Twenty-eighth Annual Report
OF THE
Agricultural Experiment
Station
OF THE
Alabama Polytechnic Institute
Auburn, Alabama
January, 1916

ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE.
Auburn, Ala., Jan. 26, 1916.
Governor Charles Henderson,
Executive Department,
Montgomery, Ala.
Sir:
I have the honor herewith to transmit to you the Twenty-
eighth Annual Report of the Agricultural Experiment Station
of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute.
This report is made in accordance with the Act of Congress
approved March 2, 
1887, establishing agricultural 
experiment
stations, and the Act of Congress. approved March 16, 1906,
known as the Adams Act.
Respectfully,
CHAS. C. THACH,
President.

Auburn, Ala., Jan. 25, 1916.
Dr. C. C. Thach, President,
Alabama Polytechnic Institute,
Auburn, Ala.
Sir:
I herewith submit the Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the
Experiment Station of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915.
It contains the detailed report of the Director and. Agricul-
turist, the Treasurer, the Chemists, the Veterinarian, the Bota-
nist, the Horticulturist, the Entomologist, the Plant Pathologist,
the Plant Physiologist, and the Animal Husbandman, for the
year ending December 31, 1915.
Respectfully submitted,
J. F. DUGGAR,
Director, Experiment Station.

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION.
TRUSTEES.
His Excellency, Charles Henderson, President- ----. Ex-Officio
W. F. Feagin, Superintendent of Education------......Ex-Officio
A. W. Bell ---------------------------- Anniston, Ala.
Harry Herzfeld-------------- Alexander City, Ala.
Oliver R. Hood ------------------------- Gadsden, Ala.
C. S. McDowell, Jr--------------------- Eufaula, Ala..
W. K. Terry ---------------------- Birmingham, Ala.
W. H. Oates -------- --------------------- Mobile, Ala.
T. D. Samford --------------------------- Opelika, Ala.
R. F. Kolb _--------------------------Montgomery, Ala.
J. A. Rogers -------------------------- Gainesville, Ala.
C. M. Sherrod -------------------------- Courtland, Ala,
COMMITTEE OF TRUSTEES ON EXPERIMENT STATION.
HON. R. F. KOLB ---------------_ ---------------- Montgomery
HON. A. W. BELL_ _----------------------------------Anniston
HoN. J. A ROGERS--.----------------------------_-Gainesville
STATION STAFF.
C. C. THACH, President of the College.
J. F. DUGGAR, Director of Experiment Station and Extension
Service.
AGRICULTURE:
J. F. Duggar, Agriculturist.
E. F. Cauthen, Associate.
M. J. Funchess, Associate.
.J. T. Williamson, Field Agent.
1. U. Blassingame, Agrl. Engr.
0. H. Sellers; Assistant.
H. B. Tisdale, Assistant.
VETERINARY SCIENCE:
cC. A. Cary, Veterinarian.
H. C. Wilson, Hog Cholera
Expert.*
L. F. Pritchett, Assistant.
CHEMISTRY:
J. T.~ Anderson, Chemist, Soils
and Crops.
C. L. Hare, Physiological
Chemist.
C. A. Basore, Assistant.
JUNIOR AND HOME EcoNoMICS
EXTENSION:
L. N. Duncan, Superintend-
ent.*
Miss Madge J. Reese, State
Agent Canning Clubs.*
J. C. Ford, In charge Pig
Clubs. *
I. B. Kerlin, In charge Corn
Clubs.*
Nellie M. Tappan, Home Econ-
omics.* *
BOTANY:
J. S. Caldwell, Botanist.
A. B. Massey, Assistant.
PLANT PATHOLOGY:
F. A. Wolf, Pathologist.
HORTICULTURE:
Ernest Walker, Horticulturist.
J. C. 
C. Price, 
Associate.
G. V. Stelzenmuller, Field
Agent.
ENTOMOLOGY:
W. E. Hinds, Entomologist.
F. L. Thomas, Assistant.
E. A. Vaughan, Field Asst.
ANIMAL- INDUSTRY:
G. S. Templeton, Animal
Husbandman.
H. C. Ferguson, Assistant.
J. P. Quinerly, Assistant.*
E. Gibbens, Assistant.
*In co-operation with United States Department of Agriculture.
-**In co-operation with Alabama 
Girls' Technical Institute,
REPORT OF HATCH AND ADAMS FUNDS FOR 1914-1915.
RECEIPTS.
Hatch Adams
To amount from U. S. Treasury----.$15,000.00 $15,000.00
DISBURSEMENTS.
By Salaries-------------------------$ 7,375.67 $10,737.50
By Labor----------------------------2,275.28 1,696.19
By Publications,---------------------1028.07
By Postage and Stationery6--------------363.75 82.26
By Freight and Express ------------ 355.85 149.74
By Heat, Light, Water and Power 611.00 410.52
By Chemicals and Laboratory Supplies 196.76 403.62
By Seeds, Plants and Sundry Supplies- 550.56 252.71
By Fertilizers,-------------------------239.15 291.28
By Feeding Stuffs------------------- -- 896.47 375.12
By Library -------------------------- 404.84 110.90
By Tools, Machinery and Appliances - - 301.39 122.60
B,y Furniture and Fixtures-------------53.15
By Scientific Apparatus and Specimens 19.64 119.90
By Live Stock ------------------------- 25.60
By. Traveling Expenses ----------------- 44.08 149.98
By Contingent Expenses -------------- 20.00
By Buildings and Land --------------- 264.34 72.08
Total-------------------------$15,00.00 $15,000.00
State of Alabama:
Lee County.
