EDITORIAL. 1103 



refuse and local supplies, the home mixing of fertilizers, and similar 

 matters, which made them esi)ecially valuable at that stage. His 

 conscientious woi-k in this line gave him a pi-ominejit position among 

 (he fertilizer inspectors of the country, and when the hitter organized 

 the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, in 1880, he was 

 elected its first president. 



Doctor Goessmann's studies in agricultural chemistry prior to the 

 estal)lishment of the experiment station covered a wide range of 

 subjects and attracted mucii attention the country over. They served 

 to conlirm the popular e\])ectation that the agricultural college would 

 render aid to the farmer and to agriculture in general, as well as 

 fuiiiish an education to his sons. To him more than to any other 

 man was due the reputation of the college as an institution for inves- 

 tigation in agriculture, and such was the high character of his Avork 

 that it received the commendation of men of science and caused many 

 honors to fall upon him. His previous interest in sugar production 

 letl him to make extensive experiments in the manufacture of sugar 

 from sorghmn and later from the sugar beet. His conclusions as to 

 the practical value of sorghum as a source of sugar, although not 

 accepted at the time, have been fully borne out by subsequent experi- 

 ence. His work upon the sugar beet Avas ejioch-making and was a 

 ])ractical demonstration of the feasibility of beet-sugar production 

 in the United States. It Avas the starting point of tlie more recent 

 studies and proi)aganda in that line. 



Doctor Goessmann early began the acU^ocacy of an experiment sta- 

 tion at the college, illustrating by his studies the practical A^alue of 

 such an institution to' the agriculture of the State. A station was 

 established in 1878 Avith private contributions, and Avhile studies Avere 

 prosecuted with the proceeds of the fertilizer inspection it Avas not 

 until 1883 that the State made definite provision for a station. He 

 was then appointed director and remained at its head until it Avas 

 merged Avith the Hatch Station of the college, in 1895. Since that 

 time he has been chemist and has had charge of the fertilizer inspec- 

 tion. Under his direction the station became an efficient aid to the 

 farmer and to the agriculture of the State, and Avas from the first one 

 of the leading institutions of its kind in the country. 



The occasion of Doctor Goessmann's retirement Avas made one of 

 honor to the man Avho has serA'ed the college, the State, and the cause 

 of agriculture so long and efl'ectiA-ely, and for expression of the 

 affectionate regard in Avhich he is held by his former students. At 

 special exercises folloAving the alunnii banquet at commencement, 

 addresses of appreciation and of congratulation Avere made, and he 

 was presented Avith a handsome stained-glass tablet, appro])riately 

 inscribed and decorated, as a tribute from the alumni of the college. 

 His lias been a notable career, ajid has Avitnessed vast changes in the 



