station near San Antonio, Tex., these field stations are located on projects of the Reclamation Service. By cooperative arrangements much of the investigational work conducted at these field stations is planned and to a certain extent supervised by members of the staff of the bureau. It is the aim to make these stations the centers for the investigation of various phases of the agricultural problems which are acute on irrigated lands and to apply the results of scientific investigation in actual field practice in the various localities.

YUMA EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Yuma experiment farm, of which Mr. W. A. Peterson is superintendent, includes about 150 acres of land located in the Colorado River Valley near the town of Bard, Cal., about 7 miles north of Yuma, Ariz. During the past season practically the entire farm has been cleared of native growth of cottonwood and willow and about 30 acres have been leveled and laid off in a series of half-acre plats for use in experimental work. The more important lines of investigation include experiments with Egyptian cotton, dates, forage crops, corn, bamboo, figs, and eucalypts. The farm is fairly well equipped with buildings, teams, and implements, and the present facilities permit the work to be handled in a very satisfactory manner. This farm is the headquarters for the work being done by the bureau in the way of establishing the culture of Egyptian cotton in the Southwestern States. Special phases of this work are dealt with in other portions of the present report.

TRUCKEE-CARSON EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Truckee-Carson experiment farm, of which Mr. F. B. Headley is superintendent, is located on the Truckee-Carson project of the Reclamation Service, 1 mile south of the town of Fallon, Nev. This farm includes about 160 acres of land, of which about 60 acres have been leveled and prepared for irrigation. Cooperative experiments with forage crops, cereals, corn, horticultural and truck crops, forest trees, and sugar beets have been continued, and also a special investigation, in cooperation with the Office of Soil Bacteriology of this bureau, to determine the causes of the infertility of the desert land. During the past year considerable attention has been given to drainage by means of open ditches, since the farm is located in a portion of the project where the ground-water table is dangerously high. Special attention has also been given to the production of alfalfa, since the desert soil is deficient in organic matter, and it has been found desirable to get alfalfa well established before undertaking extensively other crop experiments on the land. Some of the work with forest trees and fruit trees has been of direct benefit to the local settlers, particularly the discovery that the Russian oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is admirably suited to that region and serves a useful purpose for hedges and windbreaks.

SAN ANTONIO EXPERIMENT FARM.-The San Antonio experiment farm, of which Mr. S. H. Hastings is superintendent, includes 125 acres of land and is located 5 miles south of San Antonio, Tex.

The cooperative investigational work mentioned in previous reports has been continued, particularly in connection with studies of the native plants related to the cultivated fruit and nut trees. The soil of this farm, which is typical of a very large section of the south

ern black lands of Texas, is highly calcareous, and one of the important agricultural problems is the finding of suitable stocks on which to grow fruit and nut trees, grapevines, and many ornamental plants. The major portion of the work on the farin is carried on without irrigation. Twenty acres of land are devoted to a series of crop-rotation and tillage experiments on plats one-fourth acre in size, and in connection with these experiments soil moisture and meteorological observations are being made.

BELLEFOURCHE EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Bellefourche experiment farm, of which Mr. Beyer Aune is superintendent, is located 2 miles northeast of Newell, S. Dak., on the Bellefourche project of the Reclamation Service. During the year this farm has been increased from 200 to 280 acres by withdrawing from entry 80 acres of land adjacent to the farm on the north. The cooperative investigations enumerated in the preceding report have been continued, with the addition during the past year of some investigations in connection with forage crops. Up to the present time no irrigation water has been available on the farm. It is expected, however, that irrigation water will be available early in the crop season of 1912. The present year has been extremely dry and practically no crops have been produced. Notwithstanding the severe drought, however, the forest trees which are being grown in cooperation with the Forest Service have done remarkably well and are giving some valuable data as to what may be expected from trees in this dry region.

KLAMATH EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Klamath experiment farm, of which Mr. John P. Irish, jr., was superintendent, has been operated on 40 acres of reclaimed swamp land in the so-called Lower Klamath Marsh, 14 miles southeast of Klamath Falls, Oreg. Work on this farm was undertaken at the request of the Reclamation Service to determine whether the reclamation of these lands for agricultural purposes would be practicable. The experiments were concluded early in the present crop season, and it has been decided that the lands are not suitable for agricultural purposes; the work has therefore been discontinued.

