246 Bulletin 159. 



new ideas have taken possession of him. He has been touched, 

 and farming will never be quite the same to him thereafter. 



This personal contact of teacher and farmer is one of the best 

 results of our scattered experiments with sugar beets and fertili- 

 zers. The inspector goes to see the experiments ; but he knows 

 that many other questions will come up. For example, our 

 agent who inspected the fertilizer plots, carried litmus paper 

 for the purpose of testing acidity of soils. During the past 

 season, he made 179 such tests; of these, 154 gave decided acid 

 reactions. The nodules on clover roots, the way to make Bor- 

 deaux mixture, how to drain a field, what is the matter with a 

 cow, why the hens do not la}*, the value of a new strawberry, how 

 to handle a weed, — the questions are legion. The inspector will 

 not be able to answer them all, but he can answer some of them. 

 But, better than answering, he can suggest how the farmer can 

 find out for himself. 



It is a pity that every farmer in the State cannot be personally 

 touched at least once in his life by the methods and the inspira- 

 tion of a good teacher. One section of the State could be taken 

 at a time, and a patient, quiet, honest, sympathetic teacher could 

 visit every farm for a few^ hours or a day. It would pay. 



C. INVESTIGATIONAL WORK NOW IN HAND. 



The investigational work comprises experiments proceeding 

 at Ithaca, and also in many parts of the State. Some of these, 

 as fertilizer studies, are long-time subjects, and cannot be 

 reported in full at the close of the first or second \'ear's work. 

 Of several of these investigations, reports may be expected 

 during the present winter. Manj^ minor investigations are not 

 mentioned here. They are such as are of very secondar}- 

 importance or which apply only to limited areas, or which have 

 been taken up at the request of some local society or organization. 



Sugar beets, — In accordance with arrangements made with 

 the State Department of Agriculture at Albany, and the 

 State Experiment Station at Geneva, the Cornell Station con- 

 ducted experiments in 1898 with sugar beets in the fol- 

 lowing counties : Niagara, Orleans. Monroe Genesee, Liv- 

 ingston. Wyoming. Erie, Chautauqua. Cattaraugus. Allegany, 