Personally appeared before me, B. L. Shi, a Notary Public
in and for said county, M. A. Glenn, known to me as Treasuerer
of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, who, being duly sworn,
deposes and says the above foregoing account is true and cor-
rect. Witness my hand this 24th day of January, 1916.
B. L. SHI,
Notary Public, Lee County.
This is to certify that I have compared the account with
the ledger account of the Treasurer, and this is a correct
transcript of the same.
C. C. THACH,
President Alabama Polytechnic Institute.

REPORT OF DIRECTOR AND AGRICULTURIST.
J. F. DUGGAR.
Dr. C. C. Thach, President,
Alabama Polytechnic Institute,
Auburn, Alabama.
Sir:
I respectfully submit the following report for the past year
of the work under my charge as Director and Agriculturist of
the Alabama Experiment Station:
PUBLICATIONS.
During the calendar year 1915 the publications of the Ala-
bama Experiment Station consisted of the annual report, four
bulletins, three circulars, six press bulletins, and reprints of
four earlier publications, making a total of 10 publications.
These constituted a total of 289,000 copies and an aggregate of
2,911,500 pages in all editions. The titles and authors are
given below:
Bulletin No. 183: Irish Potatoes; by the Associate Horti-
culturist.
Bulletin No. 184. Local Fertilizer Experiments with Sweet
Potatoes; by the Director and Field Agent. (From the Local
Experiment Fund).
Bulletin No. 185. Dipping Vat for Hogs, and Dips. Hog
Worms, Lice and Mange, Hog Lots, Houses and Water Supply;
by the Veterinarian.
Bulletin No. 186: The Grass Worm or Fall Army Worm; by
the Entomologist and Field Assistant.
Circular No. 31: Annual Report of the Director of the Ex-
periment Station on Work Done Under the Local Experiment
Law in 1914. (From Local Experiment Fund).
Circular No. 32: Fly Baits; by the Assistant Entomologist.
Circular No. 33: Boll Weevil Control by Cotton Stalk De-
struction; by the Entomologist. (From Local Experiment
Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 77. Insecticides Uncertain for Boll Wee-
12
vii Control; by the Entomologist. (From Local Experiment
Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 78: Chain Drag for Boll Weevil 
Control;
by the Entomologist. (From Local Experiment Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 79. Fall Campaign Against the Boll
Weevil; by the entomologist. (From Local Experiment Fund.)
Press Bulletin No. 80: Cotton Boll Weevil Infested Area
and Quarantine Line in Alabama, 1915 to 1916; by the Entom-
loogist. (From Local Experiment Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 81: Tests of Varieties of Corn in 1915;
by the Director and Assistant in Agriculture.
Press Bulletin No. 82: Tests of Varieties of Cotton in 1915;
by the Director and Assistant in Agriculture.
In addition to the above publications the following reprints
were published:
Bulletin No. 181: Local Fertilizer Experiments with Corn
in South Alabama in 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914; by the Director
and Field Agent. (From Local Experiment Fund).
Bulletin No. 182. Local Fertilizer Experiments with Corn
in North Alabama in 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914; by the Director
and Field Agent. (From the Local Experiment Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 30: Crimson Clover; by the Director
(From the Local Experiment Fund).
Press Bulletin No. 31: Hairy Vetch; by the Director. (From
the Local Experiment Fund).
REPORT OF DEPARTMENTS.
The attached reports of the chemist, the veterinarian, the
botanist, the horticulturitst, the entomologist, the plant path-
ologist, and the animal husbandman give the details of the
work in the respective departments.
During the year progress has been made in concentrating
to a greater extent than before most of the Adams fund work
in what may be called the laboratory departments, which are
especially equipped with means for controlling accurately the
conditions under which experiments are made.
AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
(Work under Hatch and Adams Funds from Congress.)
In the division of soils Professor M. J. Funchess, in co-opera-
13
tion with the botanist, is conducting an Adams fund investiga-
tion relative to soil toxins. Results of preliminary experiments
in this line, which have been prepared for early publication,
lead to new and striking conclusions. He has also continued
the investigation of a number of questions connected with the
changes in the nitrates and other soluble constituents of the
soil in plots and pots variously fertilized and variously crop-
ped.
Plant breeding work has been continued along the same
lines as heretofore, chiefly with cotton, corn, and oats. The
scientific phase of this work is to determine the correlation
between certain qualities. As we near the end of the first ten-
year period the accumulated data becomes increasingly valu-
able. A part of it is now ready to be put in shape for publica-
tion. With cotton especially interesting correlations between
percentage of lint and length of staple are eveident, as well as
other correlations of equal scienific and practical value. The
following is a list of the principal field experiments conducted
on the Station farm in 1915, and is necessarily in large part a
repetition of experiments begun in previous years:
Alfalfa, fertilizer and culture experiments.
Barley, variety tests.
Cotton, effects of planting light and heavy seed.
Cotton, variety tests.
Cotton, tests of long staple varieties.
Cotton, culture experiments.
Cotton, subsoiling.
Corn, variety tests.
Corn, Williamson versus other methods of culture.
Corn, best rotation for.
Cowpeas, variety tests.
Cowpeas, for soil improvement.
Clovers, tests of species and varieties.
Clovers, best plants for sowing with the legumes.
Fertilizing effects of different crops.
Forage crops, tests of a large number of species and varieties.
Grasses, tests of species and varieties.
Hog crops, (chufas, peanuts, soybeans, etc.)
14
Nitrogen, best sources of, for cotton, oats, and 
corn.
Oats, variety tesfs.
Oats, time of sowing.
Oats, fall versus spring strains.
Oats, breeding experiments.
Oats, tests of Auburn-made hybrids.
Phosphates, raw, versus acid, versus basic.
