128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



is 3'et in its infancy, and the largest portion of tlie work that has 

 been done in this direction has been carried out in Europe. Much 

 of it may not, and some of it we know does not apply to the con- 

 ditions of America. We know that climate and soil make a great 

 dittbrcnce in the composition of the same plants. The digestibilit}' of 

 fodders grown under different conditions is also ditferent. For reli- 

 able tables of composition and digestibility of American fodders, 

 then, the work must be repeated here. The fodder analyses are 

 comparatively inexpensive ; but the determination of the digesti- 

 bility of fodders is a long, laborious and costly undertaking, involv- 

 ing patient and pains-taking work of man}' experienced men with a 

 considerable outlay in apparatus. Repeated trials must be made 

 with feeding stated quantities of fodders of known composition to 

 different animals through a considerable length of time, and tl\e 

 daily excrement collected, weighed, and submitted to chemical 

 analysis. Besides this, the field for investigation in the interest of 

 agriculture is constantl}' widening, and the need for it is becoming 

 more and more felt, on account of the competition of the agricul- 

 tural products of the Western States in our markets. 



The farmers of the Eastern States are beginning to realize the 

 fact that their soils will no longer produce profitable crops without 

 the use of large quantities of manure, and to feel that eveiy effort 

 must be made to decrease the cost of production. They are coming 

 to relv more and more on the results of scientific investigation to 

 assist them in their farm operations, and are demanding that the 

 agricultural colleges established by an act of the general govern- 

 ment, shall, in addition to their legitimate work of giving instruc- 

 tion in agriculture, do that of an agricultural experiment station. 

 By what authority the}' are demanding this work of the colleges, we 

 know not ; for the act by which they were established makes no 

 provision for it, and but few colleges have the funds with which bo 

 engage extensivel}- in experimenting, or the instructors the time to 

 attend to it. It is therefore rapidly becoming a question of no 

 little importance, as to how and by whom this work is to be done. 

 In Europe, such work has been carried on parth' at the expense of 

 the government, parti}' at the expense of the agricultural societies 

 and partly at the expense of private individuals. There are but 

 few private individuals in this country interested in agriculture who 

 have sufficient wealth to warrant them in undertaking anvthing of 

 this kind, so that trusting to the public spirit of private parties is 



