben Davis. According to Mr. Cole the apple was of higher color than the Ben Davis, but otherwise mnch the same. It was propagated for a time by the Stark Brothers, bnt so far as known is not now offered for sale. Eicke. Concerning this variety the writer has been able to learn bnt little. Specimens received from the iSTew York Experiment Station resemble the Ben Davis, and Hedrick grouj^s it here. Ragan gives its origin as Nebraska. Description of Fruit. — Size, small, uniform; form, roundish, regular, slightly compressed, nearly cHiual sides, rounded base and apex, uniform; color, bright greenish yellow covered with bright, rafhei" deep red, 50 per cent, to 85 per cent,, striped, splashed and mottled, deepening 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 1S7 almost lo blush on snmiy side; bloom, heavy, Avaxy; skin, rather (liiu, medium texture, smooth and bright; dots, inconspicuous, few to medium, rather small, roundish, light gray, general, very slightly raised; cavity, rather shallow, medium width, sloping, acute approaching obtuse, nearly reg'ular, i)artly filled with russet; stem, long, slender, inclined or curved, brownish red, smooth; basin, shallow, medium width, abrupt, somewhat ribbed and plaited; calyx, closed or partly open, medium size, pubescent; segments, medium size, medium long, pointed, reflexed; tube, rather short, medium, conic, medium stamens, pistil point present; core, abaxile, medium size, central or distant, broad oval, slightly clasping core lines; cells, open, medium size, asymmetrical ; carpels, obovate, emarginate, slightly slit, concavity medium; seeds, medium in number, plump, me- dium size or above, dark brown, oval, more or less straight on one side; axis, rather short, straight; flesh, whitish, slightly tinged with yellowish green, fine, medium firm, medium juicy ; flavor, subacid to slightly acid ; quality good. Appears to resemble Coffelt. Described from specimens I'eceived from the New York Experiment Station. Etris. According to Professor Stinsoii, this variety was first fruited near Bentonville, in the orchard of A. K. Etris, the trees coming from the nursery of John Breathwait, about fifteen years ago. It is not generally disseminated, but is considerably grown in the county of its origin. It is quite possible that it is identical with Gano. Extra. An apple was offered by Stark Brothers under this name about ten years ago, described as being larger and higher colored than Ben Davis. It is not now sold. It may have been a distinct or a special strain of Ben Davis. Flat Ben Davis. A distinct strain of the Ben Davis was observed by the writer in 1909 growing in an orchard in Monmouth, Me. It differed from the usual type in being larger and decidedly more oblate in form. The striping seemed to be coarser and more distinct than on neighboring trees of the common type. The tree also differed in being more open and apparently of rather less vigorous growth. There were several trees in this and a neighboring orchard. It appears to be in no way markedly superior to the ordinary Ben Davis. 188 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Gano. The exact origin of this variety is not perfectly clear. It is said to have been grown bv ]\Ir. Ely Jacks, in Howard Conntj, Mo., in 1840, and to have been somewhat disseminated in that vicinity. It was first bronght to general notice in 1884, when it was exhibited before the Missonri Ilorticultnral Society, and about this time it was named Gano, for Mr. W. G. Gano who was concerned with its introduction. Mr. Gano states that the orig- inal tree came from a lot of Ben Davis, and was planted in the orchard under the supposition that it was of that variety, but on fruiting it proved to bo different. Prof. S. A. Beach advances the theory that it is a bud sjxn-t of the Ben Davis.^ lie thinks that it is improbable that a seedling stock should prove to be so like the Ben Davis, the variety supposedly worked on the stock. If, however the Gano originated as a bud sport in the same way that Bed Gravenstein has originated from Gravenstein, and Collamer Twenty Ounce from the original Twenty Ounce, then the fact that the Gano appeared under jiropagation in a lot of Ben Davis apple trees is easily and naturally accounted for. As compared with the Ben Davis, it is a little smaller, not quite as prolific a bearer, considerably higher colored, perhaps slightly better in quality, and sells for a little more per barrel. It takes second place in importance in this group, and is being planted in the southwest in place of the Ben Davis to a con- siderable extent, but has been planted but little in a commercial way elsewhere. Description of Fruit. — Size, medium, luiiform ; form, roundish, more or less conic, nearly regular, slightly compressed, nearly equal sides, rounded base, aj^ex round or conic, not very uniform ; color, clear greenish yellow eovei'ed with deep rich red, 15 per cent, to 70 per cent., . mottled, blushed and striped, always blushed on sunny side, slightly russet; bloom, rather light, waxy; skin, rather thick, medium tough, smooth and shining; dots, inconspicuous, few, medium size, roundish, gray, scattering, slightly raised; cavity, medium in depth and breadth, sloping, acute, fairly regular, filled with greenish russet; stem, long, slender, straight, brownish red, smooth; basin, shallow, medium width, steep to abrupt, ribbed and plaited; calyx, closed or ])artly open, me- dium or above, imbcscent; segments, medium to large, long, jiointed. ' Persoiinl letter from S. A. Beach. 1010.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. ISO rollo.xeil ;. tube, short to mctliuin, raediuiii Ijieadlli, conic basal stamens, l)istil jioint present; core, axile, medium size, central, turbinate, core lines meeting; cells, nearly closed, medium or above, asymmetrical; car- pels, slightly obovate, strongly emarginate, nearly smooth, concavity variable ; seeds, medium in number, plump, medium size, oval or angular, rather short; axis, medium, straight; flesh, white, slightly tinged with greenish yellow, firm, medium texture, medium juicy; flavor, mild sub- acid, very slightly astringent ; quality, good. Described from specimens received from the New York Experiment Station. Improved Ben Davis. It is stated in the report of the Illinois Ilorticnltural Society for 181)1), p. 89, that on several occasions an Improved Ben Davis has been brought to the attention of the society. It is rather probable that these were simply superior strains of the Ben Davis and not a distinct variety. So far as known, no variety of this name is being propagated. Nordhaussan. Scions of this sort were sent to the Division of Pomology at Washington by Mr. John Gabler of Springfield, Mo., in 181)G, and by them distributed to various State experiment stations, including that of Massachusetts. Professor Waugh informs me that in both tree and fruit it resembled the Ben Davis. This tree was destroyed some few years ago, and I have not been able to secure either specimens or any further information concerning it. So far as known it is not offered for sale at the present time. Osiralcavis. A cross of the Ostrakoif and Ben Davis, originated at the Iowa Experiment Station. Distributed only for trial and not considered to be of value. Description of Fruit. ^ — Fruit medium or l)elow, conical, regular, sur- face oily; color, yellow, with faint bronze blush; cavity, regular, deep, obtuse, with faint trace of nisset; basin, wide, very shallow, minutely wrinkled; core, wide open, meeting; cells, large, roomy, ovate, slit; tube funnel shaped; stamens, median; seeds, twelve, large, pluraj); flesh, white, sweet. Season probably late fall or early winter. Interesting as showing that a cross of two sour apples may ]iroduce a sweet apjile. » From S. D. Bulletin, 76, p. 80. 190 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Paris. Reported by Mr. L. A. Goodman as a new apple of the Ben Davis family, sent by Mr. Ambrose of Paris, Mo., to the meeting of the Missouri Horticultural Society. ShacMeford. This variety is first mentioned in the report of the Illinois Horticultural Society for 1883, at which time it appears to have been known in southern Illinois and adjacent parts of Mis- souri. Beach says that it originated near Athens,. Mo. It has been planted considerably in the southwest, but has not attained great favor as a commercial sort. It is generally of rather poor color and is said to be a straggling grower. It does not appear to be in any way superior to the Ben Davis and in some qualities it is inferior. Bescription of Fruit. — Size, medium, uniform ; form, roundish ob- late, slightly conic, nearly regular, slightly comjiressed, sides generally nearly equal, base rounded, apex round conic, uniform; color, clear waxy greenish yellow covered with bright red, 10 per cent, to 50 per cent., splashed mottled and short strijied, deeper on sunny side of some sjDecimens; bloom, light, waxy; skin, rather thick, medium texture, smooth, and fairly bright; dots, very inconspicuous, few to medium, very small, round, gray russet or greenish, scattering, even or sub- merged; cavity, rather shallow, medium width, sloping to flaring, nearly obtuse, nearly regular, markings none; stem, medium long, slender, straight or inclined, brownish red, smooth ; basin, medium in depth and breadth, abrupt, truncate conic, fairly regular, sometimes slightly ribbed and plaited; calyx, closed, medium size, pubescent; segments, large, broad, pointed, reflexed ; tube, short, medium width, conic, stamens median, pistil point present; core, abaxile, small, central, broad oval, core lines meeting ; cells, partly open, medium size, s;yTnmetrical ; carpels, oblong, emarginate, slit, concavity medium; seeds, medium in number and size, plump, medium brown, oval, medium long, pointed; axis, medium in length, straight; flesh, greenish white, medium firm, rather coarse, fairly juicy; flavor, brisk subacid; quality, good. Described from specimens received from the Ontario Agricultural College. Shirley. Mr. T. Y. Munson of Dcnnison, Tex., gives the following history of this variety. 1910.] rUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 191 This ap]ile was found growing in two old orchards, namely (he A. Alkire orchard, some four miles west of Dennison, Tex., and the Alex. Shirley orchard, some five miles southeast of Dennison. The writer saw these trees in said orchards about the year 1880, and made diligent inquiry as to their origin, but neither Mr. Alkire nor Mr. Shirley (both now deceased some years) knew from whence they came. I presume they came from some local Texas or Louisiana nursery that passed out of existence soon and left no history of the variety. The orchards were planted before railroads were built into Texas. There was a small nursery at Paris, Tex., and another at Clai'ksville, farther east, and one at Shreveport, La., the latter conducted by G. W. Storer, the others by a Mr. Walker at Clarksville and his son, J. Q. A. Walker, at Paris, Tex. These nurseries were the first in Texas and sold trees all through north Texas. They handled only southern A'arieties. The elder Walker came to Texas from Tennessee about the year 1838. In 1880 or 1881 I sent samples of the apples to Charles Downing, with whom I corresponded often for a number of years. Mr. Downing could not identify it. As the apple was a sure and jDrolific bearer, a lai'ge, handsome, salable fruit of fine keeping qualities, 1 began propa- gating and advertising it over twenty-five years ago. Mr. Shirley sold the apple in Dennison and Sherman markets, where it acquired the name Shirlej' apple or sometimes Shirley Keeper. 