Rotation experiments.
Seed treatment to increase and hasten germination.
Soybean and cowpea mixtures for hay.
Soybeans, varieties.
Soybeans, tests of varieties.
Sorghum, tests of varieties.
Subsoiling.
Sudan grass, culture tests.
Sugar cane, Japanese, as a forage crop.
Velvet beans, varieties.
Vetches, varieties.
Vetches, varieties and best mixtures.
Wheat, breeding experiments.
Wheat, varieties.
Among the new field experiments was one to determine the
recently recommended practice of leaving the cotton plants
close together and of thinning them late.
LOCAL EXPERIMENT WORK THROUGHOUT THE STATE.
In the main, the Local Experiment work has been continued
in the same general lines as heretofore. This is true in all
departments. In animal husbandry more extended experi-
ments than in recent years were conducted with beef cattle
at Allenville in co-operation with 
Judge B. M. Allen, In the
Local Experiment work of the Agricultural Department in-
creased attentiou has been paid to experiments with peanuts
and sweet potatoes.
Fertilizer Experiments and Other Experiments With Field and
Forage Crops.
Forty distinct lines of experimentation were conducted under
this head in 1915.
The following is a list of the local experiments (that is those
15
made elsewhere in the State than at Auburn) undertaken in
the Agricultural Department of the Alabama Experiment Sta-
tion during the calendar year 1915.
Cotton, complete fertilizer experiments.
Cotton, time of applying nitrate of soda.
Cotton, extensive variety tests.
Cotton, tests of wilt resistant varieties.
Cotton, variety tests, short.
Cotton, breeding.
Corn, complete fertilizer experiments.
Corn, time of applying nitrate of soda.
Corn, variety tests, extensive.
Corn, variety tests, 
short.
Corn, breeding.
Cowpeag, variety tests.
Peanuts, complete fertilizer experiments.
Peanuts, variety tests.
Sugar cane, complete fertilizer experiments.
Japanese sugar cane experiments.
Sweet potatoes, complete fertilizer experiments.
Soybean tests.
Wheat, complete fertilizer experiments.
Wheat, variety tests.
Wheat breeding.
Velvet beans, variety tests.
Velvet beans, versus cowpeas.
Extensive forage crop tests.
Bur clover, variety tests.
Crimson clover experiments, methods of inoculation.
Vetch, variety tests.
Oats, fertilizer experiments.
Oats, variety tests.
Oats, breeding experiments.
Oats, time of applying nitrate of soda.
Oats, treatment for smut.
Alfalfa experiments.
Rice experiments.
Lespedeza, fertilizer experiments.
16
.Kudzu experiments.
Sudan grass experiments.
Ladino versus white clover.
Rotation experiment.
Johnson grass experiments.
These local experiments with field crops and fertilizers have
been made in every county in the State under the supervision
of a travelling representative of the Experiment Station.
This year a considerable increase was made in the"number of
experiments to determine the best fertilizers for peanuts and
sweet potatoes, the best, varieties of peanuts, and the most suit-
able variety of velvet beans. The data thus accumulated in
the local experiments and on the Station farm enables the
Experiment Station to supply farmers with the information on
these subjoects, concerning which inquiries in large numbers
are now being received. It is expected that a bulletin on
peanuts and another on velvet beans will soon be ready for
the printer.
J. F. DUGGAR.
Director of Experiment Station.
REPORT OF VETERINARIAN.
C. A. CARY.
Auburn, Ala., Jan. 27, 1916.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Dear Sir:
During 1915 a series of tests were made by giving to animals
preparations made from Heliniunm Autumnale. These tests were
made to determine the symptons, lesions and toxic effects of
this plant.
Tests were also made with some other poisonous plants that
are found in Alabama.
Some records and observations were made on the causes of
sterility in domestic animals.
Also the investigations concerning the causes of mammitis
in cows have been continued.
A study of the prevalence and the pathology of Osteo-poro-
sis has been continued.
The appearance of Osteo-malacia in cattle gave us an oppor-
tunity to investigate the symptons, causes and treatment.
Bulletin No. 185 was issued in July. This gives dips and
plans for dipping vats. It also describes the most common in-
testinal and skin parasites of hogs. It also discusses sanitary
conditions of lots, houses, pastures and water supply. The
results of feeding to hogs cockleburs, cotton seed meal and
china berries are therein briefly stated.
FARMERS INSTITUTES.
During the year 1915 we held nineteen (19) Farmers In-
stitutes.
Number of Counties visited ------------- 15
Number of Institutes ------------------- 19
Number of Sessions ------------------- 31
Average Attendance -------------------- 60
Total Attendance -------------------- 1,835
18
The Summer School for farmers was held at Auburn, July'
31 to August 7, 1915. Nearly all of the Counties in the State-
were represented and the attendance increased from 810 in
1914 to 935 in 1915. The interest in the lectures and demon-
strations was greater than usual and all farmers in attend-
ance were given profitable instruction in live stock and diver-
sified farming.
Respectfully submitted,
C. A. CARY,
Veterinarian..
REPORT OF CHEMIST OF SOILS AND CROP
INVESTIGATIONS.
J. T. ANDERSON.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Sir:
I beg to submit the following report of the work done in the
section of Soil and Crop Investigations of the Chemical De-
partment of the Agricultural Experiment Station during the
year 1915.
1. The determination of the fertilizer requirements of soils
by the chemical analysis of cotton plants grown in them.
