Treatment of Smuts and Rusts

:Many inquiries have recently been received with reference to the treatment of seed-grains for Smur and Rust. The most recent treatments are given with a few notes on the microscopic -structure and the method of growth

Drought Resistant Forage Experiments at Highmore Substation

The Co-operative Range and Forage Experiments at Highmore were begun in 1899 in co-operation with the Division of Agrostology of the United States Department of Agriculture. Increased funds supplied both by the Department of Agriculture and the State have been of great advantage in carrying out the experiments already begun. The following brief summary will indicate a few of the results already obtained :1. Nevada Blue Grass, Feather Bunch Grass, Western Wheat Grass and Brome Grass have given promise of being useful for range renewal. No perennial has yet been found which will give a satisfactory yield of hay.2. Several Annuals have shown themselves to be very drought resistant and to give satisfactory yields under adverse conditions. Sorghums, corns and millets, in the order named, are the most to be recommended for winter feed.3. Rape when cultivated has done well, yielding as high as fourteen tons of green fodder per acre.4. Both manuring and pulverizing of native over-fed prairie have caused a great increase in the yield of hay per acre.The following is the report of Mr. L. W. Carter, who is in charge of this work

Ferns and Flowering Plants of South Dakota

The results embodied in the accompanying catalogue are based on specimens in the College herberium, and on notes taken in the field by Professor T. A. Williams and the writer. The nomenclature followed is the modification of the Paris Code adopted by the Botanical Club of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Rochester in 1892 and amended at the Madison, Wis., meeting in 1893. The only synonyms given are such as would be a help to one accustomed to using Gray\u27s Manual. In preparing this catalogue, Dr. P. A. Rydberg\u27s Flora of the Black Hills has been freely used. Specimens have also been received from various collectors in that region. Professor Williams has made extensive collections in the Sioux Valley, has done considerable work along Bigstone Lake, and has made one trip from Pierre to Rapid City and return, obtaining many interesting specimens, especially from the Badlands. Messrs. David Griffiths, Earl Douglass, Jno. J.Thornber, students of Professor Williams, have done considerable collecting east of the Missouri river. Mr. L. W. Carter has made various collecting trips in the eastern part of the state, and, in company with Mr. Griffiths, one extended trip from Forest City along the Moreau rive� to the Black Hills, returning along the Cheyenne River to Fort Pierre. The writer has collected over most of the state east of the Missouri River, and, in company with Mr. J. R. Towne, in the summer of 1897 made very careful examinations of the Little Minnesota River and its tributaries. On this trip many eastern species heretofore unknown to the state were obtained

Millet

In the spring of 1897 the Division of Agrostology, U. S. Department of Agriculture sent a collection of Millet seed which it had gathered from seedsmen at several widely distant places throughout the United States, with a request that we co-operate with them by raising, harvesting and carefully noting the characteristics of each of the various samples and reporting to them. This we have done, and we presume that results obtained from the co-operative experiments conducted at this as well as many other stations, will soon be issued in bulletin form from the Department at Washington. Believing that the bulletins from this station reach a large number of the farmers of this state who do not receive the Department publications, we have decided to publish the results of our own experiments, both with the seeds obtained from the Department and from other sources. The purpose of this bulletin is ·to classify the various samples which are being sold under so many different names, and to arrange them in groups; each such group having the characteristics of some well-known, popular variety, regardless of the trade names under which they are being sold, and to show their comparative value for this state. The Millets were all sown on well-prepared land of uniform quality, no manure having been applied for at least five years. The sowing was done on May 21, with a hand garden drill making the rows two feet apart. They were cultivated and hoed during the season and kept free from weeds

Formulating a convincing rationale for a research study

Explaining the purpose of a research study and providing a compelling rationale is an important part of any coaching research project, enabling the work to be set in the context of both existing evidence (and theory) and its practical applications. This necessitates formulating a clear research question and deriving specific research objectives, thereby justifying and contextualising the study. In this research note we consider the characteristics of good research questions and research objectives and the role of theory in developing these. We conclude with a summary and a checklist to help ensure the rationale for a coaching research study is convincing

Four Injurious Insects

During the past season a large number of reports and inquiries came to the Experiment Station in reference to insect ravages. As much time as could be spared was spent in visiting the infected regions and giving such help and advice as was possible. The larger part of the month of June was spent in visiting regions where the Rocky Mountain Locusts had appeared and in helping the farmers in constructing the hopper dozers. During the month of August the region infested with the Green Plant Bug was visited and as much information as possible was gathered in reference to it