1 described it in my cat- alogue as Shirley, Avhich name it has retained ever since. In tree and fruit it resembles York Imperial more than any other variety. It was the first to i:)oint out before the public this similarity; but the two are distinct. The Shirley is better in tree and fruit, some- what larger and brighter, and in quality a little better.^ As grown in Texas this apple resembles the York Imperial, bnt the specimens received from the iSTew York Experiment Station are clearly of the Ben Davis type. The trees were re- ceived from Mr. Munson and the apples were identified bv Mr. Munson as the Shirley. Description of Fruit. — Size, small, uniform ; form, roundish oblate, nearly regular, often slightly compressed, nearly equal sides, base rounded, apex I'ounded or slightly conic, quite uniform; color, clear greenish yellow covered Avith bright medium red, 40 per cent, to 80 per cent., mottled, splashed and striped, deepening almost to blush on sunny side; bloom, scant, Avaxy; skin, medium thick, rather tough, smooth and bright; dots, inconspicuous, medium in numbei", small, roundish, light gray, generally slightly raised; cavity, medium in depth, rather wide, flaring, broad acute, nearly regular, generally without markings; stem, long, slender, straight or inclined, brownish red, smooth ; 1 Personal letter from Mr. T. V. Munson. 192 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. basin, medium in depth and width, abrupt, truncate conic, smooth and nearly regidar; calyx, closed or j)artly open, rather small, pubescent; segments, medium, short, pointed, rellexed; tube, long, medium in breadth, funnel form, stamens median or basal, pistil point present; core, abaxile, medium to small, central, oval turbinate, core lines clasp- ing; cells, closed, rather small, symmetrical; carpels, roundish to obo- vate, emarginate, smooth, concavity medium; seeds, medium to many, plump medium brown, irregular or oval, obtuse; axis, medium straight; flesh, white, slightly tinged with yellowish green, firm, moderately coarse, medium juicy; flavor, brisk subacid; quality, good. Described from nine specimens received from the New York Experiment Station. Sweet Ben Davis. * Concerning this variety, ITeiges makes the following state- ment in the report of the })omologist for 1805. The apples were from Prof. John T. Stinson of Fayetteville, Ark., who pre- sumably furnished the facts of origin, etc. Originated about 1870 on farm of Garret Williams in Madison county, Ark. The tree resembles Ben Davis in shape, wood and leaf, and is nearly as good a bearer. The fruit ripens about two Aveeks earlier than Ben Davis. Roundish, truncated, slightly oblique, slightly unequal; large, smooth, except for a few russet knobs; greenish yellow, Avashed with ])ale red, strijied and splashed with crimson; dots, numerous brown; cavity, large, regular, deeji, abrupt furrowed and russet netted; calyx segments, short, Avide, converging or slightly rellexed; eye, large, jiartially ojten ; skin, thick, tough ; core, large, roundish, clasj^ing, nearly closed; seeds, numerous, large, angular, brown; flesh, Avhitish satiny, juicy; sAveet; good; season, winter. ]yhite Ben Davis. Professor Stinson says that this apple has been found in sca-- eral orchards in Missouri. I do not know that it has been much disseminated or that it is noAV offered for sale. It has been said that a list of forty varieties Avas under con- sideration. Only twenty arc giv(>n as belonging to this group. Of the remaining ones the folloAving varieties, that have by va- rious writers been more or less clearly and definitely assigned to this group, are considered to })roper]y belong clscAvhere : — Beach. Dickenson. Gill (Gill Beauty). Loy. Kul ledge. "Wallace lluAvard. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 193 Regarding the following the writer is in some doubt, owing to lack of opportunity for sufficient study, but considers it probable that thoy do not belong to this group : — Breckinridge. Chicago. Collins (Cliami)ion). Florence. Givens. Hastings Eed. Highfill. King David. Marion Red. The remainder of the forty are accounted for as synonyms. In deciding whether or not any variety should be admitted to a place in the Ben Davis group as here given, the intention has been to be conservative. The study of varieties of fruits by groups has only recently begun and the writer feels that in con- stituting these groups it is best to include in any group under consideration only such varieties as seem beyond doubt to belong there, even if there are strays left that do not seem to belong any- where. If any of these odd varieties are of great importance they will in time become the central types of new groups, while if only of minor account they may as well be left by themselves. It is to be understood that the foregoing is not final, but of the nature of a report of progress. In order to be conclusive the study of the fruit in some cases and of the tree characters in many cases is necessary. It is hoped, however, that it may prove a contribution of some value on this subject and a basis for further study. 194 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. VARIATION IN APPLES/ BY J. K. SHAW. It is safe to assume that the Ben Davis is the most widely cultivated of any commercial variety of apples in America. It is known in almost every apple-growing section. It is therefore grown under a great variety of conditions of climate, from the short hot summers and long cold winters of Quebec to opposite conditions in Arkansas and Texas. It also flourishes in a great variety of soil conditions. Moreover, it seems to be in itself more variable than other sorts, and responds in a greater degree to varying environment than do most other varieties. These considerations led to its selection as a variety for the study of variation in apples, and the results of two years' in- vestigation are here reported. The matter is presented under two headings, (1) the variation in size and form as grown in the Clark orchard of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and (2) the variation in form, quality and other characters when grown under widely varying conditions of climate and soil in the United States and Canada. Variation ijst the College Oechaed. In the fall of 1908 the product of four trees in the college orchard was picked separately and divided each into four lots, comprising the product of the upper south, lower south, upper north and lower north quarters of the trees. These were studied with reference to size and form. This arrangement gave op- portunity for two comparisons: (a) from ditl'erent trees, (&) from different parts of the trees. 1 Work on this subject was begun by the writer in 1907 as a part of the requirements for the degroo of M.S. by the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and was continued and extended in 1908. It was done under the direction of Prof. F. C. Sears, to whom the thanks of the writer are extended for encouragement and suggestions, and also to Prof. F. A. Waugh, who has aided in many ways. Assistance and suggestions have also been received from many horticulturists and fruit growers from various parts of the country. It is impossible to name them here, but the debt to all is gratefully acknowledged. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 195 (a) From Different Trees. Table 1 shows tlie nicans,^ standard deviations and coeffioonts of variability, with their probable errors, in the size and form of the apples from each of the four trees. It is evident that there are differences in both size and form. Table 1. Size. 2 Form. Mean. Stand- ard De- viation. Coeffi- cient of Vari- ability. Mean. Standard Devia- tion. Coeffi- cient of Vari- ability. Num- ber of Ap- ples. Tree 2, . Tree 3, . Tree 5, . Tree 7. . 71.02±.14 68.80±.15 68.35±.13 72.80±.18 6.16±.I0 5.31±.10 5. 55 ±.08 6.45±.13 8.67±.14 7.72±.16 8.12±.13 8.86±.17 1.1422±.0014 1.1399±.O016 1.1666±.0019 1.1716±.0019 .0576±.0009 .0543±.00n .0626±.0013 .0578±.0013 3.04 ±.88 4.73±.09 3.76±.08 3.37±.07 864 567 469 423 70.23 ±.08 5. 95 ±.06 8.47 ±.08 1.1515±.0008 .0589 ±.0006 5.29±.05 2,321 There seems to be little or no relation between the size of the apples and the yield. Trees 2 and 7 produced the larger apples, A jf\\ U ~^t /]/ .\ •' / s •I ' t • t \ .2:: : Vk~ JL- ]^S t.^-rf\EE. 3 TREE 7^> Fig. 1. and one of these gave the highest yield of all and the other the lowest, less than half as many. There are seen to be slight 1 For the method of making these calculations, see p. 198. ' All measurements are in millimeters. 196 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. differences in the variability in size of apples from the dilferent trees. More striking are the differences in mean index of form, though the variability of form is less than that of size. The difference in form of the apples from Trees 3 and 7 is shown graphically in Eig. 1. These differences in form were per- ceptible to the eye, and there were also differences in color, apples from Tree 5 being higher colored than the others. These differences may be attributed to bud variation or to the influence of the stock, for the trees were near each other, and, so far as could be seen, on exactly similar soils. In passing it may be suggested that this method offers means of throwing light on these two disputed questions, namely, bud variation and the mutual influence of stock and scion. (h) From Different Parts of the Trees. The results of computations of the apples from different parts of the tree are shown in Table 2. It appears from this that apples from the top of the tree are a little larger than those from the lower branches and also slightly more variable. In form the differences in both mean and standard deviation are slight, those from the lower branches being a little longer than those from the top of the tree. The most important thing about this table is that it serves to bring out the greater differences in the products of the individual trees. Table 2. Size. Form. Mean. Stand- ard De- viation. Coeffi- cient of Vari- ability. Mean. Standard Devia- tion. Coeffi- cient of Vari- ability. Num- ber of pies. Upper south, . Lower south, . Upper north, . Lower north, . 70.93±.]8 69.24±.14 7L27±.20 69.79±.12 6.40±.13 5.68±.10 6.14=fc.l5 4.96±.08 9.02±.19 8.20=fc.l4 8.47±.19 7.11±.12 1.1643±.0O17 1.1512±.0015 1.1553 ±.0020 1.1406±.0O16 .0593 ±.001 2 .0619±.0Oll .0607±.0014 .0644 ±.0011 3.61±.07 4.19±.07 3.91 ±.08 4.58±.07 518 714 414 676 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 197 Climatic Variations. Tho variations in the college orcliard are comparatively slight when compared with those observed when apples from widely separated localities are compared. This variation has been often observed and noted, but so far as the writer knows there has been no attempt to study systematically and record it. The work here reported is a beginning. The study is based on a careful examination and measurement of twenty lots of apples of the crop of 1907 and of twenty-five of the crop of 1908, re- ceived from growers in different localities in the United States and Canada. These lots were generally about a bushel each. The numbers are given in Table 3. An attempt was made to se- cure apples from the same orchards both years, but on account of crop failures and other reasons this was unsuccessful in a few cases. In addition to these, several smaller samples have been received from other localities which, while not large enough for the same sort of study, serve to indicate the gradual variation of the variety when passing from one region to another. In the following pages the variation of form, size, quality and other characters are separately taken up and considered. Discussion of the Variation. Form. The most important character studied was that of form, and the variation of this was nothing short of remarkable. One familiar with the variety in a certain locality would hardly recognize it as grown perhaps not more than one or two hun- dred miles away. Much time was given to the study of this, and careful measurements of more than 9,000 apples from the different localities were made and calculated by statistical methods. The different lots may be grouped in four classes as regards the general form, as follows : — 1. The oblong conic, more or less ribbed form from the Maine seacoast and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. 