The results of our investigations of previous years seem to
point to two conclusions. (a). That the cotton plant at the
four-leaf stage is subjected to fluctuation in composition as
:far as its potash content is concerned, which fluctuation bears
:a more or less definite relation to the known presence or ab-
sence of available potash in the soil. (b.) That it is possible
to state within reasonably narrow limits what should be the
potash content of the four-leaf cotton plant grown in a soil
which is shown by plot or field tests to be on the border line
between having a sufficiency and a deficiency of available
potash; that when the percentage of potash in the plant is
above this limit, the field test shows an abundance of avail-
able potash in the soil, and when below this limit, the field
test indicates need of potash.
Objection has been raised to the selection of the four-leaf
stage as being too early in the life of the plant to be repre-
sentative. To determine whether there be any force in this
objection it was decided to institute a comparison between the
composition of the plant at the four-leaf stage with that of
the plant at certain 
well defined latter 
periods of growth. 
For
the purposes of this investigation experiments were conducted
in two series: (1) In open plots in the field and (2) In em-
bedded earthenware cylinders.
20
(1). Three farmers in the vicinity of Auburn very gener-
ously agreed to co-operate with us in these investigations.
Three plots, 1-20 acre each, were laid off in fields already
planted in cotton, but which had received no potash. Plot 1
was left without potash for the entire season, Plot 2 received
potash (kainit) at the rate of 200 pounds per acre, and Plot 3,
at the rate of 400 pounds per acre. Sample plants for analysis
were drawn at the four-leaf, first-square, first-bloom stages.
A careful record of the yield of lint cotton for the several plots
was made. Publication of the results is reserved for the bulle-
tin, soon to be issued.
(2.) Three typical soils of the vicinity were selected and
placed in earthenware cylinders embedded in the ground. The
unfertilized soils were used in every case. Plants for analysis
were drawn as in the field tests. The same remark about pub-
lication of results above, applies here.
Arsenate of Lead Project.
In co-operation with the Department of Entomology there
has been undertaken an investigation of the factors affecting the
distribution, adhesion, economy of application and insecticidal
efficiency of arsenical insecticides with particular reference to
arsenate of lead in its various forms. The chemical side of this
project involves (1) The analysis of the samples of the arsen-
ates of lead to be used in the experiments to determine the
forms in which the arsenates are present, whether acid, neutral
or basic, what proportions of the arsenates are soluble in water
and what insoluble, and finally, what inpurities or adulterants,
if any, they contain; (2) The stability in composition of the
various forms of arsenate; (3) The determination of the power
of adhesion to foliage of the arsenates, when applied alone or
when mixed with such adhesives as sugar, glue, starch paste,
syrups, glucose, etc.
Thus far the sixteen samples of lead arsenate selected for the
experiment have been analyzed in accordance with the outline
under (1).
3. Fertilizer Inspection.
As usual, the fertilizer inspection work for the State claimed
our attention from the first of April to the middle of July.
21
During this period no opportunity is afforded for any analy-
tical work connected with the Adams projects. The inspection
work, however, is not allowed to interfere with the culture of
the cotton plants referred to under the first of these projects.
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES T. ANDERSON,
Chemist, Soils-and Crop Investigations
REPORT OF PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMIST.
C. L. HARE.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Dear Sir:
During the past year work of this Department has been along
the same general lines as for the past several years.
Experiments in breeding cotton with seed consistently high
in oil content show some promise of positive results.
One or two strains of cotton have maintained a high average
percentage of oil in seed throughout the breeding experiments,
even during years when the amount of oil in cotton seed gener-
ally was below the yearly average.
The results secured in breeding for higher protein seed would
seem to promise some measure of success.
Experiments designed to show the effect of different kinds of
fertilizer upon the amounts of oil, protein and mineral matter
in cotton seed indicate that these quantities are not materially
affected by differences in fertilizer used, although the number
of analyses so far made is not sufficient to give conclusive
results.
Determination of the more important mineral constituents in
cotton seed so far fails to show any 
definite relationship be-
tween these constituents and the percentage of oil and protein
in the seed.
The results on lards as affected by feeds are being continued.
Following are the experiments now under way:
1. Peanuts as forage crop.
2. Peanuts as forage crop and 1-4 ration corn.
3. Peanuts alone, dry lot.
4. Peanut meal-natural condition.
5. Peanut meal-oil extracted.
6. Peanut oil-1-3 ration-corn 2-3 ration.
7. Cotton seed meal--oil extracted.
8. Soy beans and 1-4 ration corn.
23
9. Soy bean and 1-2 ration corn.
Production of lards produced from the above named feeds
are now in process of analysis.
Respectfully submitted,
C. L. HARE,
Physiological Chemist.
Auburn, Ala., Jan. 25, 1916.
REPORT OF ENTOMOLOGIST.
W. E. HINDS.
Prof. J. F. Duggar,
Director Alabama 
Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Dear Sir :
I submit below a brief report of the most important 
items
in the work of the Department of Entomology 
in this Station
during the year ending December 31st, 1915.
STAFF.
Mr. G. W. Ells, formerly Field Assistant in the Department,
resigned on December 31st, 1914, and this position is now
filled by Mr. E. A. Vaughan, a graduate of the Kansas State
Agricultural College, who began work April 1st, 1915. Prof.
J. E. Buck, who had been with us for two years as Assistant
Entomologist, was compelled by ill health to take a six months
leave of absence, beginning April 1st, 1915. Prof. Buck has
been unable to return and that position has been filled since
April 1st by Dr. Frank L. Thomas, graduate of the Massachu-
setts Agricultural College. Mr. N. C. Powell, Secretary to the
Entomologist, resigned September 1st, 1915, and his successor
is Mr. J. P. Bell of Alabama.
DEPARTMENTAL WORK.