Faster juvenile growth promotes earlier sex change in a protandrous hermaphrodite (barramundi Lates calcarifer)

The relationship between growth and sexual maturation is central to understanding the dynamics of animal populations which exhibit indeterminate growth. In sequential hermaphrodites, which undergo post-maturation sex change, the size and age at which sex change occurs directly affects reproductive output and hence population productivity. However, these traits are often labile, and may be strongly influenced by heterogenous growth and mortality rates. We analysed otolith microstructure of a protandrous (i.e., male-to-female) fish (barramundi Lates calcarifer) to examine growth in relation to individual variation in the timing of sex change. Growth trajectories of individuals with contrasting life histories were examined to elucidate the direction and extent to which growth rate influences the size and age individuals change sex. Then, the relationships between growth rate, maturation schedules and asymptotic maximum size were explored to identify potential trade-offs between age at female maturity and growth potential. Rapid growth was strongly associated with decreased age at sex change, but this was not accompanied by a decrease in size at sex change. Individuals that were caught as large females grew faster than those caught as males, suggesting that fast-growing individuals ultimately obtain higher fitness and therefore make a disproportionate contribution to population fecundity. These results indicate that individual-level variation in maturation schedules is not reflective of trade-offs between growth and reproduction. Rather, we suggest that conditions experienced during the juvenile phase are likely to be a key determinant of post-maturation fitness. These findings highlight the vulnerability of sex-changing species to future environmental change and harvest

Native and Introduced Forage Plants

The materials for this Bulletin have been collected and the analyses have been made during a period extending over several years. In reality this work is a continuation of that commenced in Bulletin No. 40 of this Station. Prof. Thomas A. Williams, now deceased, continued the collection of native grasses, etc., after Bulletin No. 40 was issued. Before he had severed his connection with this Station he had collected the following plants: Carex pennsylvanica, Stipa comata, Trifolium,alexandrium, Panicum miliacium, var. Sibericum, Polygonum ramosissimum, Ornithopus sativus, Festuca octiflora, Carex laxiflora, Elymus sibericus, Muhlenbergia ambigua, Spergula arvensis, Hordeum pusill um, Heirochloe borealis, Calamagrostis montanensis, Vicia villosa, Eragrostis abysinica, Lupinus luteus, and Spartina gracilis. The descriptions and analyses of these will appear in the· following pages excepting that of the Siberian Millet. Owing to the fact that the origin and authenticity of the seed sample are in question, the description is omitted

Identifying conservation units after large-scale land clearing: a spatio-temporal molecular survey of endangered white-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp.)

Aim: We examined how the threatened and endemic white-tailed black cockatoos of Western Australia have responded genetically to recent and comprehensive habitat loss with the ultimate aim of identifying units for conservation. We assessed the population structure, connectivity and genetic diversity at spatial and temporal scales for Calyptorhynchus baudinii and C. latirostris, which have undergone dramatic population declines. Genetic comparisons of pre- and post-population decline were carried out by including historical samples dating back to 1920. We examined samples collected from across 700 km of their distribution and sampled approximately 1% of the current population census size to produce significant insights into the population genetics of white-tailed black cockatoos and generate genetic information crucial for conservation management. Location: Southwest corner of Western Australia. Methods: Six hundred and eighty-four cockatoo samples were collected from 1920 to 2010 and profiled with 19 microsatellites to identify spatial population structure and loss of genetic diversity.Results: The temporal and spatial microsatellite data illustrated that the geographically defined genetic structuring in white-tailed black cockatoos is likely to represent a recent phenomenon. We identified: (1) spatial population substructure east and west of extensively cleared habitat (>95,800 km2), but the historical samples clustered with the current western population, regardless of origin, (2) a regional loss of allelic diversity over 3–4 generations for the current eastern population, (3) a lack of a genetic signal of the recent population decline, but perhaps a mid-Holocene population collapse and lastly, (4) limited genetic differentiation between the two currently recognized white-tailed black-cockatoo species suggests a review of taxonomy and/or management units should be undertaken. Main conclusion: Based on extensive spatio-temporal sampling, we have demonstrated that recent anthropogenic habitat modifications have affected the genetic structure of a long-lived and highly mobile species. Our results have identified areas of high conservation value and the importance of maintaining native vegetation migration corridors