196 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Tracy urged the importance of relieving the experiment station workers from 

 extension worli, promotion, and inspection, and so organizing these activities 

 that they will not interfere with the more legitimate functions of the stations. 

 Regarding all original investigation as an individual product, it was urged 

 that to secure the best results each individual worker must be allowed the 

 broadest latitude in his choice of a field of investigation. 



Director W. P. Brooks, of Massachusetts, described and illustrated special 

 apparatus for the investigation of questions connected with the nutrition of 

 the cranberry plant, this apparatus consisting of large tile sunk in the ground, 

 in which the plants are grown, with a removable collar which may be attached 

 to the top to permit of flooding. 



A paper by Dr. Raymond Pearl, of Maine, on the Secretory Activity of the 

 Oviduct of the Domestic Fowl, presented the results of studies on the physi- 

 ology of two of the lower divisions of the duct, which were found to perform 

 functions not hitherto observed or described. 



Dr. W. J. Beal, of Massachusetts, gave some notes on The Improvement of 

 Timothy, describing work conducted by him while at the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College; and Dr. W. P. Headden, of Colorado, described his studies on 

 The Effect of Nitrate on the Composition of Sugar Beets. He reported finding 

 as high as 960 lbs. of sodium nitrate per acre in the top 6 inches of soil in the 

 semiarid region, which was thought to prevent the beets from ripening up as 

 they formerly did and account for low quality. In large fields which were 

 affected he found to a depth of 1 foot 432 lbs. of sodium nitrate per acre on 

 August 9, and 4,200 lbs. on August 27, or ten times as much. " Either of these 

 amounts is sufficient to delay the maturing of the beet, to depress the sugar 

 content, and to increase the injurious nitrogenous products in the juice." 



The Gain in Nitrogen During a Five-Year Pot Experiment with Different 

 Legumes was described by Dr. B. L. Hartwell and F. R. Pember, of Rhode 

 Island. With soy beans and cowpeas there was a net gain of a ton of nitrogen 

 per acre, derived from the atmosphere; seven-tenths of this was removed with 

 the summer crops of legumes, and the remainder left with the stubble. 



The society joined with the American Society of Agronomy, the American 

 Society of Animal Nutrition, and the American P^arm Management Association 

 in two symposiums, one on Improvement in Methods of Agi-icultural Investi- 

 gation, the other on Farm Management, What It Is and What Will Be Its 

 Contribution to Agriculture. In both cases members of the society took part 

 in the program. 



At the business meeting 22 new members were elected, all of whom have 

 qualified. The officers elected were as follows : President, Dean E. Davenport, 

 of Illinois ; secretary-treasurer. Dr. E. W. Allen, Washington, D. C. ; execu- 

 tive committee, Dr. H. P. Armsby and Dr. H. L. Russell; custodian and assistant 

 custodian, Dr. W. J. Beal and Prof. W. D. Hurd, of Massachusetts. 



American Society of Agronomy. — The fourth annual meeting of this society 

 was held at Columbus, Ohio, November 13 and 14, 1911, under the presidency 

 of Director H. J. W^heeler of the Rhode Island Station. About 60 members 

 were in attendance and over 100 persons were present at some sessions. 



The meeting was divided into six sessions, three of which were independent 

 and three joint sessions with other societies. At the joint sessions with the 

 Society for the Promotion of Agricultural Science addresses were made by the 

 retiring presidents of the two societies, that of President Wheeler being entitled 

 The Status and Future of the American Agronomist. 



Another joint session was held with the Society for the Promotion of Agri- 

 cultural Science, the American Society of Animal Nutrition, and the American 



