Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-11-17

Station was eStaDllsheo IN accordance
with an act of Congress which pro-
yided that a certain sum be appropro-
priated to Establish, equip and main
tain an experiment station in the nor
them sectionsof the Great Plains area,
to demonstrate the kind and charac.
ter OF plants, shrubs, trees, berries,
and vegetables best.adapted to the eli.
mate and soil Of the semi.arid land
of the United States"
Beautifully Located.
The station is beautifully located
one and oue.half miles southwest Of
.Mandan on q bench that overlooks
the Heart river; 1t includes $40
acres, part Of which is sandy loan in
and&well suited for the pur-
pose Of the station. The virgin sod
W. first broken two years ago, con.
sequently we have had only n sea-
son Of experimental work, as little
could4he done on the sod land the first
year. Nine buildings have been con-
.structed; the grounds have been beau
titled and $50 acres have been plant
ed to horticultural and agronomic
crops.
In addition to the station proper, a
section OF native grass land has been
leased for the present. title to which
will be acquired in4the near fture, on
which Experiments, in cooperation
with the North Dakota Experiment
Station, will be conducted with feed
cattle in order to determine how best
to utilize the rough lands which can
not, be successfully. cultivated. There
are millions of acres of land Of this
character in western North and South
Dakota and eastern Montana, but
strange to say no experiments have
ever been conducted to determine
how they can be utilized most efR-
GENTLY. Of this grazing land it is
our intention to first ascertain the
normal carrying capacity Of the ma
tive vegetation and then to try and
increase this carrying capacity by
methods of ,grazingrand by the intro.
duction of tame grasses.
The act of Congress which provid.
ed for the station stated specifically
that the major portion of the stations
work should be of a horticultural ma.
ture. In this respect, this station is
quite different from other stations in
the Great Plains, where experimental.
ton is largely limited to agronomic
crops. The almost total absence of
cultivated fruits in the Great Plains
area bears evidence as to the great
need that exists for the development
of fruit varieties and cultural meth
DDS that will be adapted to the area.
l cannot take time to discuss more
than very briefly much of the work
is already under way or pro.
as l wish to speak more at
of one line which should be of
interest to this organiza-
ton.
4. Acre Plats.
The agrOnomic work includes some
$50 o%ne:tenth. acre plats, where wheat,
oats, barley. corn, fax, etc, are grown
in various rotations, in order to deter.
mine which crop rotations or crop
will give the highest aver
age returns, or prove the most profit.
able in q series of years. In connec-
ton with the crop rotation work, ex.
soil moisture studies are
made, as it is extremely important in
this semi.arid region where rainfall is
the determining factor in crop
production, to know how to utilize
the annual precipitation to the best
Forage crops that are adapted to
this section, or that offer promise, are
grown In comparative yield tests;
while variety tests are conducted with
some of the cereals. Culturals expert.
ments are under way with alfalfa, the
crop which is SO rapidly coming to
the front.
In the horticultural work we are
planting the most promising variety
of both large and small fruits in de.
monstration.. on variety test. orchards,
or berry patches, in order to deter.
mine which of the existing fruit var
ieties are best adapted to this region.
solid and mixed paintings
Of shelterbelt trees have been made,
as it is essential to know which trees
or combinations of trees will prove
the most suitable for shelterbelt plant.
fngs.
Our work with vegetables includes
the testing Of many varieties Of the
more common vegetables and ascc.-
tanning the cultural methods that will
give the best results.
u Ornamental Trees.
.OrnamentaE%trees and shrubs, ever
green's and annual and perennial flow
ering plants, all of which have a place
in the identifying of the home
grounds, are being tested. Probably
no line of work will be of greater ulti-
mate Importance than our fruit breed
ing. It will include the improvement,
by selection, Of our native fruits such
as wild plums, bull berries, grapes.
and Juneberries; also the creation Of
new varieties by crossing these and
other hardy fruits with the more de-
sirable semi.varieties and then select
ing the resultant hybrids for greater
quality and hardness. Practically a
new horticulture will be required for
the Great Plains, where extreme con.
ditions of cold and occasionally OF
drought prevail.
Probably our most important, or at
least our most extensive line of work
has only recently been inaugurated.
1t is known as our cooperative shell
terbelt development. According to
the terms of this cooperation, farmers
who live in North and South Dakota,
west of the Tooth meridian, or in Mon
tant or Wyoming, east of the $500
foot elevation line. are entitled to
trees for planting shelterbelts, free Of