HUNTLEY EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Huntley experiment farm, of which Mr. Dan Hansen is superintendent, includes something over 300 acres of land in three tracts on the Huntley project of the Reclamation Service, near the town of Osborn, Mont. Up to the present time only about 100 acres of land have been put into crop. Cooperative work with cereals, forage crops, sugar beets, and orchard fruits has been undertaken with offices in the Bureau of Plant Industry. The Montana Agricultural Experiment Station is cooperating directly in the operation of this farm and is paying a portion of the operating expenses. The experiments with sugar beets form one of the special features of the work so far undertaken. About 25 acres of land are being prepared for a series of experiments in crop rotation and tillage methods under irrigation. It is expected that during the coming season additional cooperative work will be undertaken, particularly with the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture, in carrying on experiments in crop-rotation and tillage methods without irrigation.

UMATILLA EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Umatilla experiment farm, of which Mr. R. W. Allen is superintendent, includes 40 acres of land located 2 miles north of Hermiston, Oreg., on the Umatilla project of the Reclamation Service. This farm is operated under a cooperative arrangement between this bureau and the Oregon Experiment Station, by the terms of which the superintendent is directly responsible to the Oregon station, and the investigational work is planned and carried out cooperatively between the two institutions. Experiments with horticultural, fruit, and truck crops are the chief lines of work, some attention being given to green-manure crops and fertilizers.

SCOTTSBLUFF EXPERIMENT FARM.-The Scottsbluff experiment farm, of which Mr. Fritz Knorr is superintendent, is located on the North Platte project of the Reclamation Service, 6 miles east of the town of Mitchell, Nebr. This farm is under the administrative supervision of the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture of this bureau, and the experimental work so far as this office is concerned is limited to a series of crop-rotation and tillage experiments occupying about 25 acres of land. During the past year this land has been devoted to a grain crop with a view to getting it in proper condition for beginning the rotation experiments in the season of 1912.

MISCELLANEOUS COOPERATIVE INVESTIGATIONAL WORK.-In addition to the field stations mentioned, this office is cooperating with the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at Williston, N. Dak., where Mr. A. M. Hawley is employed to supervise the irrigated crops at the Williston substation and to assist farmers on the project in connection with their problems of irrigating crops.

In connection with the investigations on the Klamath Marsh, it has been found desirable to investigate the agricultural practices on the reclaimed swamp lands in the delta of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers in California, and during the latter part of the past fiscal year Mr. John P. Irish, jr., has been conducting these investigations from a point near Antioch, Cal. These investigations have to do with subjugating the raw tule land and determining the best methods of getting the land into crop and also in collecting data with respect to air drainage as related to the production of crops liable to damage by frost.

PLANS FOR FUTURE WORK.-With the discontinuance of the investigational work near Klamath Falls, Oreg., it is expected that another field station will be started on one of the reclamation projects during the coming fiscal year. This experiment farm will probably be located at some point in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico, where there are two small irrigation projects and where agricultural problems with reference to the production of cotton, alfalfa, and orchard fruits have become acute, owing to the saline condition of the soil and the ravages of the plant disease known as the cotton root-rot, which affects not only cotton but alfalfa and many other crop plants.

Investigations so far made in the delta of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers in California indicate the importance of making further investigations in that region, particularly to try a number

of new crops. At present the number of crops which it is found possible to grow there is very limited. Several of these, such as potatoes and beans, which are now grown extensively, are seriously affected by disease if grown more than one year on the same land. New vegetables and forage crops suitable to these rather unusual lands should be tried in such a way as to ascertain whether they can be profitably produced under existing economic conditions.

During the past year the attention of the department has been called to the desirability of undertaking investigations in the Uncompahgre Valley in Colorado in the vicinity of the towns of Montrose and Delta. The recently completed Gunnison Tunnel has brought an increased supply of irrigation water into this valley and will result in the development of a large acreage of hitherto unused land. A considerable portion of the land in this valley is admirably suited to the production of fruit, alfalfa, and sugar beets; but considerable areas in the valley have soils the salt content of which is dangerously high.

