EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS 85 



housed, our best cows have been condemned by the application of the 

 tuberculin test. The departure of such cows as Belle Sarcastic, College 

 Pogis, and Aida 2d from the College herd is noteworthy. The barns had 

 been thoroughly disinfected and whitewashed after the removal of the 

 cows condemned in November, 1896, but the disease reappears in other 

 animals, which were condemned in the spring and summer of 1897. The 

 unhealthy condition of the barn is due largelj' to the lack of suitable 

 ventilation and the exclusion of direct sunlight from the floor. These 

 defects cannot be easily remedied. 



If it be not out of place, I suggest that the legislature be petitioned to 

 grant the College an appropriation sufficient to cover the erection of a 

 new dairy barn in connection with a large general barn to replace the 

 numerous structures around which the College buildings are now grow- 

 ing. The present cow barn was built thirty-six years ago, and although 

 in good repair, is inadequate to our wants and unsanitary. The horse 

 barn is located between two brick buildings, and seems thrust upon the 

 campus. It should be removed to a location farther away from the 

 administration buildings. 



In pursuance of the plan of moving the College barns near the center 

 of the farm, a cheap dairy barn was built in the summer of 1897. A brief 

 description of the structure will be given in Bulletin 149, now in press. 



The ravages of tuberculosis in the thoroughbred herd made it seem 

 wise to the committee in charge that a grade herd should be purchased, 

 to be housed in the new dairy barn. These cows, while managed for 

 economy of production, will afford farther data for the work long car- 

 ried on in milk production and the care of milk and cream in butter and 

 cheese making. The herd was tested with tuberculin, but none of the 

 cows reacted. 



The work in all departments of the Station has progressed harmoni- 

 ously and satisfactorily. The bulletin list has rapidly increased and the 

 influence of the Station on the agriculture of the State is more widely 

 felt than before. Save the printing of the bulletins, the State is not asked 

 for direct financial aid to the Experiment Station. There is a growing 

 disposition in the Department of Agriculture to insist that the Station 

 funds shall be as far as possible in the future expended for work done at 

 the central Station or in experiments controlled directly by the Station 

 employes located there, and not for the support of sub-stations. I sug- 

 gest, therefore, that in view of the grand service rendered the State by 

 the South Haven sub-station, the legislature be petitioned for a suitable 

 appropriation to support that sub-station. 



I herewith submit the annual reports of the several departments of the 

 Station as a part of this annual report. 



Respectfully submitted, 



CLINTON D. SMITH, 



Director. 

 Agricultueal College, Mich., 

 November 1, 1897. 



