New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 23 



Production of Field Crops. 

 An important series of experiments has been begun on the 

 Station farm for the purpose of studying the relative economy of 

 certain systems of maintaining soil fertility. 



Education in Road Building. 



The U. S. Department of Agriculture, among other efforts, is 

 endeayoring to disseminate information concerning the construc- 

 tion and economy of good roads. To this end a bureau known as 

 the OfiQce of Road Inquiry has been established. 



As one means of accomplishing its purposes this Office is 

 cooperating with the Land Grant Colleges and the Experiment 

 Stations in building in proximity to these institutions samples of 

 roads which shall be an object lesson, esi)ecially to rural com- 

 munities. 



The first of these roads was built at New Brunswick, N. J., and 

 the second at Geneva. The latter was built by the united efforts 

 of the Office of Road Inquiry, private citizens, the village of 

 Geneva and the Experiment Station, and is located on North and 

 Castle streets. It extends about twelve hundred feet along the 

 northern boundary of the Station property and runs the entire 

 length of Castle street, the whole distance being about one and 

 a quarter miles. 



The manner of construction is what is known as MacAdam, the 

 covering of the road bed consisting of broken stones to the depth 

 of eight inches. On North street the road is eight feet wide 

 and on Castle street the width is fourteen feet for the greater 

 part of the distance, the remainder being twenty feet. 



The lower five inches of the covering was obtained from com- 

 mon field stone, and this was surfaced with three inches of 

 broken Hudson River trap rock. 



The cost, details of construction and other related facts will be 

 given in the report of the Department of Agriculture. As this 

 road was completed only last October it is too early to draw con- 

 clusions as to its quality and durability. It is satisfactory so far 

 and has changed the streets between the ExT)eriment Station 

 and the city from a condition which at times was almost unbear- 

 able and prohibitive of travel to one of convenience and comfort. 