On both this project and in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico it has become evident that the long-continued production of high-priced orchard fruits may result in abnormal conditions of the soil which. may jeopardize the health and vigor of the fruit trees. The nature of these abnormal conditions is not well understood, nor are the most suitable remedies known. In view of the magnitude of the interests involved, not only in these valleys, but in numerous other irrigated regions of the West, it seems highly desirable to undertake investigations to determine the causes of the conditions which prevail and the best remedies for improving them. It is therefore thought desirable to inaugurate as soon as possible both in the Uncompahgre Valley in Colorado and in the Pecos Valley in New Mexico a series of physiological and pathological investigations in connection with field stations of this bureau in order to work on these problems of plant nutrition in irrigated agriculture.

ALKALI AND DROUGHT RESISTANT PLANT BREEDING.

The work of breeding drought-resistant crop plants, testing the alkali resistance of crop plants, and investigating the physiology of drought resistance and alkali resistance is being continued under the direction of Mr. T. H. Kearney.

DROUGHT-RESISTANCE PHYSIOLOGY.-In cooperation with the Physical Laboratory rapid progress is being made in ascertaining what factors render certain species and varieties of crop plants better adapted than others to dry-land agriculture. It is believed that the solution of this problem will greatly facilitate the work of plant breeding and variety testing for drought resistance. The results of these investigations to date indicate that the most important factor is economical use of the available soil moisture, as shown by a maximum crop production with a minimum expenditure of water. Further light on this subject is expected from the results of experiments now in progress, in which many of the important crop plants of the arid regions are being grown side by side under such conditions that the quantity of water used and the amount of crop produced by each can be accurately determined. These studies, which are regarded as

fundamental in investigations of dry-land agriculture, will be continued during the fiscal years. 1912 and 1913.

INDICATOR VALUE OF NATIVE VEGETATION.-As stated in the Report of the Acting Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry for 1910, it is now possible, as a result of investigations carried on under this project in the Great Plains area, to determine with reasonable accuracy from the character of the native vegetation the crop-producing capabilities of new land.

A reconnoissance has been made in portions of the Intermountain States (Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, etc.) in order to locate a suitable area for conducting investigations along this line during the fiscal year 1912. In this region the object will be to determine what types of natural vegetation indicate land (1) suitable for dry-land crop production and (2) liable to injury from alkali if brought under irrigation. If the results warrant, this work will probably be continued during the fiscal year 1913.

EGYPTIAN COTTON IN THE SOUTHWEST.-The Yuma variety, the most promising of the new types of Egyptian cotton developed in the course of this plant-breeding work, is being tested by farmers at numerous localities and is giving every evidence of being a productive variety, yielding a high grade of fiber. The manufacturing firm which purchased several bales of this variety grown in Arizona in 1909 and 1910 pronounces the fiber superior to the grades of imported Egyptian cotton which they have been using.

During the fiscal year 1912 the breeding work will be continued as heretofore, attention being given to further improvement of the Yuma variety. Also, since different types of this class of cotton are required in different branches of manufacture, other less extensively tested strains which have been originated in the course of this breeding work will be tried on a field scale.

If Egyptian cotton becomes a commercial crop under irrigation in the Southwest, as now appears likely, it will be necessary to continue the breeding work during the fiscal year 1913 in order to maintain the strains already developed and, if possible, to improve still further the quality of fiber.

PHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS.

The work of the physical laboratory, which is largely cooperative in character, has been continued during the past year under the direction of Dr. L. J. Briggs.

One of the principal lines of investigation has been the measurement of physical factors influencing the development of crops in dryland regions which has been carried on systematically at the various field stations conducted by the Office of Dry-Land Agriculture in the Great Plains area. Similar measurements have also been made at the experiment farms on the reclamation projects conducted by the Office of Western Agricultural Extension and upon the farms of the Office of Grain Investigations. During the past year these measurements have been of special importance in the dry-farming regions on account of the exceptionally dry weather which has prevailed in many sections. It is under such conditions that the adaptation of crops to dry-land farming is most severely tested, and it is most important to