Aside from the teaching work of the Department, which is
conducted directly by Dr. Thomas, the principal lines of the
activity of the Department have included correspondence,
the issuance of publications dealing with various phases of our
work, the continuance of Adams Fund projects previously
begun, miscellaneous insect problems and extension work
under the Smith-Lever Fund.
CORRESPONDENCE.
The correspondence during the past year has required
about thirty-five hundred dictated letters, besides a large
number answered through the medium of our publications.
PUBLICATIONS.
New publications during the year, include 
Bulletin No.
25-
186, the Grass Worm or Fall Army Worm; Bulletin No. 80,
Cotton Boll Weevil Infested Area and Quarantine Line in
Alabama, .1915-16; Press Bulletin No. 79, Fall Campaign
Against the Boll Weevil; Press Bulletin No. 78, Chain Drag
for Boll Weevil Control; Press Bulletin No. 77, Insecticides
Uncertain for Boll Weevil Control; Circular No. 33, Boll
Weevil Control by Cotton Stalk Destruction; Extension Leaf-
let No. 8, Summary of Boll Weevil Suggestions.
In addition to the regular Station publications, we have
published numerous articles in the daily press and in the
agricultural press of the southern states, in the Journal of
Economic Entomology, and the proceedings of the Alabama
State Horticultural Society'. We also prepared a chapter on
"Sanitation and Health in the Rural Schools and in the Rural
Communities" for an Elementary Manual, issued by the State
Superintendent of Education for the teachers of Alabama.
ADAMS FUND INVESTIGATIONS.
These investigations have been continued in connection with
three projects (a) Life History and Control of the Rice Weevil
(b) Arsenate of Lead Investigations, (c) Fumigation Investi-
gations. Substantial progress has been made with each of
these projects.
MISCELLANEOUS INSECT PROBLEMS.
(a) The Mexican cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis)
has continued its spread during the past fall, extending into
more than twenty additional counties in the State. Only
five counties are now outside of the weevil line of 1915. The
infested area is shown in Press bulletin No. 80. The advance
of the weevil in 1915 was the most extensive that has occurred
since the weevil entered Texas in 1892. It extended over one
hundred and forty miles along the line of the West Point
Route Railway, spreading from the northeastern corner of
Montgomery county in Alabama nearly to Atlanta, Georgia.
Its immense spread occurred principally between August 20th
and 23rd, and seems to have been due primarily to heavy
winds from the South-and Southwest which occurred at that
time. The spread occurred so early in the season that the
weevils produced one or two generations before frost and
26
therefore may be expected to maintain themselves through
nearly all the newly infested area.
(b) The grass worm or fall army worm (Laphygma frugi-
perda) occurred in abundance in many localities in the late
summer and fall of 1915, stripping particularly, fields of cow-
peas, and other uncultivated crops. The occurence of this
insect was an occasion for considerable additional work and
particularly for the completion and publication of the manu-
script on this insect, resulting from extensive study made upon
it in 1912 by Field Assistant, J. A. Dew. This report appears
as a joint publication in Bulletin No. 186.
(c) Satsuma insect control. Some additional experiments
were conducted in Mobile county in testing several new in-
secticides which are being sold for the control of Satsuma
pests. A brief statement regarding the results of this work
appears in the proceedings of the Gulf Coast Horticultural
Society for 1915.
(d) The Argentine ant (Irridomyrmex humilis) has ap-
peared in large numbers at Letohatchie. The species seems
to be thoroughly established and has become a serious nuis-
ance. A study of the situation has been made by Field Assist-
ant E. A. Vaughan. This ant occurs also at Montgomery and
Mobile. Doubtless this species is at other points also, but
has not been discovered. This insect is certain to demand con-
siderable attention in future years.
EXTENSION WORK.
Aside from our participation in a number of Movable Schools
of Agriculture, the Entomologist delivered eighty-eight public
addresses, with a total attendance of approximately seventeen
thousand. Assistants in the Department addressed seventeen
public gatherings with a total attendance of more than twenty-
five hundred. This unusually large number of meetings was
due to our participation in two campaigns. One for crop
diversification in February and March, and the other for the
destruction of cotton stalks and the use of fall cover crops,
held the latter part of September and first half of October.
Respectfully submitted,
W. E. HINDS, Entomologist.
REPORT OF THE PLANT PHYSIOLOGIST.
JOSEPH S. CALDWELL.
Auburn, Ala., Dec. 31, 1915.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Sir:
I herewith submit my report of the work done as Plant
Physiologist of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
for the year 1915. By reason of the fact that my connection
with the Station terminates with the close of the current year,
this constitutes a final report of conditions of the various
projects under way in this department. Unfortunately a por-
tion of these are as yet incomplete, although in all there have
been obtained results which varrant 
publication, and it is my
purpose to prepare statements of these results for publication
with as little delay as possible. It is a pleasure to acknowl-
edge the kindness of Dr. Ira D. Cardiff, Director of the Wash-
ington Agricultural Experiment Station, in agreeing that such
portion of my time as may be necessary for the preparation
of such manuscripts for publication shall be available for the
purpose. Pending the preparation of such reports, I am filing
with you a rather complete summary of results thus far ob-
tained, in order that such information may be immediately
available to you and to my successor.
Antagonism project. This investigation had been begun
prior to my connection with this Station, and has been con-
tinued as an Adams project, occupying th greater portion of
my available time. The scope and aims of the work were
outlined in my first report as plant physiologist (Annual Report
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, 25, 26, 32, 1913)
and brief reports of progress have been made in subsequent
reports (Annual Reports Alabama Agricultural Experiment
Station, 26, 29, 30, 1914; ibid. 27: 27-30, 1915). The substance
of these reports need not here be repeated. The investigation
28
is now completed and the results are practically ready for
-publication.
