REPORT. 



To the Commissioner of Agriculture, Albany, N. Y.: 



Sir. — I have the honor to transmit herewith the ninth annual 

 report of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, in accordance with the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, 

 establishing the Station. 



In addition to the general report of the director and the spec- 

 ial reports of his scientific coadjutors, this document includes 

 two appendices, one of which contains the bulletins published 

 by the Station during the year and the other a detailed state- 

 ment of the receipts and expenditures. 



The Experiment Station of Cornell University is supported by 

 an annual appropriation from the Federal treasury. But under 

 chapter 437 of the Laws of New York for 1896 an appropriation 

 of |16,000 was made to the Station to be expended in horticul- 

 tural investigations, experiments and instruction in the Fourth 

 Judicial Department. This work has been the leading feature 

 of the year, and the staff have been greatly encouraged by the 

 growing interest which it has awakened in the rural population. 

 The labors of the staff have been unusually arduous, and some 

 of them have suffered in health in consequence. If it is the de- 

 sire of the State that this work of university extension in agri- 

 culture be continued, the authorities of Cornell University stand 

 ready to undertake it, though some improvements in the organi- 



