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( BRIDGECACHE )

( BRIDGECACHET )

V GI4
AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATION


The Florida Agri~ltural Experiment Station is an institu-

tion established for the purposes of discovering b iic facts in

agrioultur nd then to publish these discoveries in the form

of bulletins. Since its establishment it has distributed free

of cost over a million bulletins written on agrionltural subjects.

The demand for the publications in recent years has grown far

beyond the anticipation of those connected \with the institution.

The work of the F.xperiment Station is carried on by .

staff of sixteon, each one of whom is a specialist in his own

line. All the general lines of agriculture are represented,

greatest stress being placed on those lines that engage the atten-

tion of the largest number of people. All the publications

are sent free on request to evory person in the State. W1 have

now published 166 Bulletins, 170 Press Bulletins and 22 Annual

Reports.

The Exporiment Station Building was especially designed,

constructed and equipped for the special work. It is one of the

best buildings for its purpose in the south.


,ii.l Whnile Florida is not considered
primarily as a stock raising State, the value of her live

stock exceeds that of any one other line of agriculture. In the

very near future the raising of rmet and. dairy products in Florida

will exceed that in many more populous :tatos. Our an*al indus-

tralist has determined for us just how many pounds of Florida

grown forage and feeds are required to produce a gallon of mill:

or a pound of beef. By feeding steers a daily ration of tAvclve
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and a half pounds corn, eighteen and three-quarters pounds velvet

beans in pod; twenty and four-fifths .pounds sweet potatoes; and
twelve and a half pounds Japanese cane, per thousand pound live

weight, they gained an average of six and a half pounds por day

during the feeding period. This lot of steers returned a net
profit of $4.67 per head.

In one of the many test made with dairy coos it was
found that 252 pounds of cotton se,-d meal fed with the necessary

ingredients added to make a balanced ration produced 2.6 gallons

-of milk costing nine cents a gallon for the feed. The same toot

showed that it required 453 pounds of cocoanut meal with the

necessary ingredients as in the previously mentioned test to pro-

duce 2301j gallons of milk at a cost of elevon cents per gallon
for the food consumed.

In testing a herd of miloh cows over a period of six.
months ranging from January 1 to July 1 it was found that cow Bo.
10 produced 483- gallons of milk at a cost of Devon and three-

tenths cents nor gallon for the feed consumed. Oow Hlo. 5, the

.second best, produced 378-- gallons at a cost of nine and three-
tenths cents. While cow ITo. 8, the poort production, gavo only

225 gallons at a cost of fifteen and osi-tenths counts per gallon,

The average cost -or gallon for the herd was oloven and threo-

tenths cents ,paer- gallo .

ST."TILI"ERS: Every person who grows the largest crop

his soil is capable of producing mast use a certain amount of for-
tilizers. A part of this material is consumed by the crop, a part

remains in the soil, but a larme amount is lost. Investigations

are now being conducted which will determine just what becomes of









this large amount that is lost. With this knowledge available
it will be possible to devise mehns of conserving this lost
fertilizer which amounts to millions bf dollars annually.

PLANT DISEASES: The annual loss from plant diseases
aggregates into the millions of dollars. 1Sch of this loss
S -qn be prevented at a comparatively small cost; such saving is
almost clear profit since it costs just as much to grow an infer-
ior crop as it does to produce a large one. The remedies for
some diseases such as rust of tomatoes, anthracnoos of citrus
fruits, earl-y blight of 4-ish potatoes, and many others, have
been worked out. The plant pathologists are cO g to work
out remedies for other diseases no less destructive but less
perfootly understood.

VIHITEFLY: The entomologist has worked out a method
which enables the citrus growers to apply remedies for this

pest at least expenditure and with the greatest degroo of eft.f-
oieno' This pest has been the most difficult one yet enoountored,
but the information given in Bulletin 103 will enable the citrus

grower to handle it at least eononse. ,

C0ARYINIG THE UNIVERSITY TO THE PEOPLE..

The Extension Division of the University haa carried on
active work in carrying the University to as many homes as
possible in the State. Several W7omern's Institutzs ve been held
and have .proven very popular. A number of ofg i ~n the Uni-

versity have acted as judges at the county and interstate fair.
The School Corn Clubs enlipt the boys and girls in farm work and




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create in them a sentiment for the farm. The Farmers' Institutes
carries the latest information to the farmer.

S OOOL ORN CLUBS: Active stops 4re taken two years
ago by Dean Vernon of the College of Agriculture in cooperation
with County Superintendent Dr, J. F. Kelly, to inaugurato the
school corn clubs in Alachna County. Over four hundred pupils
entered the clubs last year and this year the number has reached

over six hundred. The object of this work is to educate the
school children in the art of raising oorn and to instill in
them the love for the farm home. The accompanying pictures
show two of these contestants, both of whom are the proud noseose-
ere of a fine field of corn, This work gives these young
folks healthy exercise in the open air 0a woll as a deeper insight
into the a~t of corn raising and corn judging than could bo gotten
in any other way. With six hundred of these earnest young men
and women king it their business to grow the best crops of coenl,
Alachi) be the banner corn producing county of the State,

STHE rF!:'E.S' IiTTITUTErries the University to the
farmers of Florida. The lectures are selected from among the
many sneoialists at the University. Each sneaker is selected
with a vieT of his fitness for giving instruction in the particu-
lar subject. The subleots are chosen by the community in which
they are held. The State provides the funds nooessary for paying
the enxenses of this work.

The growth of the institute movement in shown cloa-rly
by the following figures:








1908,



1910,

191i,


S4491 in attendanoes

5576 in attendances

9021 In attendanoeo

19064 in attendance*


....
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* *... '*s m


42 sessions,

54 sessions,

122 osesions,

192 sessions,


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