The leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1895-1905, 1903-11-21
Work at the Experiment Stations.

prOVemenC OF the agricultural cond1-
ton of the people are the govern
ment experiment station at the col
lege, and the branch experiment sta
ton at Mcneil, supported by State
appropriation.
The government station was es-
tablished by congress in 1888, and
receives an annual appropriation of
$4,000. 1t has been the means of
the introduction of many varieties
Of forage plants and of the best
breeds of cattle. The many thou
sands of acres Of vetch, mililotus,
alfalfa, and the clovers are due en-
tirely to the many valuable expert
ments made by this station. By
means of incubation, done at the
station free of cost to the farmer,
the finest cattle may now be brought
into the State from the best stock
districts above the quarantine line
with every assurance that the loss
will be less than two per cent,
whereas, without this incubation,
the loss would in almost every ship
ment amount to more than eighty
per cent. The poor class of cattle
in the State today is due to the
great risk in bringing from above
the quarantine line the best cattle.
With the success of incubation es-
tablished, more blooded cattle have
been brought into the State during
the past five years than during the
previous quarter of a century.
In addition to the work with
blooded cattle and forage plants,
much valuable work has been done
in soil analyses and investigation in
fertilizers, and in testing the best
varieties of cotton, corn, peas, pota-
toes, Strawberries, grapes, peaches,
apples, pecans, etc., the results of
which have been given to the farm
ers in bulletins numbering from one
to eighty.
The branch experiment station
was established by the legislature in
1900, and located at Mcneil, on
the New Orleans and Northeastern
railroad, in Pearl River county.
This pine woods section of the State
was for a long time looked upon as
almost entirely worthless, and only
in very recent years has its lands
brought anything like their true
value. The station owns two thou
sand acres of cut-over pine land, but
the principal work will be done on
one hundred and sixty acres front
ing one-half mile on the railroad.
Work was not begun at Mcneil I'M
til the 21st of March, 1902, though
five acres had been cleared and twen-
ty-fve fenced prior to this time. By
the end of the year forty acres had
been cleared of trees and stumps,
and about fifteen acres more had
been practically gotten ready for
the pillow. Two crops were gotten
off Of every acre of this land, and
during this year three crops have
been gotten from most of it. One
Of the most difficult problems con-
nected with this station has been the
clearing of the land and the remov-
ing of the stumps. Many methods
have been used by the director of the
station, Mr.. E. B. Ferris, in remov-
ing the stumps. Some have been
blasted with dynamite, some have
been pulled with stump pullers,
some have been dug, and still others
have been burned. A large part of
the commercial fertilizers sold in
the State is used on lands within
the boundaries Of the long leaf pine
region. No systematic or exhaust
i've work has yet been done to study
the plant food requirements Of these
soils. One Of the main efforts,
therefore, of this station, will be to
study this question thoroughly, and
determine, not only the most eco
nomical way to use fertilizers, but
the value of leguminous crops and
animal excrement both in the form
of stable manure and the droppings
of animals on the soil. There
are in operation at the station 172
fertilizer tests; 358 variety tests; 10
tests with cotton and cow peas, va
rying the number of plants to the
acre; with cotton and corn, COM
pairing different depths of prepare
ton and cultivation; 2 experiments
with cotton, showing different ways
of applying fertilizers in the drill;
also rotations with cotton, corn,
oats and COW peas, both with and
without fertilizers. There were in
June SO different kinds of crops,
many of which have been followed
by fall vegetables.
The legislature did a wise thing
| in establishing this station, as the
results already show that the great
est prosperity will come to that sec
ton when the last stick Of timber
has been cut. Profting by the re-
suits of this station, the next legis-
lature will undoubtedly establish a
branch station in the delta, and one
in the brown loan region, which
will give the State four experiment
stations, and located in each of the
four distinct soil formations Of the
ate.-Prof. J. G. Hardy.
Mound Builders Skeleton.
A citizen of Clarksdale reports
that Mai. Lamar Fontaine recently
exhumed, near Friars Point, the
skeleton Of one of the ancient mound
builders, which he has forwarded to
Prof. John Kost, famous scientist
liv;ro IN Michioau who will mako q