SUMMER MEETING AT OREGON. 47 



The appropriation of $15,000, when divided among all of the 

 branehes of work, will be seen to be inadequate for the purpose if the 

 best work is to be done. After paying the director's salary, providing 

 for the printing of the bulletins and reports and for the general expenses, 

 hardly $I0,000 will be left for the real work of experimenting, which 

 partitioned among the six or seven lines of work, gives hardly enough 

 to pay the salaries of the chief workers, let alone the assistants and 

 running expenses. 



In view of this fact, most of the states, in order to answer as far as 

 possible all calls upon them, have, as mentioned above, united the station 

 with the college work, and have also combined several of the depart- 

 ments, as horticulture and botany, botany and entomology, horticulture 

 and entomology, or even all three. 



Considering the amount of money available, it would seem that 

 this is the best plan. 



THE HORTICULTURIST. 



The work generally laid out for the horticulturist includes, first, 

 seed testing. The value of this is at once apparent, and if carried out 

 properly, will be of great importance not only to the farmer, giving him 

 an opportunity to have his seed of corn, wheat and other grains tested, 

 so that he may not run the risk of losing his crop on account of using 

 worthless seed, but w ill be of still greater value to the horticulturists 

 of the state, as, if it is known that the station is to test the seed, it will 

 certainly have an influence in restraining the seedsmen from sending 

 out old and worthless seed. 



In Europe the seed trade is under the control of the experiment 

 stations, much as is the fertilizer trade in the older states of this country, 

 and by this work alone, millions of dollars are saved to the farmers. 



Not only should their germinating qualities be tested, but the 

 purity of the seed should be examined into. The practice of intro- 

 ducing " novelties, " at prices much above those of standard varieties, has 

 gi\ en rise to more or less adulteration, while, as the business is now 

 conducted, from want of care in growing, gathering or putting up the 