Seventeen pairs of salts, for each of which an antagonistic
relation has at one time or another been asserted in the litera-
ture, have been exhaustively studied as regards their ability to
reduce each other's toxicity for plants rooted in finely ground
quartz. The investigation has involved the determination, for
each of the salts employed, of the range of concentration with-
in which germination of corn, which was used as a test plant
is inhabited; the range of concentration which 
is toxic, stim-
ulatory; and the limit of dilution at which all physiological
effects disappear, as a preliminary to the work proper. For
each pair of salts, cultures in a wide variety of mixtures at
various concentrations from wholly inhibitory up tothose en-
tirely without physiological effect have been made, and in
most cases such cultures have been two or three times repeated.
The labor involved in the preparation and care of more than
eleven thousand cultures and in the separate determination
for each of dry weights of roots and tops has been very con-
siderable, and has been possible only through the assistance
faithfully and efficiently rendered by Messrs. Chas. S. Ridgway,
formerly assistant professor of botany, and W. B. Farrar, A.
C. Foster, and C. W. Culpepper, former student assistants in
the department.
The results of the investigation have been prepared for pub-
lication in the form of two papers, the first of which deals
with the antagonistic relations of sodium with six other ele-
ments, while the second is concerned with the results for the
remaining pairs of salts. These papers have been accepted
for publication in the Botanical Gazette and are awaiting
their turn in the hands of the editor. In addition, all the
results of the work, together with a rather full resume of the
literature, have been combined in one paper which is practi-
cally ready for submission to you for publication as a technical
bulletin of this Station. Pending its completion and submis-
sion, the chief important results may be very briefly stated:
1. When two salts, each of which is toxic when employed
alone at the particular concentration concerned, are presented
29
to a plant in mixed solution, one of three possible results ap-
pears: (a) there may be an increase of toxis effect, so that the
plant makes less growth than in isosmotic solution of either
pure salt; (b) there may be a decrease of toxic effect with a
consequent increase of growth over that seen in either pure
salt, which is the condition to which the term antagonism
properly applies. Such antagonism may be mutual, small
amounts of either salt having the property of reducing the
toxicity of larger amounts of the other, or it may be one-sided,
one salt having such power while the other does not possess
it. (c) There may be not only abolition of injurious effects
but also a decided acceleration of development, so that plants
grown in such cultures attain a greater dry weight than do
controls in distilled water. This is antagonism plus a second
effect appropriately designated as synergism. Instances of each
of these effects have been observed.
2. The relations which any given pair of salts possess can-
not be determined by the employment of a few mixtures in a
single concentration. A single pair of salts may show clearly
defined antagonism of the mutual type at one concentration,
at another this antagonism may become one-sided, and at
still another the effect may be synergistic. When at any one
concentration a wide range of mixtures in varying ratios are
employed, one of these effects may pass over into another as
the proportions of the two salts in the mixtures change. The
effect produced is thus variable, not only with concentration
but with proportion of salts in the mixture. This variation in
effect with change in concentration, first published by Gile,
in connection with his work upon the lime-magnesium ratio
in Hawaian soils, had been independently observed in this
work and with a number of salts at the time of Gile's publica-
tion. The extraordinary confusion existing in the literature
is largely a result of the tacit assumption that any relation
found to prevail between two salts at one concentration must
necessarily hold for all concentrations. The relations of any
given pair of salts are much more complex than this would
assume.
3. A considerable number of investigators have employed
30
height of tops as the sole criterion for determination 
of antag-
onistic effects with plants; others 
have employed length of
roots or green weight. A large number of salts have specific ef-
fect upon body form and in particular upon 
degree of elonga-
tion of tops and elongation, branching, and thickening of roots.
Specific effects of salts upon the water content of plants are
also manifest in many cases, some salts increasing, some de-
creasing water content as compared with normal controls,
As a result, green weight, length of tops, and length of roots
are not only not correlated with each other, when various
salt mixtures are being employed, but they also vary independ-
ently of dry weight. Since dry weight is the final expression
of the plant's power to carry on metabolic processes under
the conditions of the experiment, 
it is the only absolutely
dependable criterion available in work which compares the
effects of various salts upon plant growth, and has been em-
ployed exclusively throughout these investigations.
4. The specific effects of salts and of salt mixtures upon
the rate and amount of growth of plants are most easily ex-
plained upon the assumption that individual salts have spe-
cific effects upon protoplasmic permeability, that for a given
salt the effect is not constant at all concentrations, but alters
in intensity and also in character of effect as the concentra-
tion alters, and that the effect of a salt mixture is determined
primarily by the effects of the constituents upon the permea-
bility of the bounding membranes.
Soil toxins project: Work upon this project, which has
been carried on as a joint project of the deparments of botany
.and of soils, has embraced four closely related lines of in-
vestigation (a) the isolation and identification of such phy-
siologically active organic constituents as are present in cer-
tain soils of known origin and previous treatment (b) the
growth of plants in pot cultures of soils to which various
amounts of physiologically active organic constituents have
been added (c) the investigation of the ability of the organ-
isms naturally occurring in these soils to accomplish the de-
composition of certain nitrogenous compounds previously
isolated from the soil and found to have distinct toxic effects,
31
and (d)- the isolation and identification of such organisms.
I have been chiefly engaged in the first of these lines of work,
while the second and third have been carried on by Prof.
Funchess. Only a very small amount of preliminary work has
been done upon the identification and isolation of the organ-
isms concerned.
