Pullman Herald

MANY INVESTIGATIONS
AT LOCAL STATION

Professor R. W. Thatcher Outlines Work Accomplished by Experiment Station Staff During Year Closed June 30.

The twenty-first annual report of the state experiment station, recently published by Professor R. W. Thatcher, director of the station, shows an immense amount of work accomplished by the station staff during the year covered by the report, July 1, 1910, to June 30, 1911.

Crop Production Work

The cereal investigations for the past year have included field tests of 45 strains of standard hybrid wheats which have been developed at this station to a point where they can be given field trials. The nursery centgener selection beds contained 335 different strains of hybrid winter wheats, representing about 100 different crosses, 162 varieties or strains of spring wheat, 68 of oats, 41 of barley, 21 of millet and 7 of flax. These plots are being used exclusively for the selection of improved strains. There were also planted ten foundation beds of spring wheat, two of oats and eleven of barley from which individual plants are to be selected for the centgener tests of 1912. There are now on hand 43 new oat hybrids resulting from 14 different crosses made in the season of 1910 and 41 barley hybrids representing four different crosses. These hybrids are in their second generation and are yet to be fixed by selection. The new hybridizing work of this year has been confined to a large number of crosses of wheat, oats and barley made for the specific purpose of studying the effect of different combinations upon the type of resulting grain. Of the older hybrids which are to be fixed to a definite type, there are in the nursery, in row cultures, 423 spring wheat hybrids and 117 hybrid barleys. Eight plots of oats and six of wheat are being grown in a variety test with a view to establishing a specially adapted strain for this locality.

In the corn breeding experiments, three plots of a total of about two and one-half acres, were devoted to the breeding of specially selected strains of the varieties which have been found to be especially well adapted to local conditions.

Soil Moisture Experiments

The field experimental work in soil moisture and tillage investigations was carried on during the past year at Ritzville, Sunnyside and Pullman. The investigations are planned to show: (1) the distribution of water through the soil under the conditions of natural rainfall and under irrigation; (2) the amount of soil moisture lost by evaporation under different systems of tillage; (3) the amount of water required for the most successful growth of various crops and the periods of plant growth at which a sufficient water supply is most critical; (4) the development of roots and stems of various kinds of plants under limited, sufficient, and surplus supplies of soil moisture. The amount of water required under field conditions to produce a pound of dry matter of each of the following crops is being determined: namely, wheat, barley, oats, rye, emmer, orchard grass, millet, corn sorghum, soy beans, field beans, potatoes, tomatoes, sugar beets, cabbage, carrots and onions. A special field apparatus for measuring accurately the crop requirements for moisture was installed on the college farm at Pullman and very accurate and satisfactory measurements obtained. These will be repeated through two more seasons in order to obtain conclusive results.