School Garden Work In the spring of 1911 school garden demonstration work was instituted by Prof. Hatch of the Agricultural Education department and Prof. J. G. Moore of the Horticultural department on a plot of the station farm. Volunteers for the course were easily secured among the school children of the city and there was always a large waiting list. The work continued from April throughout the growing season, and a wide range of crops was grown so as to give the children an idea of the culture of the various common vegetables, as well as of a few herbs, and of some of the common garden flowers. As an inducement for the best grade of work, the children were allowed to take home all the produce which was secured from their gardens, and in addition prizes were offered by members of the station staff. The interest and zeal shown by the children was most satisfactory and showed that a system of school gardens is feasible as an adjunct to our present school system, particularly in cities. Farmers' Institutes The work of these institutes under the direction of Supt. George McKerrow has continued along the same general lines as in former years. During the season, 136 institutes and 41 cooking schools were held, with an estimated attendance of 118,800. Fifty thousand copies of the annual Farmers' Institute Bulletin No. 24, and 12,000 copies of Farmers' Institute Cook-book No. 3 were printed and distributed. INSPECTION AND CONTROL WORK STALLION REGISTRATION The improvement of breeding sires continues to go on under the influence of the stallion registration work which was devised by Dr. Alexander in 1906, as is shown by the material increase in number of pure bred animals licensed for service. It is interesting and gratifying to note that season by season the figures for new licenses issued show a gradual increase in percentage for pure bred stallions and corresponding decrease in percentage for grade and mongrel or scrub stallions. The improvement made during 1910-11 is especially noteworthy and gratifying. The percentages follow; 1906-7, pure bred 35 per cent, grade 65 per cent; 1907-8, pure bred 40 per cent, grade 60 per cent; 1908-9, pure bred 42 per cent, grade and mongrel or scrub 58 per cent; 1909-10, pure bred 47 per cent, grade and mongrel or scrub 53 per cent; 1910-11, pure bred 52 per cent, grade and mongrel or scrub 48 per cent. From the close of the breeding season of 1910 to June 30, 1911, pure bred sires have increased 180 head in forty-six counties. while the grades have been reduced by 170 in forty-three counties. The amended law now requires all stallions not pure bred to be strictly divided into two classes, grades to include those. animals having one pure bred parent and "mongrels or scrubs" those having neither sire nor dam which is pure bred. This requires all sires now to be advertised correctly so that intending users may know exactly the nature of the breeding. In view of the fact that the United States Department of Agriculture has discontinued the "certification" of all American books of record and now certifies only foreign books of record to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Wisconsin stallion law was amended by the legislature of 1911. The list of foreign books certified by the Department of Agriculture has been incorporated in the law. One American stud book for each breed has been selected as standard, and included in the law, from the lists of such stud books heretofore certified by the Department of Agriculture. Registration in one or other of these standard American stud books has been made requisite to entitle a stallion to a license as "pure bred." The list of American stud books thus incorporated in the amended stallion law of Wisconsin is that adopted as standard by the National Society of Record Associations, February 4, 1911. Dr. Alexander has advanced another stimulating idea, which has been widely copied this summer by other states. A voluntary, non-incorporated society known as the Pure Bred Sire League has been organized which has for its object the encour agement and stimulation of the use of only pure bred sires for all farm breeding operations. The accompanying financial statement of this license work is presented as required by law. FEEDING STUFF AND FERTILIZER CONTROL The work of this division is becoming recognized more and more by both buyers and sellers of feeding stuffs and fertilizers, as is indicated by the increasing demands made upon the Station for information, especially as to the chemical composition of various brands of feeding stuffs. A better understanding of the purpose of this control is apparent, and the fact that dealers, as well as farmers, are making use of the results obtained, gives promise of more extended benefits in the future. During the past year 230 feed licenses and 40 fertilizer licenses were issued, which is a small increase over 1910. Over 775 dealers in 307 towns were visited during the year, and 873 feed samples analyzed in the Station laboratory. A few germination tests were made to determine