Studies of four typical soils from the Station farm and its
immediate vicinity, upon samples taken from fields whose
,cultural history is known for long periods, have shown that
a very considerable variety of organic constituents are present
in amounts sufficient to permit of ready identification. Of the
four soils studied, all contained pentose sugars, pentosans, pico-
line-carboxylic acid, cytosine, arginine, histidine in small
amounts, and xanthine or hypoxanthine. Three of the four
contained monohydroxystearic acid, phytosterol, lignoceric
acid; xanthine, while Kentriacontane, various glycerids, hypox-
anthine agrosterol, and a group of acids closely related to di-
hydroxystearic acid and having the same general properties
but slightly different chemical behavior were found in two.
That these compounds exist in the soil and persist for some
time in recognizable quantities is clear, and that this persist-
ence is sufficient to permit their presence under a succeeding
crop is also evident. The detailed results of this part of the
work are in part written 
up and will shortly be 
available for
publication. The second and third parts of. the work as out-
lined above have been carried on by Professor Funchess, who
is reporting thereon.
Blackrot project: The ability of Sphaeropsis mal-
orum, the organism producing blackrot of apples, to grow upon
all parts of the vegetative tissues as well as upon the fruits of
the apple seemed to the writer to justify a chemical study of
the changes produced in the tissues of the apple fruit as a
result of the presence and growth of the fungus. Such a study
was carried out as a Hatch project during the spring and sum-
mer of the present year. The results throw considerable light
upon the metabolic activities of the blackrot organism as well
as upon the changes occurring in the fruit as a consequence of
its presence, and two or three points are reserved for further
32
investigation. A paper embodying the results is ready for
publication and will appear in the Journal of Agricultural Re-
search.
Wilting co-efficient investigatiohs. A previous publication
(Caldwell, J. S. The relation of environmental conditions to
the phenomonon of permanent wilting in plants, (Physiol. Re-
searches 1:1-56. 1913) has presented considerable evidence
that the "wilting co-efficient" of Briggs and Shantz, a term em-
ployed by these authors to denote the moisture content of
the soil when plants growing therein have reached the con-
dition of permanent wilting, does not designate a definite and
unchanging amount of water, but rather a quantity which
alters with every change in the intensity of the evaporatng
power of the air. Since the publication of the article just
cited, considerable additional work has been done, with results
which clearly demonstrate that the moisture content of a soil
in which plants have become permanently wilted is a variable
whose value is determined by the evaporating power of the
air. The results of these studies have not yet been prepared
for publication, but will be worked up as rapidly as the duties
encumbent upon me will permit.
A number of minor investigations have not yet reached such
a stage as would permit publication of the results, but some
of them have given every indication of yielding valuable re-
sults. I am handing you herewith a separate report embodying
such results as have been obtained, with an outline of the
methods employed, in order that you may judge of the ad-
visability of continuing the various lines of work with which
they are concerned.
Respectfully submitted,
J. S. CALDWELL,
Plant Physiologist.
REPORT OF PLANT PATHOLOGIST.
F. A. WOLF,
Auburn, Ala., Dec. 13, 1915.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment Station,
Auburn. Ala.
Dear Sir:
I respectfully submit herewith a brief statement of the work
of the Department of Plant Pathology in the Alabama Agricul-
tural Experiment Station for the year just closed.
The investigatiions of the department have been directed
along the lines outlined in the two Adams Fund projects: 
(1)
Experiments on control and dissemination of peanut leaf spot,
and (2) a study of citrus canker. The practice of crop rotation
and of seed disinfection either separately or conjointly will
not control peanut leaf spot since it has been found that both
air currents and certain insects are agents in the dissemination
of the leaf spot organism. Considerable time has been devoted
to investigations on citrus canker. Reports on the two pro-
jects have been prepared and will appear from press within a
:short time.
A portion of the Local Experiment Fund has been utilized
in the field studies and observations connected with the two
Adams Fund projects. Other of it has been employed in studies
on the bur clover leaf spot, blight resistance of sand pears, and
a decay of onions by an organism not previously known to at-
tack onions. A statement relative to the blight of pears will
appear in the Proceedings of the Alabama State Horticultural
Society. The other studies are not yet complete but valuable
results have been secured.
During the past year a number of scientific reviews and
several papers have been prepared for publication.
1. Criticism for experiment station publications. Sci. N. S.
42: 24-25, 1915.
2. Notes on citrus diseases and pecan rosette. Proc. Gulf
Coast Hort. Soc. 1:34-44, 1915.
34
3. Further studies on peanut leaf spot. (n press) Jour. Agr.
Research.
4. Citrus Canker. (in press) Jour. Agr. Research.
5. Notes on pear blight. (in press) Proc. Ala. State Hort.
Soc.
Very respectfully submitted,
FREDERICK A. WOLF,
Plant Pathologist.
REPORT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDMAN.
G. S. TEMPLETON.
Auburn, Ala., Jan. 20, 1916.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment 
Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Dear Sir:
I respectfully submit the following report of the experimental
work in the Animal Husbandry Department, for the year 1915:
All experimental work in this Department, conducted in Au-
burn, is supported by the Hatch and Adams Funds appropriat-
ed by Congress. Experiments located in the several parts of the
State are supported by the State appropriation provided by the
Local Experimental Law.
Experiments have been conducted with the various classes
of live stock as follows:
BEEF CATTLE.
The co-operative steer feeding experimental work started at
Allenville, Marengo County, Alabama, last year, is being con-
tinued.
One hundred head of steers aret now on feed at Allenville.
The questions under consideration are as follows:
First, to determine the values of the following feeds for fat-
tening beef cattle:
(1) Sorghum silage, corn and cotton seed meal.
(2) Corn silage, corn and cotton seed meal.
(3) Corn silage, corn, cotton seed meal and alfalfa.