2. The round conic type from the north central and north- eastern United States and southern Canada, from as far south 198 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 1910. as Pennsylvania and possibly farther in the mountain regions, and from the Pacific coast. 3. The oblate or oblate conic type from the Delaware penin- sula and the valley of the Ohio and its tributaries. 4. The roundish oblate form from the Ozarks and from Colorado. The outlines of specimens representing these four types are shown in Fig. 2. Each of these types seems to be pretty con- stant in the localities given, and they gradually shade into each other in passing from one region to the next. These differences in form are closely related with certain other characters which are discussed later. Coming now to the mathematical expression of the form of the apples, the method was as follows. Each apple was carefully measured, ascertaining in millimeters its greatest transverse and longitudinal diameters, and the figures recorded. Then the transverse diameter of each apple was divided by its greatest lon- gitudinal diameter. The number resulting from this calcula- tion was taken as representing the form of the apple, and is called the index or coefficient of form. If the index is 1 the diameters are equal ; if it is less than 1 the apple is longer than broad, and if more than 1 it is broader than long. The calcu- lation of this index for a large number of apples gives an array of numbers representing the forms of the apples measured which may be dealt with by statistical methods.^ Calculating the means of the several arrays representing the different lots of apples measured gives the interesting and sig- nificant figures shown in Table 3. Translated into simple language these figures mean that in Port Williams, N. S., for example, the average Ben Davis apple of the crop of 1907 was about 1.0196 larger in transverse diameter than in longitudinal diameter, and, as shown by the probable error, the chances are even that this figure is not over .0035 of the transverse diameter away from the truth. This average apple is nearly as long as broad, and to one familiar with this sort of measurement indi- cates an apple that may be correctly described as oblong. • For these methods see C. B. Davenport, "Statistical Methods," or "Principles of Breeding," by K. Davenport. v MOV A SCOT I A OINlv^RiO Fig. 2. —Typical Forms of the Ben Davis. Nova Scotia, the oblong form. Ontario, the round conic form. West Virginia, the oblate form. Arliansas, the roundish form. 200 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. o ej ^ -< J ^ ^ cc ' 41 ' 41 t* lO •* ■^ ■* *C Tt< -^ -^ '^ W5 CO lO <© »0 CO CO CO CO CO to ^- c-i t^ >o "* 05 CO C^ CO ■^ ■* »0 CO CO 1 OOC I (M (M C >ooc l,™i,--it^ C^lf— liCOOsOiO CO o o o o o o o c lO^-cocot--.co■-'c£^c CO CO ■-** lO 'Tt^ » o o c:" c* o oo ooooooo »C 'Oi O CO CO 00 c ^^ ^^ -H ^j lO-^-t^ -"rt^iO-^iOCDCOiO ooooooooo ooooooo o o o o o oo o o o CI CO -H ^ o lo »o CD r^ t^ o o o o o H ■^ 00 l^ •-« O >0 -"^ 1-H Ot. -H CO 1-H — H t ,- O O O o o o OOiOOOOOOO OOOO'OO'O' if^ T-i ZO CO *M<— iCT'OO'— iCig^'— • OOC^»0"^ -n^^^^^^^l^^^^ -h m ?^ r? rt ^'^ s;^ 2 3S ''~' i(i 1-H »0 t^dCO^HCNCOO f-H CI »o . CO oo <<*< ICOO^-CO»OCO W tJ* t^ OS I I I I I I I ^ ^-H y-l C-i ■— a coco ICO diOC4C^I>-OCi OCTsOiOdOO cor^i— icO ■^■^cOCO■^TJ^t** cOTt*-^iO*^"3 TttTt^uOcO I I I I I I I t^ ■^ 00 Tt< O Ol o f-H C— ' C^ O O O O CD 0> O OOOOOOO 3 !>. t^ »ir3 iO GO O f-H 1 — ■ CI ^ -H oo O O OOOO M -H -H -H -H CO CO CO CO CI Tt< lO lO t^ t^ »o -^ , OOOOOOO lOiOt^t^uO-^^O 00cDiO4O3«CD OOOO coo Ol Tt* O O CO CI CO CO C) CO CI d O O O CD Oi O O O»C00C0''t— I c) oo c »0 O OC'CO I Oi Oi »0 lO lO -^ CD CO ^^^^^O^ C^ CM *-. ^ T^ -H ^-Hr-HO I I tH l>. 1-1 CO I^ '^ CTS I t- t-* — ' .-I fC CD I rin-*.,-.,— ,-*jrsi/— , CO»000—iGO-H oo •* lO O '^ C-J ,-( T-M d .-H r-H CM 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 201 At tlic other exlrc'ino stands the lot fi-oiu West Virginia, witli an index of 1.2272 =*= .0035. The average apple grown nndcr exactly those conditions under which these apples grew has a cross diameter about 1.2272 times larger than the longitudinal diameter, and we know that the chances are even that this figure is not more than .0035 of the transverse diameter out of the way. Stating this last in another way, it means that the chances are even that the true index of form is not less than 1.2257 nor more than 1.2307. The third cohnnn of Table 3 gives the standard deviation with its probable error, which gives a measure of variability for each lot. This is aifected by the selection or want of selection, as the case might be, of the person sending the apples, some growers sending the apples just as they came from the trees and some selecting them more or less, and doubtless throwing out many specimens which were off type, thus reducing the amount of variation in that lot. Several tests showed that the amount of variability among the larger apples and smaller apples of a given lot was about the same, and this was also true of the moan index of form. It is believed, however, that this selection has not greatly modified the figures, and that the mean indexes of form are scarcely affected at all. The fourth column gives the coefficient of variability and its probable error. This is an abstract number giving, in per- centages of the means, the variability of each lot of apples, and enables one to compare the variability in form with that of any other character of the apples, or any character which can be measured and expressed by this method. The variation in form is shown graphically in the diagrams in plates I. to V. These are based on the same measurements as the mathematical calculations, each lot being reduced to the basis of 200 apples for the sake of uniformity. Many of them are somewhat irregular, owing to the small numbers of specimens measured. The ordinate representing the index of form of 1.1300 is in each case made heavier in order to furnish a stand- ard for comparison, this ordinate being near the average of all apples measured. The shape and relative position of these dia- grams show strikinglv the differences in variabilitv and in mean index of form of the various lots of apples. 202 EXPERIMENT STATION. [J.in. Considering the diagrams and the figures given in the table, we find that in the extreme northeast the Ben Davis is much elongated, and as we go south and west it becomes less elongated and more flattened, till we reach West Virginia and Kentucky, where it becomes a decidedly oblate apjDle. In the Ozarks it is a little longer, and in southern California still longer, and in British Columbia it is almost as much elongated as in Nova Scotia and neighboring regions. This noticeable elongation of the apples from Belleville, Out., as compared with those from GueljDh, is significant, as Belleville is located not far from the north shore of Lake Erie, while Guelph is some miles inland. The same influence is perhaps shown in the Vermont lot, though the figures for those of Quebec and Massachusetts, which serve to bring this out, are themselves in some degree exceptions to the general rule that the apples are longer as one goes north. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to conclude that, beginning in the southern Allegheny mountains and in southern California, and going north, the apples become more elongated, and that this elongation is much more pronounced in the vicinity of large bodies of water, either salt or fresh. The comparison of apples from the same orchard both years shows reasonably close agreement in most cases. Several, how- ever, are quite different. It will be noted that these are among the extremes of form. The maritime provinces and the Pacific coast, that furnished extremely long apples in 1907, gave shorter ones in 1908, and the extremely flattened ones from West Vir- ginia were longer. On the other hand, those near the average form show very slight differences. Professor Sears states that in Nova Scotia there are two types of Ben Davis that differ much in both tree and fruit. The fruit of one generally approaches an oblong form, while the other is more conic. Most of the Nova Scotia apples of 1907 were of the former type, while those of 1008 were more like the latter. The same would apply in some degree to those from Prince Edward Island. Both lots were the run of the orchard, no selection whatever being made. It is possible that the difference in the forms of these apples in the two years may be due to their representing these different types. The apples from Quebec are flatter than those from farther 0 A- CHARLOTTETOWN.REJ. 1907 CHftRUOTTETOWN REJ. >90& ■ PORT WILLIAMS. NA 1307 PORT WILUAMS N..S. i9oa MARBLEHtAO MASS. i90a . ' 'in:::: - 1 r .__ ""> -^ . -44— /t ' "" — -/ \ - 4-^— - -='■-1 " " —J V— - - ---r- i - " ___L_ _[__- _ ^-4— 1 __j _ ^ _ _L__- _4 __vJ — r""v " L__ -A- - - 1 --r- " T'" i " -I— ..4,- _^____4_ —J-— \ - >:__. .___5^- 4- -X AMHERST _ is J _ 4^ MA&s. i9oa W.BARNSTABLC,MA5S.»oe AMUCRST MAS*. 1907 PLATE I. I 1 J / I / / 1 / \ r \ ^ s w PA Rl i N IE 19 oe f / \ / i / / \ »V / \ V / N ^ s jAN Gt RV LL € 1 "IE 15 0£ b V > - J 1 i ' 1 > \ / i / \ / \ ^ s FARMlN&TOtH * ME. 1 90© / / : / \ / 1 y \ ' V ' \ \ ^ ^ s s NtW GlOUCElSTtR ME. 1908 / / / s ' 1 I / s -a LIVERMORE FALL^.H IE.' MONMOUTH ME: 1903 - / \ 1 \ / > / \ / \ - - \ \ \_ \ / 1 \ s K0\ .^H Z.Q \N .ME . 19 oe Ntw GLOoces^Fi^ ME. . i9oa PLATE II. "^ , \ i \ \/ K \ \ -J / V / \ \ / \ TURMf -.R ME. 1907 /I - - r k \ \ l\ I 1 1 ^ J / \ t s \ I V / i y \ -i ' \ 1 / 1 / \ 1 ^ ^ ^ \ J ^ \ 1 \ V / 1 1 L_ s y y f \ y \ ^^ r \ kse iOT SF OR D q UE BE -C i; >o- ABBOTSFOno QUCBEX. I908 3T0RH& CONr4 1907 :::::$""" _ 7 I _ i\ _ f_:^ _is I U— V 1— 7 _^__ Z !^ F hJ ISLE LA MOTTE VT. 1907 ISLE LA MOTTE. VT. 1906 &T0RR5 CONN. 190S -— I X- t _ __lL __ K _ __II_ __ _ __[1 1 ^ S V _ _j.___A __ _ _[___:___ ^s^" ^^ ~ ^ 1 1 1 1 i / ' / 1 \ / \ ^ / f \ BELLEVILLE ONT. 1907 BLLLtVILLL OMT I90a> PLATE III. \^ GUELPH pr^T- 1307 MAHT'NSBURO WVA. 1907 J 7 / [ / - 1 1 \ 1 I f V / \ / \ J f ^ / / \ i t 1 > t f\ i / f > s /L r 1 \. / ^ y MARTINSBURC W.VA \90l <, , r\ prop KY. 1307 4 i ffl STATE COLLEGE PA. I907 MITCHELL IND. 1907 MITCHELL INO. 1 30S 1 1 / s i "«* / / \ ? i ~ "- - \ s s — s MIDOLETOWN DEL. I307 BENTONVILLE. ARK. 1907 LINCOLN ARK. I! PLATE IV. 5TILLWATE:R.OKLA.)307 STILLV/ATEH OKLA. 190© I ::/ --\ GRAND JTC, COLO. 1907 r \ \ \. 1 \ V N i \ f ^ i \ ff s A *« s GRAND JTC COLCl i9oa 1 I I J A \ / \ J r i / V \ 1 V k ^ REDLAND5, OSL 1307 RLDLAND3 CAL. I30Q PLATE V. - 4 t 1 r / / / r " / / \ / \- ^ \ MANH^TTAN,KAN3. 