380 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



FOURTH DAY. 



Friday, September 2. 

 The Board met agreeably to adjournment. 



Prof. GooDALE. I rise merely for the purpose of making a per- 

 sonal explanation, and asking of the members of the Board a 

 practical question. I have thought that I could perform the duty 

 which devolves upon me as a member of the Board of Agriculture, 

 by quiet study in my laboratory and library, and by pi'esenting 

 the results of that study in some future report better than b}^ making 

 any remarks to which you might have the kindness or the patience 

 to listen at this time. 



In the course of the studies to which I have devoted the scanty 

 leisure afforded by pressing college work, I have endeavored to 

 translate and abridge a French treatise upon milk — a treatise 

 which, from the exceeding care with which the experiments have 

 been conducted, the faithfulness and accuracy with which they 

 have been recorded, and the judgment with which the results have 

 been interpreted, will prove a valuable contribution to our agri- 

 cultural literature. In the course of this translation, and during 

 study upon collateral subjects, I have fallen upon some grave 

 questions. One of these has been already brought before you at 

 the meeting in Lewiston, and I suggest it again for the purpose of 

 assisting in its solution. You will remember that at that time 

 there were many conflicting statements made in regard to curing* 

 hay, and this question was asked — how does it happen that hay 

 will sometimes come out of a mow in good condition when put in 

 as green as is the practice of some farmers. 



Now you do not need a chemist to tell you that the phenomena 

 of nature are characterized by uniformity ; that if one man tries a 

 given experiment with certain results, another man may repeat 

 that experiment and he will obtain precisely similar results, pro- 

 vided there is no deviation in the conditions of the experiment. 

 This fact is accepted by all. But it is not easy to understand, in 

 all cases, the conditions under which experiments, especially farm 

 experiments, are conducted, as for instance in this case of curing 

 hay. The exact amount of moisture which the hay contains when 

 put into the barn, and the degree of heat evolved in the mow, are 

 conditions which must modify results obtained. The question of 

 reconciling the discrepancies of statement in regard to curing hay, 

 is one which can be answered by a series of careful observations 



