ANNUAL REPORT. 141 



will be published, in conformity with our State laws for the 

 regulation of the trade in " commercial fertilizers," tlu'ough 

 the coming report of the secretary of the State Board of 

 Agriculture. The inquiry into the action of special fertiliz- 

 ers upon the quantity and the quality of fruit, mentioned 

 already in a previous annual report, has been continued. 

 Although some interesting facts have been noticed, it seems 

 advisable to defer their publication, in the interest of a more 

 complete presentation, to a future suitable occasion. Some 

 active part has also been taken in securing desirable material 

 for the examination of the chemical composition, and the 

 comparative agricultural value of reputed fodder-crops of 

 Europe, new to our farm industry. Forty varieties of seeds 

 of forage plants, secured from a reliable seed-dealer in Ger- 

 many, have been handed over for cultivation to the botani- 

 cal department, where they receive a careful attention. In 

 this connection, it gives me particular pleasure to state that 

 I have enjoyed, throughout the entire course of my experi- 

 mental field-work, the hearty co-operation of Professor May- 

 nard, to whose report I leave the task of describing the 

 details of che latter. 