1906 ^ I / \ \ L \ / \ ^ 1 ) ^ z / \ KASLO B.C. 1907 HASUD B.C. i30a 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 203 south, and tlioso from Arkansas longer than those from farther north. This suggests the possibility that near the northern and southern extremes of distribution the general rule of elonga- tion, as one goes north, is reversed, and that in the extreme north they are a little flatter than they are a little farther south, and at the extreme south they become slightly elongated. More data are needed to decide this question. With a feeling that much could be learned by a more detailed study of the apples along the coast and adjacent region of New England and the maritime provinces, a special effort was made in the past season to secure apples from this section. These show the elongation towards the seacoast and northward, but among those from Maine the figures are not as harmonious as might be wished. Sangerville is farthest inland and N^ew Gloucester nearest the coast, and they give the flattest and second longest apples, respectively; but the localities between do not show the gradual change in form that might be expected. These differences, however, are not large, and selection of the sample and local influences may account for it. More informa- tion is needed to clear this up. VaEI ABILITY OF THE DiFFEEENT LoTS. An examination of the measures of variability of the different lots, bearing in mind the selection or want of selection of the shippers, indicates a somewhat greater variability in northern localities. This is shown both years, but is more pronounced in 1908. Size. The size of the apples was in many cases dependent largely on the selection practiced by the grower in making up the lots for shipment. Some were carefully selected and others were the run of the orchard. Any figures on size are, therefore, likely to be of little value. It is doubtless true that the apple attains a larger size in the south than in the extreme north. The sea- son of 1907 was cold in the north and dry in the southwest, and may account for the inferior size of the apples from these re- gions. The season of 1908 was warmer in the north, and it appears that the apples were larger. Table 4 shows the results 204 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. c^ pa cS "S Sog cc o OS c b c s5^ CO 0 lO >o •o iO to H a ■^ >> « C-, oo M* C-, ^ oo ^ -* „ •<** a +i -* o C-1 CO CO ■H •«' ■h' ■h' ■h' 4) 4(' 4)' 1 4)' 41 4t' o (M o '^ 00 o e> -0 c o o 00 00 CO o '-' Cvj ^_ 1 ^ **^. ■H ■H ■H -h' 41 4) 4)' M 4l' 41 41 (M '^ 03 00 ■* t^ Cj > t^ CO OS CO oo >o CO t^ 00 CO >o MH ■* ta M ^ TJH 'S* CO CO C-l 00 ^ o 05 CO CO >o c-^ 0 >o o C-) CO '— ' •— ' Cl CO CO d C!3 jf ■« -H ^^' -H 4) 4J 4j' 41 4l' 41 s Cs '* 03 o ^ 00 s •— ' c^ •<** lO 00 ■^ OS 00 oo ^ o o CO ■^ Tf> >o ■* t^ CO t^ t^ I~- t^ 00 03 'm ssS ro M< O: CO CD o ■* -* N OS OS 10 ft h S s5s? oo o lO ci c-l 0 CO OS "^ >o •o ■«< >o CO CO CO 'S* H a ■s >> CD C<) CO ^ oo ^ Oi 0 >c o >o E; (N 00 c^ c^ 00 r- 0 rR 'S CO o 00 CO 00 oj t~-^ >o CO I« O > T) a cq CO >o o (>. CO CO CJ CO t^ ■* t~ C^3 o oo o (^ r- CO ■^ CO ojp CO CO U5 •* Tt* ■<*< CO >o 0 CO M< CO o ^ o ^ -^ CO CO 1^ ■^ m CO CO CO c^ o >o CO t^ ^^ t^ t~ t^ 1 o K U, m W >-! a, Cl< < i Si d 0 1 1 C3 d a c5 3 a u ■2. o o -3 □ o 3 .s '6 a "a! o3 0 0 a d m 0 03 1 0 < _2 ■3 C3 M -a a; 1 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 205 of measuring a few lots from tlio same orchard both seasons, where it appears, from eorr('S})oii(knK'e with the growers, safe to make comparisons. For c()m])arison the average monthly mean temperatures for the growing season March to September, inclusive, for the different towns or some near-by station are given. It appears safe to infer that in any given orchard the size of the apj^le is governed largely by the temperature, but this by no means holds in different localities. Flesh. The whiteness of flesh which is characteristic of the variety was always maintained in considerable degree ; those from Colo- rado were notably white of flesh. «The less mature specimens had a greenish tinge, which, as the fruit ripened, gave way to a slight yellowish. The firmness of the flesh likewise gradually gave way with ripening. The Colorado and in less degree the California lots were less firm and more of a spongy texture. Those from California carried well, but those from Colorado were soft enough to bruise quite badly, though this appeared to not seri- ously injure their keeping qualities, as the bruises showed a tendency to dry out rather than to decay. The juiciness and quality were found to be variable. The apples were generally more juicy in the south, and of notably better quality. IS^orthern-grown fruit was dry, flat, hard, and in some cases noticeably astringent, and these undesirable quali- ties did not entirely disappear with ripening. In an attempt to learn something of the real nature of this, and of the general quality of the flesh, some chemical work was done.^ Owing to a lack of time this was not as complete as might be wished, but the results, as far as they go, are inter- esting. The methods used in this work may be briefly described as follows. One or two small slices, reaching to the core, were cut from three or more carefully selected ap]iles, and dried in a water bath at 90° to 98° C. for about thirty-six hours. The w^eight of the residue gave the amount of dry matter. This dry residue, after cooling, was ground in a mortar until it » For the opportunity to rlo this and for many suggestions as to methods, etc., the writer is in- debted to the chemical department of the college. 206 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. would pass through a very fine sieve, and this fine powder iTsed for the other work. The " insoluble matter " was determined by digesting 1 gram with about 200 cubic centimeters distilled water at room temperature, filtering through a tared filter paper and drying. The filtrate was titrated with n/5 alkali, using phenolphthalein as an indicator, and calculated as malic acid. For crude fiber the methods of the Association of Official Agri- cultural Chemists were followed, except that the sample was not previously extracted with ether. The results of this work are shown in Table 5. From this table it appears that there is slight variation in the water con- tent of these apples, those from Arkansas and Oklahoma having a little lower water content that those from the north. There is nothing in this column to account for the observed differences in juiciness and quality. Table 5. — Chemica I Determinations {Per Cent.). In Original Subsistence. In Dry Matter. Apples from — Water. Dry Matter. Soluble Matter. Insol- uble Matter. Crude Fiber. Acid, as Malic. Insol- uble Matter. Crude Fiber. Prince Edward Island, 84.9 15.1 11.13 3.97 1.07 1.03 26.3 7.15 Nova Scotia, 85.4 14.6 11.11 3.39 1.13 - 23.9 7.75 Maine, 84.6 . 15.4 - - - .70 - - Quebec, 84.2 15.8 11.80 4.00 - - 25,3 - Vermont, 84.0 16.0 - - - .76 - - Guelph, Ont., . 8.3.6 16.4 13.52 2.89 - - 17.5 - Belleville, Ont., . 83.6 16.4 - - - - - - Pennsylvania, 85.8 14.2 - - - .70 - - Massachusetts, . 85.2 14.8 11.52 3.26 .99 .73 22.0 6.68 Connecticut, 84.2 If. 8 - - - - - - Delaware, . 84.3 15.7 - - - .79 - - West Virginia, 84.8 15.2 12.00 3.21 .80 .79 21.1 5.28 Kentucky, 84.7 15.3 12.58 2.74 - - 17.9 - Indiana, 83.2 16.8 - - - .76 - - Bontonvillo, Ark., 82.4 17.6 - - .93 - - 5.29 Fayettcville, Ark., 81.2 18.8 - - 1.03 .65 - 5.52 Oklahoma, . 82.6 17.4 14,30 3,04 - .66 17.6 - Colorado, 84.8 15.2 12.82 2.39 1.00 - 15.7 - California, . 83.2 16.8 13.88 2.94 - .63 17.5 - British Columbia, 81,5 15.5 - - - - - - 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 207 The constituents of apples, sohible in water, include the sugars, acids and doubtless some others of minor importance. These are lowest in Nova Scotia and highest in Oklahoma, and sam})les from intermediate points are generally between these figures in so far at least as determined. The percentage of insoluble matter, which consists of pectin, cellulose and possibly starch and allied substances, are in gen- eral inversely proportional to those of soluble matter, being highest in the north and lower in the more southern part of the range of the variety. Color. The body color was, as a rule, closely correlated with the degree of ripeness of the fruit, the riper the apple the more yellowish in color. Aside from this, no variation was noted. The depth of overcolor was closely correlated with latitude, the farther north the deeper the color, and the variation was from a pale pinkish red in Arkansas to a deep crimson in the extreme north. The amount of overcolor did not seem to be dependent on latitude but was probably controlled largely by local conditions. The overcolor was especially good on the Pacific coast apples and on those from Colorado, Pennsylvania and Indiana, though in case of the last it was rather dull. The disposition of the color showed no striking variation. The mottling ran together into a blush on highly colored specimens, and there were always more or less stripes and splashes present. Probably all the russet that appeared was caused by Bordeaux mixture. Bloom. The amount of bloom seemed to be rather less in the north than in the south and on the Pacific coast. The nature of the bloom, whether waxy or greasy, seemed to depend largely on the maturity of the fruit. Sliin. The skin was generally thicker in the south and west than in the northern localities. The texture did not vary greatly. The surface of the fruit varied much, but this seemed to be brought about by local conditions, and most of the roughness 208 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. was due to Bordeaux mixture. The specially dull rough sur- face of the Massachusetts specimens was probably due to a heavy application of nitrate of soda the j)revious year. Dots. The size and color of the dots was variable, but the number and form were quite constant, and they were always very slightly raised above the surface of the apple. They are generally very small in the extreme north and become quite constantly larger as one goes south, being largest in the southwest and in Colorado. Almost all specimens showed some dots with russet and some without. Aside from this they are generally lighter in the north and more gray or yellowish toward the south. Cavity. The variation in the size of the cavity was marked. It was small and very shallow in the extreme northeast, of medium de])th in the central and south central States and very deep in the Ozarks and in Colorado and California. It was very nar- row in the Ozarks and generally wide in other localities. In cross-section there was little significant variation except that the cavity was generally more smooth and regular in southern- grown specimens. Stem. The stem presented little of interest. It was extremely vari- able in length and size, but the variation was nearly as great between specimens of almost any one lot as between those of different lots. The variability was perhaps greater in northern- grown ai)ples than in those grown farther south. Basin. Tlu^ reiiiiirks concerning the variation of the cavity will a])i)ly almost as well to the basin. A noticeable variation was the tendency towards a five-crown(Ml frnit in Nova Scotia and to a less degree in neighboring regions. This was also seen in some degree in s]iecimens from British Columbia, but w\as less ])i'ononii('e(l. This leiidcncy towards a pentagonal form ex- tends nioi'c oi- less to lli(^ whole n])ple, giving somewhat of a 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 209 pentagonal outline to the fruit as a whole. In the more south- ern localities, and particularly in the Ozarks and neighboring regions, the basin is remarkably smooth and regular and the sides abrupt, which make the basin one of the surest means of identifying specimens of this variety that may chance to be oil" type. Calyx. The calyx was generally more or less distorted by handling, and it was difficult to make very much out of it. The most striking thing about it was that in the small, poorly developed specimens it was nearly always closed, while in large, well-grown specimens it was at least partly open and sometimes a little separate at the base. Calyx