(4) Cotton seed meal and corn silage.
(5) Velvet beans in pod, ground, and silage.
Second, to determine the value of paved feed lots for fatten-
ing beef cattle.
Third, to determine the value of shelter for young cattle
while being fattened.
Fourth, to determine whether or not there are any toxic
effects on hogs following steers that are being fed cotton seed
meal.
36
DAIRY CATTLE.
The dairy cattle feeding projects have been continued dur-
ing the year, and-a few new ones.added.
First, a study of the relative feeding value of ground velvet
beans and pods and cotton seed meal, as part of the ration for
milk and butter fat production.
Second, a study of the influence of the above feeds on the
quality of the butter.
Third, a comparison of skim milk, Blatchford's Calf Meal,
and oat meal, as feeds for rearing dairy calves up to sixteen
weeks of age.
The co-operative dairy work with M. W. Hall & Sons, in Bul-
lock County, was continued. The problems studied are as
follows.
First, a comparison of corn meal and rice polish as a part
of the concentrates for milk and butter fat production.
Second, a comparison of cotton seed hulls, corn stover and
cowpea hay as roughages for milk and butter fat production.
Third, to determine the cost of raising dairy heifers to a
producing stage.
SWINE.
First, the work at Auburn in co-operation with the Depart-
ment of Chemistry to ascertain the influence of some Southern
feeds upon the properties (melting point, iodine value, keeping
qualities and color) of lards, is still in progress.
Second, to determine the acre value, in term of pork produc-
tion, of soy beans.
Third, experiments were started in Dale County to deter-
mine the cost of raising and fattening hogs under farm condi-
tions.
MULES.
Experiments were conducted in Marengo County, to deter-
mine the comparative efficiency of various home grown feeds
for farm work mules.
POULTRY.
The experimental work in Mobile County was continued
37
throughout the year. Several feeds are being studied as to
their relative efficiency and economy in egg production.
Respectfully submitted,
GEO. S. TEMPLETON,
Animal Husbandman.
REPORT OF HORTICULTURIST.
ERNEST WALKER.
Auburn, Ala., Jan. 25, 1916.
Prof. J. F. Duggar, Director,
Alabama Experiment Station,
Auburn, Ala.
Sir:
I respectfully submit the following report on work of the
Horticultural Department for the past year.
Experiment work under the Hatch and Adams funds has con-
sisted chiefly of a continuation of the subjects mentioned in my
last report. A number of different treatments, chemical and
other, of Irish potatoes to effect prompt sprouting have been
tried. In some instances the results have been positive. At-
tention is being given to the causes. Potatoes of the early crop
have been kept for seed the following year, two years in suc-
cession, with but little loss from decay, and used for seed.
The several lines of experiments under Hatch Funds men-
tioned in my last report have been continued. An important
new study undertaken, includes experiments along a new line
in control of the "Twig Blight" or "Blossom Blight" of the
apple, a disease which has come to be regarded as one of the
most serious drawbacks to apple growing. The first years results
have been highly encouraging.
A bulletin on cabbage giving the results of varietal studies
and three years results with fertilizers has been prepared for
publication. The bulletin includes results at Auburn and those
of co-operative tests at Bessemer. In these tests lime seems to
be of great value. Thomas phosphate seems to be preferable
to acid phosphate, when used in otherwise complete fertilizers.
Cotton seed meal was preferable to nitrate of soda as a source
of nitrogen. Potash seemed to be of no appreciable value for
cabbage on the whole, either at Auburn or Bessemer. Varieties
of special value under the conditions of climate here are given
in the bulletin.
Experiments under the Local Experiment State Fund were
carried on at a number of points over the state. In several
instances the same tests were conducted in two or three widely
separated localities. These experiments included:
Sweet potatoes-varieties, fertilizers.
Irish potatoes-seed selection.
Dasheen-in three counties.
Bush cantaloupe.
New variety of water melon-"Panmure All-heart".
Cucumbers-varieties, fertilizers.
Rhubarb-from seed and roots.
Pimentoes.
Navy beans-at several points.
Chinese cabbage and celery-successful (must be grown in
fall).
Strawberries-varieties, fertilizers, and cultural methods.
Peppermint and spearmint for extracts.
Ginsing.
Coffee.
Tea.
Bulbs.
Sweet peas.
Satsuma orange-fertilizers and cover crops. (twenty-three
plots).
Pecans-varieties, fertilizers, (twenty three plots).
English walnuts.
Italian prune.
Smyrna fig.
Vinifera grapes.
Olives.
Pistaches.
Figs.
Carica papaya.
Apples-fertilizers, control of twig blight, pruning, in north
Alabama.
The results of co-operative "Local Experiment" tests of fer-
tilizers on cabbage have been published in the form of a bulletin
recently.
An enormous number of letters are received and answered
40
each year. These relate to a great variety of subjects and make
heavy demands. A number of meetings have been attended
during the year by the horticulturist and associates. It has
beeen impossible to attend all the extension and other meetings
for which requests were made, and frequent requests from the
press for contributions.
Traveling expenses for the department have been large, and
necessarily so (chiefly under the State Horticultural Fund), on
account of the numerous trips to south Alabama, to several
points in the state to inspect nurseries, orchards, foreign nur-
sery stock shipped into Alabama, and to attend horticultural
meetings. A number of trips have been made to Mobile and
Baldwin counties on account of the citrus canker. Other trips
were made to Montgomery at the request of growers interested
in the new Horticultural 
Law. One-trip was made 
to Washing-
ton, D. C., by request of the Canker Committee of the several
Gulf States and the citrus growers of south Alabama.
Respectfully submitted,
ERNEST WALKER,
Horticulturist.