313 



Since the above was written a letter has been received at this Office 

 from Tokio, Japan, stating tliat a considerable nnmber of infliiejitial 

 men in Japan have presented a petition to the newly established Par- 

 liament in behalf of the organization of agricnltnral experiment sta- 

 tions, and asking for copies of Farmers' Bulletin Ko. 1 of this Office 

 entitled The What and Why of Agricultural Experiment Stations, to 

 be given to members of the Parliament who are familiar with English 

 and translated into Japanese for those who are not. This is another 

 of the many indications of the appreciation with which the experiment 

 station enterprise is being received throughout the civilized world. 



In order that the Experiment Station Record may make a more com- 

 ])lete siiowing of the work of the stations in the United States, thes^'S- 

 tematic publication of brief abstracts of their annual reports, as well 

 as of their bulletins, is begun in the present number. Abstracts of the 

 reports for 1889 will be included in the present volume of the Record, 

 and the reports for 1890 will be taken up as they are received by this 

 Office. These reports are often late in publication, from delays in State 

 printing or other causes. Some of those for 1889 have not yet come to 

 this Office. It is intended to give in the next number of the Record 

 brief accounts of current Euroi)ean work in certain lines of agricul- 

 tural science and to make this a regular feature of the Record as far as 

 the means at the disposal of the Office will allow. 