Tube. The calyx tube was extremely variable, being sometimes very short, not more than one-fourth as long as wide, as in some of the Quebec specimens, and sometimes extremely long, extending almost to the cells, as in some of those from Arkansas and Colorado. This variability lay mostly in what may be called the stem of the funnel, this being very long in some apples and varying all the way to complete suppression, leaving a conical tube, in others. As a rule it was longer in the fully developed specimens and short in the poorly developed apples from north- ern regions. Core. The variation of the core closely followed that of the general form of the api)le. In the elongated specimens it approached an oval form, and in the roundish and oblate apples it was turbinate. Likewise, in the elongated specimens it was usually abaxile, often strongly so, and in the more oblate ones it became axile or nearly so. The size as compared with that of the whole fruit varied but little, being possibly a little larger in the ill-developed a])])lcs, and it was always central and the core lines generally clasping. Cells. The variation of the cells very closely followed that of other parts of the core, being wide open and asymmetrical in the northern-grown apples and closed and symmetrical in those from 210 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. the south. It was most open and asymmetrical in the larger apples. The carpels were never tufted but often were a little slit, especially in those from the north; they varied consider- ably in form, following pretty closely the general form of the apple. The concavity of the carpels was chiefly dependent on the development of the seeds. Seeds. The seeds showed little variation worthy of note. The num- ber was somewhat variable; they were usually plump and of medium size. The color varied with the degree of maturity of the fruit, being generally lighter in poorly developed, northern- grown specimens. Causes of the VaeiatiojST. The most interesting and significant variation is found (1) in the form of the apple and its parts, both external and in- ternal; (2) in size, and (3) in the quality of the flesh. The variation in color is that usually found, being darker in the higher latitudes. For^m. It appears beyond question that, speaking generally, and possibly excluding the extremes of distribution, Ben Davis apples become gradually more elongated as one goes from its Southern range northward, and this elongation is much more pronounced near large bodies of water. This is probably some- what affected by local influences, but in general it appears to hold. That these differences are caused by climate, and not by different soils, sites, fertilizers or methods of cultivation, the writer has no doubt. Just what factor or factors of climate bring this change about is not so clear. It would seem probable that humidity has something to do with it, but the writer has been unable thus far to secure conclusive evidence on this point. The availal)le records of hnuiidity have been unsatisfactory, and more exact knowledge of this at the stations where the apples are grown and more data on their variation are needed. It is also possible that temperature may have an influence, either direct or tln-ough its influence on humidity. 1910. PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 211 It is entirely possible that other factors enter in, hut a care- ful consideration of latitude, altitnde, amount and intensity of sunlight, rainfall and other considerations fail to show anything that can be demonstrated as having any constant effect. To determine just what the cause is will require much patient investigation. Size. The size of the apples appears to be largely governed in any locality by the sunnner temperature. This is shown by the larger apples in the warmer season of 1908. In only two cases has a higher temperature failed to produce larger apples, and in one case the apples are larger while the temperature remains the same. The other eight comparisons in Table 4 show a higher temperature and larger apples. It may also be noted that a comparatively low temperature in the north produces as large or larger ai3ples than a much higher temperature farther south. It is of course to be understood that methods of cultivation have an effect on size sometimes greater than temperature, and this fact, together with some possible selection on the part of the shipper, probably accounts for the above excej)tion to the gen- eral rule. Flesh. During the winter of 1907 careful notes were kept on the quality of the apples from the different localities. In the judg- ment of the writer the various lots would rank in quality about in the following order with a notable difference between 9 and 10: — 1. Colorado, Degrees F. . 63.0 11. Connecticut, . Degrees F. . 55.3 2. Indiana, . 63.2 12. Pennsylvania, . 56.9 3. Bentonville, Ark., . . 13. Massachusetts, . 55.9 4. Oklahoma, . 68.9 14. Guelph, Ont., . 5. Lincoln, Ark., . 69.0 15. Nova Scotia, . . 50.4 6. California, . 65.9 16. British Columbia, . . 49.5 7. Kentucky, . 66.3 17. Maine, . . 53.8 8. West Virginia, . 60.4 18. Prince Edward Island . 48.9 9. Delaware, . 61.8 19. Vermont, . 53.0 10. Belleville, Ont., . 52.4 20. Quebec, . . 49.9 212 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Accompanying the list is given the average monthly mean temperatures for the growing season of 1907, March to Septem- ber, inclusive, as compiled from the records of the United States Weather Bureau and Canadian Meteorological Service. It appears from this that an average monthly mean tempera- ture for the growing season of at least 60° is required for the satisfactory development of the Ben Davis apple, and if grown where a lower temperature prevails the product is likely to be inferior. That the poor quality of these northern-grown apples, as shown by their acidity, and dry, tasteless flesh, is due to lack of sufficient heat to fully develop the fruit is indicated by the results of certain work of the Bureau of Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture on the development of ihe Ben Davis,^ where is shown the constant increase of sugars and decrease of acids with the development of the apples. It is also shown that the tannin which is present in the ])artial]y developed apples gradually disappears, and it is doubtless this substance that gives the aj^ples their astringent taste. Summary. 1. Apples vary greatly in response to the widely varying conditions of soil, and, more especially, climate, in the apple regions of North America. The Ben Davis variety seems to be especially variable. 2. This variability may be accurately measured and studied by means of statistical methods. 3. The most striking variation is in the external form of the apples, and this is accompanied by corresponding changes of the internal structure. 4. The cause of this variation is some factor or faclors of climate, which are closely related to latitude and the ])r()ximity of large bodies of water. It is probable that humidity or tem- perature, or both, may be the controlling factors. 5. The differences in warmth of different growing seasons definitely affect the sizie of the apples for that season. G. The most favorable temperature for development in size 1 IJureau of Clit-nilBtry, lUiHetin 04, \i. 44. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 213 varies with tlic locality. It is lower in the north than in the south. 7. The cause of the variation in quality is chiefly the varying amount of heat prevalent during the growing season. 8. In order to develop satisfactorily in quality the Ben Davis should have an average monthly mean temperature of not less than 60° F. for the growing season, March to September, inclusive. 214 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. FUMIGATION DOSAGE. I. TOMATOES. BY W. V, TOWER, B.S. Introduction. BY H. T. FERNALD. Tomatoes are extensively grown in Massachusetts in green- houses. Unfortunately, they are subject to the attacks of sev- eral kinds of insects which under glass seem to be more than ordinarily destructive. The most important of these enemies are the greenhouse white fly (Aleyrodes vaporariorum West.) and thrips, and as these are most successfull}^ controlled by fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas, this treatment should be familiar to tomato growers. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case, many growers seeming to be afraid to use it for fear that when the gas is generated in sufficient quantity to destroy the insects it will also injure the plants. The amount of hydrocyanic acid gas to which tomato plants can be exposed without injury, under varying conditions of light, temperature, humidity, age, variety, etc., has never been investigated, so that there has hitherto been some reason for this fear. To determine, therefore, just what tomato plants ('(»ii1d withstand in the way of treatment, under all conditions likely to be met with in commercial work, the experiments which follow were planned by the writer and were carried out ill the greenhouse of the dopartnient of entomology of the IMassa- chiisetts Agricultural Experiment Station during the winter of 1005-06, by Mr. ^Y. Y. Tower, then a graduate student in en- t(Uiiology at the Massachusetts Agricultural Coll(>ge. The ex- ])('riiii('iils had just been C()m])let(Hl wh(>ii IMr. Tower accepted an apj)oiiitmei!t in Puerto Ivico and was obliged to leave before the I'JK).] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 215 results Avero ready for publication. It is therefore desirable, for the sake of placiug respousibility, to state that the experi- ments were planned largely by the writer, assisted to some ex- tent by ]\rr. Tower ; that the entire care of the plants, the fumi- gations and the observation of the results were the work of ]\Ir. Tower; while most of the conclusions and the duty of editing the work for publication have fallen upon the writer. In fact, the original Avork herein contained should be regarded as Mr. Tower's, while for the planning of the experiments and the editorial work the writer should be held responsible. Three varieties of tomato — Livingston, Lorillard and Free- dom— were selected, these being the ones most generally raised under glass in Massachusetts. Two' plants of each variety were used in each test. In the tabulations which follow, factors common to the entire set are given before the tabulation itself. The abbreviations indicatinc: the results are as follows : — B, burned. BB, badly bvu'iied. BC, burned and leaves curling. BI, badly injured. C, leaves curling. I, injured. K, killed. N, normal (uninjured). SB, slightly burned. SI, slightly injured. TI, temporarily injui-cd. TK, top killed. VBI, very badly injured. Wilted leaves are the first indication of injury. If this is not too severe they gradually become normal again. Curled leaves indicate more serious effects, but plants thus affected fre- quently become normal later. The fumigation in all cases was with 98 per cent, to 99 per cent, potassic cyanide, the proportions of the cyanide, acid and water used being 1, 2, 4. The column marked " Time of ex- posure " gives the time at which the treatment began. Temper- atures are given by the Fahrenheit scale. The first two sets of experiments were carried on in direct sunlight. In the first set periods of ten, twenty, thirty, forty- five minutes' and one hour's exposure quickly showed that it was not necessary to make any long exposures with the greater strength of cyanide, and, accordingly, exposures of ten, twenty and thirty minutes only were made, even the shortest of these being too severe a treatment for the })lants. 