Ixxiv Department of Soils. 



llie department has been called upon to give specific advice 

 concerning the installation of drainage systems where the parties 

 were willing to bear the expenses in connection therewith, and in 

 a number of other cases more specific assistance could not be given 

 because of our lack of means to meet the situation. Specific ef- 

 fort is being made to get in touch with all sources of tile and other 

 drainage materials available for New York and to promote uni- 

 formly good material upon a comparable basis of cost. 



(c) Cooperative Experiments. — Cooperative experiments with 

 draingge, tillage, fertilizers and nianures have been offered and 

 some work has been rndertaken by about a dozen persons. An 

 essential element to the success of this movement — a visit to 

 each experiment at least once during the season by a person from 

 the Station — has been utlrerly impossible because of lack of funds. 



(d) rertilizer Experiments. — Fertilizer experiments w^ith onions 

 on muck soil have been continued on the plots established at 

 Breeze Hill, Orange county, in 190S, at which time some striking 

 results were obtained. The yields for 1909 are not yet available 

 but promise even greater differences from the treatments. This 

 is a type of work that it is felt should be prosecuted at several 

 points on each important soil type in the s;:ate. 



(e) Lime. — Eff'ort has been made to get in touch with all 

 sources of lime for agricultural purposes for Xew York and to 

 have at hand for inquiries information as to its quantity, con- 

 venience and cost. 



( f ) Lectures. — A number of lectures were given during the 

 year by members of the staff on topics relating to the soil, before 

 gatherings of farmers in various parts of the state. The necessity 

 for putting the teaching work of the department fir>t has greatly 

 limited the number of requests for such lectures which could be 

 accepted. 



(g) Demonstrations and Educational Propaganda. — The de- 

 partment will have made exhibits at five agricultural fairs, includ- 

 ing the Sta'e Fair. The department also participated in the R. W. 

 and C). Farm train and in the Farmers' Week program in February. 



(h) Correspondence. — The correspondence of the department 

 has grown very much during the past year and hundreds of letters 

 have been written in reply to inquiries concerning soil problems. 

 This is becoming a very considerable item in the department's ac- 

 tivities and. we feel, one which merits the most careful attention. 



E. O. FIPPIN, 

 Assistant Professor of Soils, in Charge of Department. 



