204 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the cheniiciil cuinposition, structure, and life of the plant," and em- 

 bodied the results of his studies and compilations for his courses of 

 instruction. It gave a new basis for the teaching of agriculture, as 

 Avell as a broader understanding of the principles and the reasons of 

 farm practice. It was received with great favor in this country and 

 in Europe, and was, reprinted in England, and translated into the 

 German, Russian, Swedish, Italian, and Japanese languages. 



Two years later the companion volume. How Crops Feed, was 

 issued, which was similarly translated and widely used. These two 

 books presented in small compass and with unsurpassed clearness and 

 conciseness the state of knowledge of agricultural science at that time. 

 The author's object, as expressed by him, was " to digest the cumbrous 

 mass of evidence in which the truths of vegetable nutrition lie buried 

 out of the reach of the ordinary inquirer, and to set them forth in 

 proper order and in plain dress for their legitimate and sober uses." 

 He did not aim " to excite the imagination with high-wrought pic- 

 tures of overflowing fertility as the immediate result of scientific dis- 

 cussion or experiment," and disclaimed any attempt " to make a show 

 of revolutionizing his subject by bold or striking speculations." This 

 was characteristic of the man. It was his cool, judicial weighing of 

 the evidence and presentation of results in a clear, dispassionate way 

 that gave these two books their scientific value and commended them 

 to students of agriculture in the school and on the farm. They were 

 the beginning of a new and better agricultural literature. 



The movement for the establishment of an experiment station in 

 Connecticut started as early as 185G. Doctor Johnson was familiar 

 Avith the new German stations and from his studies had become im- 

 bued with the possibilities for benefit which might follow agricul- 

 tural investigation. His books and other writings, as well as his 

 work, had stimulated public interest in the subject. 



The papers and discussions of the Connecticut Agricultural So- 

 ciety and the State board of agriculture, notably those of Doctor 

 Johnson and his fellow-workers, supplied the germ of the new experi- 

 ment station idea. This idea was at length realized in the estab- 

 lishment of a station at Middletown in 1875, under the directorship 

 of Prof. W. O. Atwater, which two years later was removed to New 

 Haven and more permanently provided for, Avith Doctor Johnson at 

 its head. 



The beginning Avas precarious. The station Avas a ncAV plant to 

 this continent. A farmer appearing before the agricultural com- 

 mittee in opposition to the bill establishing the station said, " I tell 

 you, go sloAV. You are hatching an egg Avhich will certainly make 

 this State a lot of trouble." The ncAv institution was thus on trial, 

 and upon its ability to make good hinged the spread of the move- 