216 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Experiment I. Day Exposures with Direct Sunliglit. First four sets treated March l-l; fifth set treated December 14. Eumigation with .005 gram KCN per cuhic foot ; plants six weeks old; hinniditj for first four sets, G5° ; for fifth set, 60° ; amount of sunlight (March 14) for first four sets, four hours; for fifth set (December 14), five hours; plants of first four sets, watered the morning of the test ; of the fifth the day before ; all sets dry when treated ; conclusions drawn five days after treat- ment with the first three sets, eight days afterward with the fourth set and about three weeks afterward with the fifth set. The suidight was not as strong for the fifth set as for the others, it being December, while the other tests were in March. Set Numbers. Time of exposure, . Length of exposure, Temperature of house (degrees), Livingston, .... Lorillard Freedom 2.28 10 m. 68 B N B 3.00 20 m. 65 BB B B 3.30 30 m. 631,1. BB SB BB 4.10 4,5 ni. 65 BB BC BC 8.30 1 h. 67 VBI VBI VBI EXPEKIMENT IT. Day Exposures icith Direct Sunlight. First two sets treated December 14 ; third set March 14. Fumigation with .01 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants six weeks old; humidity, 79° ; aimmnt of sunlight for first two sets five hours; for third set four hours; all plants watered at 8.30 A.M. the day of the test, but dry when treated; one plant of each variety placed under a l)en('li in the house for fourteen to nineteen hours before treatment; conclusions drawn after three weeks for the first and second sets and after one week for the third set. 1910.] PUBLIC DOrUMKNT — No. 31. 217 — Set Numbers. 1 2 3 Time of exposure, 11.20 12.00 1.45 Length of exposure, . 10 m. 20 in. 30 m. Temperature of house (degrees), 70 70 71 Liviugston nornuil, . K K JU Livingston under beiu-li, . I K K Lorillard normal. K K lU Lorillard under bench, K K lU Freedom normal, K K BI Freedom under bench; K K BI This experiment would seem to indicate that the plants placed under the benches before treatment were not benefited in this way. EXPEEIMEXT III. Cloudy Dnij Exposures, Deccmher 10. Fumigation with .0:^ gram KCN per cubic foot; plants six weeks old; humidity not taken till 8 p.m., when it was 81°; good sunlight for four days before the test and for two hours in the morning that day; all plants watered at 8.30 a.m. the day of the test, but dry when treated ; half the plants of each variety were sprinkled just before the test; conclusions drawn after seventeen days' observation. It was dusk when the fourth set M'as fumigated. Set Numbers. Time of exposure, Lengtli of exposure. Temperature of liouse (degrees), Livingston normal, . Livingston sprinkled, Lorillard normal, Lorillard sprinkled, . Freedom normal, Freedom sprinkle0. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set Numbers. Time of exposure, . Length of exposure, Temperature (degrees), Humidity (degrees), Wliite Spine, Hotliouse, . 7.00 10 ni. 62 58 N N 20 ni. 59 52 N N 8.00 30 ni. 58 U N N 8.45 45 111. e,Q 43 N N ;i.45 111. 65 51 SI N Experiment IX. Moonlight Night Exposures iciili titronger Fumigation, March 20, 21. Fumigation Avith .015 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants eight clays old ; amount of sunlight the clay of treatment of the first three sets, nine and a half hours ; of the last two sets, eleven hours ; slightly hazy the evening the first three sets were treated ; conclusions drawn after two weeks. Set Numbers. 3 Time of exposure, . Lengtli of exposure, Temperature (degrees). Humidity (degrees) Wliite Spine, . Ilotiiouse, . 11.00 10 111. 76 36 N N 11.25 20 ni. 75 40 N N 12.00 30 111. 44 X N 6.. 35 45 ni. 63 55 SI SI 7.35 111. 70 61 SB SB Experiment X. Moonlight NigJit Exposures with Stronger Fumigation, March Ol 06) I'uniigatio'n with .02 gram K(^X ]^er cubic foot; ])lants nine days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment of first four sets, eleven hours; of fifth set, five and a half hours; con- clusions drawn after two weeks. 1910. PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 233 Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 Time of exposure 8.30 9.15 9.50 10.35 6.45 Length of cxiiosurc, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. Temperature (degrees) 69 68 66 64 G4 Humidity (degrees) 51 54 59 54 64 Wliite Spine N N SB SB B Hothouse N N N SB B A comparison of tlie last three experiments wonld indicate that, under these conditions, an increase of .005 gram KCN^ was abont equivalent to fifteen iniiiutes' exposure. Experiment XI. StarligJd Night Exposures, April 3. Fumigation with .01 gram KCN per cubic foot ; phints eleven days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, twelve hours ; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 a 3 Time of exposure, 7.25 8.10 9.10 Length of exposure, . 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. Temperature (degrees), 64 62 62 Humidity (degrees), 58 65 66 White Spine, N N N Hothouse N N N Experiment XII. Starlight Night Exposures with Older Plants, May 21, 23, 2Jf, 1907; May 4, H, 1008. Fumigation with .01 gram KCN per cubic foot; conclusions drawn after one week. 234 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Date of treatmeut, May 21 May 21 May 23 May 24 May 4 May 4 May U Aj;c of plants (days), . 14 14 16 18 13 20 25 Time of exposure, 7.35 9.00 8.00 7.30 9.20 7.15 7.15 Length of exposure, Hi h. IV2 h. 1% h. 2h. IV2 h. 2h. 2h. Temperature (degrees). 56 56 55 57 61 65 69 Humidity (degrees), 90 iSl 80 76 100 96 94 White Spine, . N X N N SB SB N Hothouse, N N N N N SB N Experiment XIII. Starlight Night Exposures ivitli Still Older Plants, April 15, October 7, November J^. Fuiiiigation with .01 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants of first five sets, five W'Ceks old ; of the sixth and seventh sets, four weeks ; of the eighth and ninth sets, thirty-two days ; con- clusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Time of exposure. 7.10 7.35 8.10 8.55 9.55 6.30 8.15 6.30 8.45 Length of exposure, . 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. 11/2 h. m h. 2h. 2V2 h. Temperature (degrees), . 63 63 59 60 62 61 06 56 53 Humidity (degrees), . 70 71 76 70 76 50 80 79 84 White Spine, .... N N N N N N N N N Hothouse N N N N N N N N N Experiment XIV. Starlight Night Exposures with Old Plants, May 20, 23, 31, June 7, 17. b'liiuigation with .01 gram KCN per cubic foot; entire* greenhouse full of plants used in each exposure; conclusions drawn after one week. 1010.] PUBTJC TXICUMENT — No. 31 235 Sbt Numbeks. :t Age of plants (days), Time of exposure, Lengrth of exposure, Temperature (degrees), . Amount of sunliLjlit for tl:iy, White splue, Hothouse, .... 69 8.10 Ih. 0;$ 10 h. N N 72 8.15 IVa li- es 3.8 h. SB SB 80 8.20 1% h. 62 2.7 h. SB SB 8.00 3 1i. 62 6.8 h. SB SB 97 8.00 3h. 12 h. SB SB Experiment XV. Siarliglii Night Exposures iritJi Stronger Fumigation, April 11. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cuLic foot; plants nineteen days old ; amount of snnlight the day of treatment, eleven and a half hours ; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. Time of exposure. Length of exposure, . Temperature (degrees), Humidity (degrees), . Wliite spine. Hothouse, . 7.00 30 m. 70 59 7.45 45 ni. 69 63 N N 8.45 Ih. 69 63 N N Experiment XVI. Starlight Night Exposures ivith Older Plants or Longer Ex- posures. Fumigation with .015 gram KCIST per cubic foot; amount of sunlight May 13, nearly twelve hours; not taken on the other days ; conclusions drawn after one week. 236 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set VUMBEES 1 a 3 4 5 0 7 8 9 Age of plants (days), 24 24 24 24 24 21 21 16 16 Date of treatment, . May 13 May 13 May 13 May 13 May 13 Nov.ll Nov.ll Nov. 12 Nov. 12 Time of exposure. 7.25 7.50 8.25 9.05 10.00 6.30 8.15 6.30 8.45 Length of exposure, 10 m. 20 m. 30 ni. 45 m. 1 b. Hi h. 1% h. 2 1i- lyo li. Temi)erature (de- grees), . 70 65 C2 61 58 63 63 60 00 Humidity (degrees), 75 73 73 75 72 79 81 71 73 Wliite Spine, . N N N N N N N SB SB Hothouse, . N N N N N N N SB SB Experiment XYII. Starlight Niglit Exposures ivitli Still Older Plants, May 1. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants five weeks old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, 8.7 hours ; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 Time of exposure 7.00 7.2.T 8.00 4.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. Temperature (degrees), .... 60 56 50 54 53 Humidity (degrees) 90 87 90 82 87 White Spine, N N N N N Hothouse, N N N N N Experiment XVIII. Sl((i'lifjlit Xir/ht Exposures irifli Old Phuds, May 1Jf. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cul)ic foot; ])lants seven weeks old; amount of sunlight the day of treatment,. 11.5 houi's; conclusions di-awii after one week. 1010. PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 237 Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 Time of exposure, 7.15 7-35 8.10 8.55 9.55 Leunth of exposure, .... 10 111. 20 m. 30 111. 45 m 1 h. Teiiipenature (dej^rees) OS Co 60 59 59 Iluniiditj' (degrees), .... 7S 71 83 84 84 White Spine N N X N N Hothouse N N X N N ExPEKIMENT XIX. Siarliglit XigJif Exposures untJi Stwnger Fuynigatlon, May 17. Fumigation with .02 gram KCN^ per cubic foot; plants ten days old; amount of snnlight the day of treatment, 2.3 hours ; night slightly hazy, with the moon in the first quarter ; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 a 3 4 3 Time of exposure 7.20 7.40 8.10 8.55 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 111 . Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 58 58 58 CO CO Humidity (degrees), .... 71 71 88 86 86 White Spine, N N N BB BB llotliouse, N N N BB BB EXPEKIMENT XX. Slnrliglit NigJif Exposures ivith Older Plants, April IS. Fumigation with .02 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants thirty-seven days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, twelve hours; slightly cloudy just at the l)eginning of the ex- periment ; conclusions drawn after one ^veck. 238 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set Numbers. Time of exposure, Length of exposure, . Temperature (degrees), Humidity (degreet), Wliite Spine, Hothouse, . 7.00 20 m. 65 71 N SB 8.25 30 m. 63 71 N SB 9.10 45 ni. 63 80 N .SB 10.10 Ih. 65 76 SB N ExPEEIMENT XXL Starlight Kiglit Exposures with Stronger Fumigation, May 20, June 4. Fumigation with .03 gram KCX jDer cubic foot ; plants of first three sets, three weeks old, treated May 20 ; of last two sets, twenty-six days old, treated June 4; amount of sun- liglit May 20, 10 hours; June 4, 6.6 hours; small amount of moonlight during sets 1 and 4; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbbe s. 1 3 3 1 5 Time of exposure, 7.35 8.55 9.50 8.00 9.00 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 HI. Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 56 54 52 65 62 Humidity (degrees), .... 75 88 82 83 80 White Spine SB SB B BB B Hothouse SB SB B B B Experiment XXIL Starlight Night Exposures with Older Plants, May 2S. Fumigation with .03 gram IvCX per cubic foot; plants tliirty-lwo days old; nmoiiiit of sunlight the day of treatment, 3.8 hours; conclusions drawn after one week. 1910.] PIIRTJC DOCUMENT — No. P.l. 239 S KT Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 Time of exposure 7..S0 T-S-T 8.30 9.10 10.10 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 ni. 30 III. 45 m. 1 h. Temperature (degrees), .... 54 50 52 54 55 Humidity (degrees), .... 