NOTES. 1099 



the congress for its nu'etinjis. a jirivilese never before aceorded to representa- 

 tives of ajiriculture. For the transaction of business the confjress was orsiinized 

 into eleven sections, anionj: which were tliose on rural economics, asricultnral 

 education, farm macliiiiery. ci'djis and plant industry, brcwinj^. an<l irri;,'atinn 

 and drainage. 



Papers on the organization and function of the experiment stations were 

 submitted by Dr. F, W. Dafert, of Vienna. Dr. Thomas Kosutauy, director of 

 the Hungarian experiment station at Budapest, and Dr. A. C, True, of this Office. 

 In these papers the chief function of the stations was declared to be investiga- 

 tion in agriculture, and the necessit.v of relieving the chief officers of essentially 

 all work of instruction and of control work involved in the execution of the 

 laws relating to agriculture was emphasized. Resolutions embodying these 

 conclusions were adopted by the section. 



-Vs in previous .rears, special attention was given by the congress to a dis- 

 cussion of farm mechanics. The desirabilit.v and importance of establishing 

 international rules for the testing of farm machines were pointed out, although 

 it was admitted that in the testing of tools used for the cultivation of the soil, 

 the soil conditions made tlie establishment of definite conditions for such tests 

 practically impossible. Attention was called to the importance of iustructiou 

 in the use of farm machines in agricultural schools, including practical work 

 in the construction and repair of implements and actual field tests. 



During the congress trips were made to the local experiment station, the 

 agricultural high school, and other i)oints of interest. The utmost hospitality 

 was shown by the citizens and otticials of Vienna, receptions being tendered by 

 the ma.vor. Emperor Francis Joseph, and others. 



Korean Experiment Station. — An agricultural and model station was recently 

 establislifd by the Japanese government, at an expense of .$85,000, at Suwou, 

 I\on'a. The station was formally opened on Ma.v 15, and turned over to the 

 Korean government. Under the direction of Japanese experts the following 

 lines of work are to be undertaken : The increase of the productivity of the laud 

 throughout the country b.v securing a better geographical distribution of the 

 different kinds of produce according to climate and soil, the improvement of the 

 ipiality of agricultural seeds, the introduction and acclimatization of new varie- 

 ties of farm products, the sui)plying of farmers with good manures, irrigation, 

 drainage, and protection against inundations, the ntilizatiou of waste lands, the 

 improvement of ponltr.v and dairy farming, sericulture, and the growing of 

 by-pi'oducts on the farm. 



New Forestry School. — A school of forestry, offering a four-year course leading 

 to the degree of bachelor of science in forestry, will be established at the Univer- 

 sit.v of Washington at the begimiing of the uext college year. Instruction in this 

 subject has been given at the university since 1895. The university campus 

 comprises 355 acres of land adapted under the climatic conditions of Puget 

 Sound to the growing of a wide variety of forest trees. The university also 

 owns large tracts of land in various sections of the State, on which extensive 

 experiments may be conducted. 



New Botanical Journal. — The International Association of Botanists has 

 established a new journal. Progrcsxii)^ rci Iiolaiii((r. under the editorship of its 

 secretar.v. Dr. J. P. Lotsy. of Leiden. Its initial lunnber consists of articles on 

 The Ontogeny of the Cell since 3875, by E. Strasburger; The Present Position of 

 Pahx^ozoic Botany, by Dr. H. D. Scott; Bibliography of Literature on Paheozoic 

 Fossil Plants, by E. A. Newell Arber; and The I'rogress of Botanical Geography 

 since 1884, by C. Flahault. 



