SCOPE OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTION. 225 



THE SCOPE OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTION OF THE STATE 



ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



BY PROF. W. J. BEAL^ AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The existence of a section of Agriculture in the Academy of Science 

 of any State in this country is unique. I think Michigan is the only State 

 where such a section can be found. 



A few years ago when a committee of the Academy met the committee 

 of the Legislature in an effort to secure the publication of our proceed- 

 ings, the first question asked was : ^'Of what use will it be to the citizens 

 of the State?" Prominent among the answers devised by the members 

 of your committee were the naming of a number of investigations which 

 have a direct bearing on agriculture, such as the vitality and distribu- 

 tion of weeds into the State, the study of the changes in the condition 

 of trees after three-fourths or more of them had been removed, the 

 thorough investigation of the habits of birds and fishes, including their 

 food. 



For a long time, sheep in some parts of England were subject to a 

 disease of the liver known as Liver-Fluke. Many theories were advanced 

 to explain the cause. A. P. Thomas, a professor at Oxford, solved the 

 mystery by demonstrating that the parasite of a small snail which fed 

 on the grass and when eaten found its way to the liver of the sheep. 

 The remedy was simple : Keep the sheep off the low land pastures. The 

 above example was instanced to the Legislative committee as a strik- 

 ing illustration of the need of well-trained scientific men. No one can 

 foresee all of the emergencies which such a man may be called on to 

 investigate. 



I offer no apology for the formation of an agricultural section of our 

 State Academy, but for the benefit of some who have not canvassed the 

 subject, I mention a number of topics that may be considered ^appro- 

 priate to occupy the time of the members : 



Most of the recent investigations included under the term soil physics ; 

 irrigation and the management of rain and snow for the growing crops ; 

 meteorology; much of agricultural chemistry, the composition and use 

 of fertilizers. 



Under the general head of Plant Industry, we have the following and 

 others : 



Methods of testing agricultural seeds for purity and vitality; absorp- 

 tion of water by grain; the nature and use of tubercles on the roots of 

 legumes. As long ago as 1896, a firm in Germany had for sale to farm- 

 ers seventeen kinds of pure cultures for soil infection to help in growing 

 as many different species of legumes. Field experiments on plats, plants 

 grown in pots or boxes for testing fertilizers and comparing varieties 

 may here be mentioned; experiments with new grasses and other forage 

 plants; all sorts of farm crops; farming under glass; the formation 

 of a good lawn ; the flora as affected by the soil ; the flora as indicative 

 of the soil; agricultural or economic botany; much of what we term 

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