90 95 85 89 83 Wliite Spine X SB SB BB BB Ilotliouse N SB SB BB BB Experiment XXIIL 8tar]iglit Night' Exposures with Strong Fumigation, April 22. Fumigation with .04 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants five weeks old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, 11.5 hours ; small amount of moonlight during the first three sets ; moon and stars nearly obscured during the last two sets; con- clusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 a 3 4 a Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Lengtli of exposure, .... 10 m 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. Ih. Temperature (degrees) 81 68 67 65 65 Humidity (degrees), .... 63 72 78 78 72 Wliite Spine N N BB BB BB Hothouse, SB B BB BB BB Experiment XXIV. Cloudy Night Exposures, April 8. Eumigation with .01 gram KCjST per cubic foot; plants two weeks old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment one- half hour ; conclusions drawn after one week. 240 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Time of exposure, Length of exposure, . Temperature (degrees). Humidity (degrees), . Wliite Spine, Ilotliouse, . Set Numbers 3 7.05 30 ni. 69 63 N K 7.50 45 111. 66 70 X N 8.50 Ih. 65 CO N N Experiment XXV. Cloudy Night Exposures with Plants of Various Ages, J\Iay 6, Nov. 19, 1907; April 21, 1908. Fumigation with ,01 gram KCN per cubic foot; no sun- light any of the days when treatment was given; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Ndmbers. Age of plant (days), Time of exjiosure, . Lengtli of exposure. Temperature (degrees), Humidity (degrees), Wliite Spine, . Ilotliouse, 10 7.00 10 ni. 57 91 X N 10 7.25 20 m. 56 89 X X 10 8.00 30 in. 54 91 X N 10 8.45 45 ni. 56 88 X X 10 9.45 111. 57 88 X X 33 9.10 IV^h. 69 72 X X 16 7.00 2 1i. 75 91 BB BB Experiment XXVI. Cloudy Night Exposures with Rlronger Fumigation, May 10, 1907; April 27, 1908. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants of first five sets, two weeks old ; of sixth set, sixteen days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treat uieut of the first five sets, Y.4 hoiii-s; nut taken for the sixth set; coiu'lnsioiis drawn after one week. 11)10.1 PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 241 Set Numbers. 2 Time of exposure, Length of exposure, . Temperature (degrees), Iluniklity (degrees), . Wliite Spine, Hothouse, . 7.10 10 m. (i't 79 N N 7.40 20 ni. 01 N N 8.15 30 ni. 57 83 N N 9.00 45 ni. 57 78 N N 10.00 Ih. 55 84 SI SI 9.10 2h. 72 93 BB BB Experiment XXVIL Cloudy Night Exposures with Older Plants, April 16. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants five weeks old; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, 11.5 hours : conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 .'» Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 111. 30 m. 45 m. 1 li. Temperature (degrees) 71 71 72 74 7G Humidity (degrees), .... 55 60 G3 68 68 White Spine, N N N N N Hothouse N N N N SB Experiment XXVIII. Cloudy Night Exposures with Plants of Various Ages, April 25, May 13, 28. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cubic foot; dim moon- light during treatment of the first three sets ; conclusions drawn after one week. 242 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set Numbers. 1 3 3 4 .5 Date of treatment April 2S April 25 April 25 May 28 May 13 Time of exposure 8.00 8.45 9.45 8.00 7.20 Length of exposure, .... 30 m. 45 m. Ih. IVoh. 2h. Temperature (degrees) 81 81 78 68 69 Humidity (degrees) 62 66 68 93 92 White Spine, N N SB SB BB Hothouse N B SB SB BB Experiment XXIX. Cloudy Night Exposures with Stronger Fumigation, May 15, Nov. 12, 1907; May 13, 1908. Fumigation with .02 gram KCN per cubic foot ; conclu- sions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 8 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 Date of treatment, . May 16 May 16 May 16 May 16 Nov. 13 Nov. 13 Nov.13 May 13 Nov. 19 Age of plants (days), 9 9 9 9 17 17 17 20 23 Time of exposure, . 7.45 8.10 8.50 9.40 6.. 30 7.45 9.. 30 9.30 6.30 Length of exposure, 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. Ih. IVa h. 1% h. 2h. 2V2 h. Temperature (degrees), . 66 63 63 61 58 58 56 66 71 Humidity (degrees), 90 90 91 95 74 56 76 95 73 White Spine, . N N N N N N N K BB Hothouse, N N N N N N N K BB Experiment XXX. Cloudy Night Exposures ivith Older Plants, April 26. Eumigation with .02 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants five weeks old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, five hours; conclusions drawn after one week. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT —No. 31. 243 Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 Time of exposure, 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 64 62 63 68 74 Humidity (degrees) 75 73 80 72 72 White Spiue N N N N N Hothouse N N N N N Experiment XXXI. Cloudy Night Exposures ivith Still Older Plants, May 9, IS. Fumigation with .02 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants of the first five sets, fifty-one days old ; of sixth set, thirty-eight davs old ; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Kumbbes. I 2 3 4 5 6 Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.15 8.55 9.55 9.30 Length of exposure 10 m. 20 m . 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. 2h. Temperature (degrees), .... 61 58 55 64 53 66 Humidity (degrees), 81 88' 91 91 92 95 White Spine N N SI SB B K Hothouse N N SI SB B K Experiment XXXII. Cloudy Night Exposures with Stronger Fumigation, May 21. Fumigation with .03 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants twenty days old ; no sunlight the day of treatment ; conclu- sions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 S Time of exposure, 7.16 7.40 8.15 9.00 10.00 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. Ih. Temperature (degrees) .... 60 60 59 62 58 Humidity (degrees) 95 95 94 85 88 White Spine X SB SB SB SB Hotliouse N SB SB SB SB 244 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Experiment XXXIII. Cloudy Night Exposures with Older Plants, April 19. Fumigation with .03 gram KCN per cubic foot ; plants tbirtj-eight days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, four hours ; conclusions drawn after one week. S ET Numbers. 1 8 3 4 .5 Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 ni. Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 64 64 66 68 68 Humidity (degrees), .... 74 74 73 73 72 White Spine SB N X N N Hothouse N N N SB N Experiment XXXIV. Cloudy Night Exposures with Strong Fumigation, March 23. Fumigation with .04 gram KCX per cubic foot ; plants eleven days old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, ten hours ; conclusions drawn after two weeks. Set Numbers. 1 2 3 4 .5 Time of exposure, 6.55 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 m. 20 m. 30 m. 45 m. 1 h. Temperature (degrees) 73 68 65 66 67 Humidity (degrees), .... 60 62 60 .59 61 White Spine, N SI SB BB VBI Hothouse N SI SB BB VBI Experiment XXXV. Cloudy Night Exposures with Electric Light, April 29. Conditions in this series of experiments were about like those of the preceding set, except that a 16 candle-pov/er in- candescent bulb hanging near the fumigating box was left turned on during the exposures. 1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31, 245 Fuiiiiiiatioii willi .01 iiraiu KCX per ciiliic foot; plants thirty-seven days old; amount of sunligfit the (hiy of treat- ment, 4.G hours; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 1 2 S 4 5 Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure 10 ni. 20 m. 30 m. 45 ni. Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 72 70 72 68 67 Humidity (degrees), .... 55 58 78 82 82 White Spine, N X SIJ BB BB Hothouse SB N N BB BB Experiment XXXVI. Chnulij XiyJtt E,vpusures witJi Electric Light, Stronger Fiuni- gation, May 2. Fumigation with .015 gram KCN per cubic foot; plants seven weeks old ; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, 8.2 hours; conclusions drawn after one week. Set Numbers. 3 3 S.25 9.00 20 m. 30 m. CO 59 72 85 X SB SB SB Time of exposure. Length of exposure, . Temperature (degrees). Humidity (degrees), . White Spine, Hothouse, . 8.00 10 m. 65 85 X X 9.45 45 m. 59 83 SB SB Experiment XXXVIL Cloudy Night Exposures witli Electric Lights, Still Stronger Fumigation, May 7. Fumigation with .02 gram KCX per cuhic foot ; ]ilants seven weeks old; amount of sunlight the day of treatment, n.l hours; rather . cloudy and with a heavy mist during the treatment of the first three sets; cloudy during the last two treatments; conclusions drawn after one week. 246 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. Set Ncmbers. 1 a 3 4 3 Time of exposure 7.00 7.25 8.00 8.45 9.45 Length of exposure, .... 10 ni. 20 in. 30 m. 45 m. Ih. Temperature (degrees), .... 65 63 63 63 62 Humidity (degrees), .... 72 84 84 86 86 White Spine X SI SB BB BB Hothouse, N SI SB BB BB From the last three experiments it is evident that even an electric light near the plants which are being fnniigated has an effect njjon them. Comments and General Conclusions. BY C. W. HOOKER. 1. Day fumigation in direct snnlight is nnquestionably un- safe, as the plants are badly injured or killed. 2. Fumigation on a cloudy day is unsafe at best, the plants being generally more or less injured. 3. Fumigation on a bright moonlight night is also unsafe, often causing much burning of the foliage. 4. The best results are obtained by fumigating on clear starlight nights, with little or no moonlight, and on dry, cloudy nights. 5. A clear, dry evening without moonlight, with a tempera- ture in the house of from 55 degrees to 65 degrees, or a cloudy evening with the same temperature, offer the best conditions for fumigation. This should be followed by a thorough venti- lation for at least fifteen minutes, and the temperature should be kept rather low for twenty-four hours thereafter. 6. A general survey of the experiments seems to indicate that a small amount of TvCN with a longer exposure is pref- erable, to a large amount for a shorter exposure. Y. Individual results obtained here and there in the course of these experiments which seem to contradict the others may, in general, be accounted for by the condition of the plants. lyiO.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT— No. 31. 247 wliic'L frequently, at least, in such eases were not as vigorous as the others, though this was avoided whenever possihle. 8. Comparison of the results of these experiments on cucum- bers with those of Mr. W. V. Tower on tomatoes shows that the former are much the hardier, successfully resisting more cya- nide and longer exi^osures. INDEX. INDEX. Acid number, butter fat, Acid phosphate, quality of, Activities, station. Agriculturist, report of, Air, effect on butter fat. Alfalfa, ground. Ammonia, sulfate, quality of, Analyses, miscellaneous. Animal nutrition, work in, Apiaries, law for inspection needed, Apple leaf spot, occurrence of, Apple rust, occurrence of, Ajjples, Ben Davis group of, . Ben Davis group, varieties in, CLimatic variations, Description of varieties in Ben Davis grou Arkansas Beauty, Arkansas Belle, . Ben Davis, Different lots, variability of, Flesh of, cause of variation in. Form of, cause of variation in. Size of, cause of variation in, . Variation in, . Variation in basin, Variation in bloom, Variation in calyx. Variation in calyx tube, . Variation in, causes of, . Variation in cavity. Variation in chemical composition, Variation in college orchard, Variation in color, . Variation in core, . Variation in core cells. Variation in, discussion of. Variation in dots on. Variation in flesh, . Variation in form, . Variation in, from different parts of the trees. Variation in, from different trt Variation in seeds. Variation in size. Variation in skin of. Variation on stem, Variation in, summary of observations and conclusions on Asparagus beetle, egg parasite of, . 