the viability of the weed seeds carried by certain classes of feeding stuffs. Enough viable seeds of an undesirable character were found to justify continuing the tests next year. The feed market was found remarkably free from adulterated and misbranded goods, and the few cases of violations have been satisfactorily adjusted. NURSERY INSPECTION Since July 1910 the work of nursery and orchard inspection has been in charge of Prof. J. G. Sanders of the Department of Economic Entomology. The last legislature amended the law relating to nursery inspection, making the following changes: Any wilful misrepresentation of the quality or variety of nursery stock grown or offered for sale is now prohibited. Each agent selling nursery stock in the state must have a certificate from his employer showing that he is a bona fide agent and must also carry a duplicate of his employer's license, this duplicate being issued by the official inspector. These provisions have made it possible to control more effectively the activities of unscrupulous dealers and agents. The fees for inspection were placed on a graduated scale so that the small grower having an acre or less of general nursery stock, or less than five acres of only small-fruit plants, is required to pay but $5 for inspection and certificate license; while for the larger nurseries, the inspection fee still remains at $10. Official Wisconsin tags furnished by the inspector are no longer required, but the nurserymen may have their own tags printed in any form they desire so long as the tags bear a copy of their valid license. During the past year 147 nurseries in the state have been inspected for dangerous insects and fungus diseases, and licenses have been granted to all found clean and free from dangerous pests. Twenty-three dealers have also been licensed and likewise many agents selling nursery stock. In addition nearly sixty. nurseries outside the state have secured licenses to sell at retail in Wisconsin. The dreaded San Jose scale has been discovered in several nurseries and ornamental plantings. Immediate steps were taken to exterminate the pest, and 737 infested trees and shrubs were destroyed. In addition 1318 trees were destroyed on account of infestation with poplar weevil or other borers, and a large number of strawberry plants were plowed under on account of being infested with the strawberry root louse. The last legislature also passed a new law to prevent the adulteration of insecticides and fungicides, placing the execution of the same under the control of the Experiment Station. This law prohibits the manufacture or sale within the state, or shipment into the state, of any adulterated or misbranded insecticide or fungicide. SEED INSPECTION The Seed Inspection division tested 1,238 samples of seed this past year in accordance with the state law, which requires that all seeds sold (other than vegetable) shall be subjected to purity and germination tests. Of the samples tested, 6.3 per cent were condemned, a percentage considerably higher than that found in the previous year. If the entire stock of foul seed represented by the condemned samples had been planted on Wisconsin farms, it is hard to esti mate the tax which would have been borne in reduced crop production, and cost of weed eradication. The quality of our commercial seeds as a whole, however, is materially improving from year to year, as is indicated by the fact that the average purity this past year was 96.6 per cent in comparison with 92.7 per cent the previous year. Germination tests also show a material improvement over samples submitted for the preceding year. ADMINISTRATION This year has witnessed a continued expansion of the resources of the College, both as to staff membership, and in a material way by the addition of buildings and equipment. The close relationship of the College and Station activities makes it diffi cult to differentiate completely those engaged in instructional work and those occupied in research and extension work. At the close of this fiscal year, the entire college staff consisted of seventy-two persons, fourteen of whom were professors, nineteen associate and assistant professors, sixteen instructors, and twenty-three assistants. BUILDINGS The rapid increase in student numbers has required material expansion in the way of buildings. The following improvements of this character have been completed or inaugurated this fiscal year. Horticultural Building The building heretofore used for the Horticulture and Soils departments has for a number of years been inadequate to house both of these departments properly. To increase the facilities for these two lines of work, a new building has been constructed for Horticulture which has been located on the Linden Drive. This building is a two-story and basement brick structure 48 feet by 128 feet, with attic space high enough to be utilized for laboratory purposes, and will cost, including fixed equipment, about $60,000. It is built in harmony with the later construction work of the College buildings |