206 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



experiment,'"' and that this ideal was clear in his mind is evident both 

 from his work and his writings. The study of analytical methods 

 received much attention from the first, and, with his assistants, he 

 made many contributions upon methods and apparatus for improv- 

 ing the accuracy and rapidity of various determinations. The rela- 

 tions of the soil to water, cajiillary transmission and evaporation, and 

 soil temperature studies formed a part of his earlier work. 



These laboratory studies were developed and broadened as time 

 went on, and were extended to field experiments to test the needs of 

 the soil and the comparative value of various fertilizing materials. 

 The most extensive experiments of that kind were a series begun by 

 the station in 1892, in cooperation with a tobacco growlers' organiza- 

 tion, and continued for a period of five years. 



In 1882 the station, which had previously been housed in rooms of 

 the Sheffield Scientific School, was removed to its present location, on 

 grounds purchased by the State. At that time there were only eight 

 such institutions in this countr}^, and the Connecticut Station was 

 regarded as a model in work and equipment. Its influence upon the 

 national movement which culminated five years later was unmis- 

 takable, and its reports were much in demand for showing the char- 

 acter and usefulness of experiment station work. 



Doctor Johnson took a deep interest in the movement for the estab- 

 lishment of stations throughout the country, as he did in the organi- 

 zation of the new stations and the working out of what has come to be 

 regarded as the American system, a system distinct in itself, and an 

 adaptation of the European station to the conditions and requirements 

 of this country. 



Although a modest and retiring man, many honors of public office 

 came to him. He was president of the American Chemical Society 

 in 1878, chairman of the subsection of chemistry of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science in 1875, a member of the 

 National Academy of Sciences from 186G, an associate fellow of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1895 president of 

 the Association of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment 

 Stations. He retired from the directorship of the Connecticut Sta- 

 tion in 1899, and since that time ill health has prevented his partici- 

 j)ation in the work with which his life was so prominently identified. 

 He died at his home in New Haven July 21, in his eightieth year. 



The career of this man is a monument to industry and to untiring 

 devotion in behalf of a cause which appealed to him from his youth. 

 As a teacher of agricultural teachers, as a leader in agricultural 

 science, and as a father and promoter of the movement to bring the 

 sciences to the aid of the farmer through the experiment stations, 

 Doctor Johnson rendered signal service to the cause of agricultural 

 advancement, and has left a name to be remembered with ffreat honor. 