252 INDEX. Asparagus, breeding experiments with, Fertilizer experiments, . . . Relative value of muriate and sulfate of potash for, Babcock machines, inspection of, . Babcock test, conclusions on methods of reading. Observations in reading, Reading the, ..... Babcock testing, examination of candidates for. Barnyard manure, average yield of hay on, Ba.sic .slag phosphate (meal), quality of. Bean rust, occurrence of. Beet scab, occurrence of, Ben Davis apple, description of fruit, Sales of, ... . Ben Davis group of apples, Ben Hur, ..... Black Ben Davis, Bone and potash, average yield of hay on. Botanist, report of the. Breeding experiments, asparagus, . Buildings, construction and improvement, Butter fat, acid number, Action of heat on, . Chemical changes in. Composition of, . Effect of air on. Effect of light on, . Effect of moisture on, Ether number. Iodine number. Physical changes in. Saponification number, . Butter-fat samples, stability of. By-products, analysis of. Naming of, . Cabbages, relative value of muriate and sulfate of potash Sulfate and muriate of potash compared for. Calico or mosaic disease of cucumbers and melons, Carbonate of potash, quality of, Castor pomace, quality of, . Chemical changes in butter fat. Chemical composition of apples from different localities Chemist, report of, . . . Climatic variations in apples. Clover, effect of nitrogen fertilizers on, Influence of varying proportions of potash in fertiliz Co-efRcients of heredity in peas, Coffelt Cole Davis, ...... Control work, ..... Copper, volumetric determination of. Corn, varieties for ensilage. Correspondence, department of clu>inistry, Cottonseed meal (as foodstuff), quality of. for. PAGE 27 27 38 64 145 143 142 63 43 59 70 70 183 182 176 184 184, 187 43 69 27 10 135 138 134 133 134 137 137 135 136 133 135 132 59 61 38 40 163 58 57 134 206 46 197 37 43 174 185 186 24 140 48 46 60 INDEX. 253 of, to dotcnn Cottonseed meal, quality of, . Cow.s, pure-bred, testing, Testing, ..... Cranberries, influence of nitrate of soda on. Influence of phosphoric acid on, Influence of sulfate of potash on, Cranberry bog needed, .... Cranberr_y fertilizer e.xperiments, Cranberr%' growers, co-operation of. Cream, free examination of, . Creameries paying on basis of Babcock test, Crop diseases of the year, Cucumber and melon, calico or mosaic disease Cucumber and melon leaf spot, occurrence of, Cucumbers, best soil for. Fumigation by day, direct sunlight, Fumigation cloudy days. Fumigation cloudy nights. Fumigation cloudy night with electric light. Fumigation experiments, conclusions based on, Fumigation experiments with, Fumigation moonlight nights, . Fumigation starlight nights, Injurious effect of pig manure for, Varieties used in fumigation experiments, Dairy law, execution of, .... Depression in digestibility by molasses, experiments Digestibility co-efficients, molasses experiments, Digestion depression caused by molasses, Director, report of, .... , Dissolved bone-black, quality of, . Dissolved bone, quality of, . Dried blood, quality of, .... Egg plant, bacterial wilt, occurrence of, . Eggs, relative number on moist mash and dry feeds, Eicke, ....... Elm-leaf beetle, distribution of, . Ensilage, varieties of corn for, ... Entomologists, report of, .... Ether number, butter fat, .... Etris Extra, ....... Fajces in molasses experiments, composition of. Fat analysis, notes on methods in, ... Feed and dairy division, miscellaneous analyses in. Feed and dairy .section, resume of work in, Feed law, execution of, .... Uniform, ...... Feeds, free examination of, . Feedstuffs used in experiments with molasses, composition Weight of, . Fertilizer experiments, asparagus, . Cranberries, ..... Fertilizer ingredients, tr.ade value of, of, PACK 58 08 25 32 33 32 30 31 29 66 65 09 163 71 157 228 22S 231 239 244 244 245 246 227 2.31 232 233 239 158 227 63 ne cause of. 108 116 83 13 58 57 57 70 45 186 75 48 73 135 187 187 111 139 67 59 60 62 66 110 62 27 31 51 254 INDEX. Fertilizer section, resume of work in, Fertilizers, analyzed. Collected, .... Commercial shortages in. Commercial value of, compared with retail prices Different grades of, .... Guarantees compared with results of analy.ses. Licensed, ...... Miscellaneous, analysis of, . . . Superiority of high-grade, Tlie results of analyses and guarantees compared Unmixed, ..... Fish, dry-ground, quality of, . Frosts, spring injury to asparagus, Fumigation dosage, .... Fumigation experiments with cucumbers, Funds, need of additional, Fimgicides, national law. Fungous spores, occurrence on onion seed. Fungous spores on onion seed, species of, Gano, ....... Glassware testing, .... Ground bones, quality of, . Gummosis of peach and plum, occurrence of. Hay and gluten feed, effect of molasses upon digestibility of, Hay and molasses, summary of digestion experiments with. Hay, effect of molasses upon digestibility of, general conclusion; Effect of Porto Rico molasses on digestibility o Influence of potash salts on yield of. Influence of varying proportions of potash on yield of Manure compared with manure and potash for. Relative yield on manure, wood ashes and a combin potash, ....... Winter compared with spring application of manure for, Heat, action on butter fat, Heredity in peas. High-grade sulfate of potash, quality of, Improved B(>n Davis, Information, bulletins of, demand for, Inquiry, letters of, . . . Insects, new distribution of, . Insecticides, national law. Iodine number, butter fat, Kainit, quality of, ... Laboratory work, sinnmary of. Lectures and demonstrations. Letters of inquiry. Light, effect on butter fat, Linseed meal, quality of, Mailing lists, revision of. Malnutrition, common in greenliouses. General remedies for, lien manure a cause of, . Hot-water treatment of soil for. In suckers of stumps of trees, . f bone and PAGE 4S 50 49 53 51 54 52 49 59 55 52 56 57 00 214 227 21 IS 164 165 ISX 64 56 70 102 S5 105 82 41 42 42 4.3 44 13S 172 3S ISO 22 17, 22 75 IS 136 5S 47 23 22 137 57 25 1.55 161 irrH l.'')0 161 INDEX. 255 Miilnutritiou, coinmon in grfciiliouscs — Concluded, Nitrulf of soda a cause of, Sheep manure a cause of, . . . Symptoms of, ..... Malnutrition of cucumbers, causes of. Rotation useful in preventing. Symptoms of, .... . Malnutrition of plants, . . . . ■ . Manure, winter and spring application compared, Mash for laying hens, dr}' comi)ar('d with moist, Methods in fat analysis, .... Milk depots paying on basis of Babcock test, . Milk, free examination of, . Molasses, cause of depression produced bj'. Digestibility of, .... . Effect on digestibility of hay and corn meal, Effect on digestibility of hay and of hay and concentrates. Effect upon digestibility of hay and gluten feed. Effect upon digestibility of hay, general conclusions, . Experiments in feeding in combination with hay and corn meal, Experiments in feeding in connection with hay and gluten feed. Experiments to determine cause of depression in digestion produce E.xperimcnts to determine digestion depression caused by, ge summary of, . Experiments to determine effect on digestibilitj'. Injurious physiological effect of, Porto Rico, composition of, .... Molasses experiments, amount of manure excreted and water drunk i Calculation of co-efficients in, .... Co-efFicients of digestibility employed in, . Weight of animals used in, .... Molasses feeds, ....... Moisture, effect on butter ff\t, .... Mowings, topdressing, ...... Muriate of potash, comparison with higli-grade sulfate. Muriate of potash, quality of, .... Musk melon leaf spot, occurrence of, . Nitrate of soda, influence on cranberries. Quality of, ....... Nitrogen, cost in different grades of fertilizer, . Nitrogen compovmds, quality of, .... Nitrogen fertilizers compared for garden crops. For onions, ....... Relative efficiency of, .... . Nordhaussan, ....... Onions, potash salts for, ..... Relative value of nitrogen fertilizers for, . Onion seed, occurrence of fungous spores on, . Species of fungous spores on, .... Onion thrips, ....... Organi7,ation, ....... Ostrakavis, ........ Parasites of insects, usefulness of, . Paris, ......... Peach leaf curl, occurrence of, .... 102, dby, neral 155 1.59 154 150 1.5!) 1.57 1.54 44 45 139 66 66 100 83 106 82 106 105 91 93 108 90 84 S3 82 114 117 110 115 61 137 43 38 58 71 32 57 56 57 39 39 37 1S9 40 39 164 165 74 11 189 75 190 70 256 INDEX. Peas, character of variation in, Co-efficients of heredity in. Comparison of varieties in, Correlation of character in, Correlation of co-efficient in, . Differences in variability in, Heredity in, . Plant breeding, studies in, . • Prepotency in, . . . Phosphates, relative value of, for cabbagi Yield of cabbages as affected by different, Phosphoric acid, comparison of different materials as sources of. Cost in different grades of fertilizer. Influence on cranberries. Phosphoric acid compounds, . Phosphoric acid in slag, combination of. Physical changes in butter fat. Plant breeding, studies in peas. Potash compounds, .... Potash, cost in different grades of fertilizer. Relative value of muriate and high-grade sulfate of. Sulfate of, influence on cranberries. Sulfate and muriate compared for garden crops, Potash-magnesia sulfate, quality of. Potash salts for cabbages, Potash salts for field crops. Potash salts for rhubarb, Pot experiments, agricultural department, Poultry experiments. Prepotency in peas. Protein v. carbohydrates, Publications available for distribution, Publications during 1909, Publications, edition of, too small. Quince rust, occurrence of, Refractoineter, conclusions as to value in detecting watered milk Immersion, use of, in detection of watered milk, Report of the agriculturist. Report of the botanist. Report of the chemist, . Report of the director, . Report of the entomologists, . Report of the treasurer. Research section, r<^sum6 of work in, Rhubarb, relative value of muriate and sulfate of potash for Rhubarb, sulfate and muriate of potash compared for. Rose rust, occurrence of, Roses, soil for, .... Saponification number, butter fat, . Seed corn, protection from wire worms, Seed law, need of, ... Shackleford, .... Shade tree troubles, Shirley, ..... Silicic acid, effect of, in Thomas or basic slag INDEX. 257 Slaj^, basic, ...... Basic, combination of phosphoric acid in, Pliosphatic or basic, (|iiantity ]ior acn-, Tlionias or basic, composition of, Thomas or basic, effect of silicic acid in, Thomas or basic, manurial value recognize Thomas or basic, methods for determining availability and atlulteration Soil analyses, demand for, Hoils, analysis of, . Spraying materials, necessity for pure. Stability of butter-fat samples. Staff, changes in, . Station, ..... Substations, asparagus, Concord, Cranberry fertilizers. Cranberry, insect and general. Sulfate of potash, comparison with muriate, ' Sweet Ben Davis, .... Tankage, quality of, . Tent experiments, asparagus, Testing pure-bred cows, Thomas slag, ..... Thrips, onion, ..... Tomatoes, blossom-end rot, occurrence of, ExiDeriments in fumigation, varieties used in. Fumigation by night, .... Fumigation by night, observations in temperature and humidity Fumigation during rain, snowstorm and cloudy weather. Fumigation experiments, conclusions based on, Fumigation in direct sunlight. Fumigation of. Fumigation on cloudy daj's, Trade value, fertilizers, Treasurer, report of, Variation in apples, Volumetric determination of coppe Water, drinking, analysis of, . Water melon leaf spot, occurrence of Watered milk, conclusions relative to detection of, by use of refractometer Detection of, by use of refractometer. White Ben Davis, .... Wire worms, protection of seed corn from. Wood ashes, average yield of hay on. Quality of, . TACK 77 80 81 77 79 78 7S 24 59 76 132 15 11 26 31 28 38 192 56 28 25, 68 77 74 71 215 IS, 224 225 218 225 216 214 217 51 34 194 140 67 71 152 148 192 74 43 57