The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-12-11

nance requirement of dairy cows and food |
cost of foetus development have been stud |
led for eight years An attempt was made |
to state the growth in terms OF food and
to determine what proportion OF food GOES
to maintenance, milk and to foetus forqna-
ton. An attempt has been made to deter
mine the gain or loss IN weight as related
to the food which the cows consume. an
important matter in meat production No
definite result has been secured thus far
and the experiment will be continued Tor
several years.
Plant disease For five or six. years DO
tato scab has been studied with view of
determining how this disease affects the
value of seed potatoes. An idea has pre-
vailed that seed disinfection world insure
clean potatoes. The results thus far at
tanned indicate the principal cause Of the
disease lies in the quality of the soil that
potato scab is soil rather than a seed
trouble A certain amount of soil acidity
apparently prevents its development The
use of ammonium sulphate has been shown
to be beneficial. An effort has been made
of late to determine how much can be used
with safety The trials will continue some
years longer.
Bordeaux mixture properly applied has
increased crop yields from - to % per
cent and prevented blight or rust which
was so prevalent this summer Spraying is
an insurance that pays for itself
An experiment has been made with cab
bages to determine the cause of club root,
a disease which makes cabbage roots form
! into a swollen mass rather than normal
roots. 1t is due to soil infection. An APP
/ plication to the soil of about $50 bushels
I of air slaked lime to the acre generally will
prevent this malady.
| Botany The relation of different fac
! tors, such as light, water and soil, to the
development of forest tree seedlings and
particularly white pine has been studied.
Apparently water and soil have greater in
fuence than light upon tree development.
\ systematic study of the algae of Yer
mont is under way, supplementing the pub
locations already issued on the general
fora, the shrubs, grasses and trees of Y err
mont. A revised and enlarged tree bulle-
tin will be issued soon. The breeding of
blackberries and other plants is being car
ried on for two years and will continue
for several years longer. These have been
crossed artifcially in order to learn their
characteristics and to determine the rela-
ton of environment and heredty to the de-
velopment
Forestry. A series of experiments is be
ing conducted on the forest areas belonging
to the university. Various plots are used
from which trees have been cut in greater
or less numbers in order to determine the
effect of various degrees of cutting upon
forest reproduction Some OF the trees
with larger tops are left for the purpose of
furnishing seed. On smaller plots a record
has been made of every plant growing
within the area, in order to determine the
effect of general conditions upon forest
growth. Thermometers in various parts OF
the-forest record the temperature. Certain
areas are left in their original state for the
purpose of comparison Tree circumfer
ence has been measured in order to deter
mine the rate of growth, where forest
has been thinned, Some of the trees are
about 10 years old, while others are from
% to 100 years old. Experiments are be
ing made in the Plainfield state forest
with spruce and Waite pine, in TownshenC
with fir and spruce; in West Rutland Will
oak and white birch; and in ,Proctorsyille
with white ash The state nursery at Bur
lington contains about 100000 trees.
Chemistry. An improved method o
testing soil acidity has been devised. Tn,
method commonly used, known as the lit
mus paper method, did not tell how mucl
lime was needed The new method tell
the whole story, disclosing just how mucl
lime is needed to counteract acidity, thu
saving money to the farmer and maxim
results more effective. Nearly 1,00G sol
samples from all parts of Nermont hav
e been treated and their lime requiI ement
: and organic matter contents determined
Fully % per cent were strongly acid. Thei
= lime requirements vary from a few huT
z dred pounds to five tons per ocga avcraf
ing about two tons Most ii he soil
were well supplied with organiy matter
This new method of soil aciditp testing
y now being very generally used throughou
: the country and is used successfully by tn
! various Vermont county agents
Animal disease The veterinarian is COZ
tinuing his studies on bovine abortion, an
t. his many hundreds of trials lead him I
: believe it is quite possible to control tn
disease by the use of methylenc blue an
4 cresol Farmers in whose herds this bal
V full malady exists should get in touch wit
E. the station as to approved methods Of con
Is batting it.
J., Inspection work Acting under sta
5 laws the station annually samples. an
lyzes and reports upon the quality of cor
= mercial fertilizers, feeds and seeds, inclu
ing in its inspection bulletins popular art
cles dealing with farm practice along the
special lines.
n Station bulletins are issued at irregul
Z intervals and mailed to any address on a
plication A postal card stating desires a
dressed to the Experiment Station, BIZ
llington, VT, is sufficient.