SOME PRESENT PROBLEMS 731 



Bulletins, 1903 



Insects, diseases of plants 63 or 20 % 



Feeding and grazing 52 



Fertilizers 37 



Farm crops 33 



Fruits, orchards 28 



Dairy (milk and cheese) 23 



Diseases of animals 16 



Meteorology 15 



Garden vegetables 12 



Sugar 7 



Natural resources, irrigation 7 



Poultry 4 



Weeds 4 



Ornamental plants 4 



Seed germination 3 



Educational 3 



Forestry 2 



General advice, bees, exhibitions, plant-breed- 

 ing, etc 1 



314 



Some epochs are now passing as the fertilizer epoch based on 

 agricultural chemistry. The larger question of self-sustaining farm 

 management is now pressing. Three categories of technical farm 

 subjects are just now beginning to demand much thought: (1) pro- 

 blems of feeding to increase efficiency of farm animals; (2) problems 

 of breeding of animals and plants for the same purpose; (3) pro- 

 blems of the business organization of the farm, or development of 

 a farm-plan. We are beginning to apply research to large fundamen- 

 tal questions. The earlier subjects of investigation in the agricultural 

 experiment stations were mostly the smaller and incidental ones. 

 A good many of them were vest-pocket questions. Now the fun- 

 damental or backbone crops and products are being investigated 

 in their entirety the corn crop, the cotton crop, the grass crop, 

 the milk product, the beef product. The experiment stations are 

 originating a kind of constructive investigational method, and the 

 really great questions are ahead of us. Large problems come last. 



We are now just coming to the large question of adaptation of 

 special areas to special purposes. In the future one of the problems 

 will be the more perfect adaptation of the kind of farming to soil and 

 climate. As an illustration, the production of domestic animals for 

 meat and for wool has been most extensive on the western border of 

 the developing country for economic reasons, and not because the 



