104 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



help to make the several stations serviceable to the agriculture of the 

 whole country. 



''As a mediator between the stations and the world of science this 

 branch of the Department should be in a condition to collate the 

 results of experimental research in this country and in Europe, and 

 publish them in convenient form for the use of the station workers 

 and others interested in the science of agriculture. 



" One need is a journal for the stations, to contain accounts of 

 their current research, abstracts of similar work in this and in other 

 countries, and other matters of mutual interest. 



'' Information is also greatly needed in regard to past work and its 

 results. This would be probably best brought to the stations in the 

 form of monographs on special subjects." 



The first Farmers' Bulletin was published in 1889. This series 

 proved so popular that it was soon transferred from the Office and 

 made a general series for the Dej)artment of Agriculture. Congress 

 made a special printing fund for these bulletins and the Congressmen 

 undertook their distribution on a large scale. Some three hundred of 

 these bulletins have been issued, a large number of which Avere pre- 

 pared in the Office of Experiment Stations. The editions of many 

 have aggregated hundreds of thousands of copies, and the total ()uti)ut 

 of Farm(>rs' Bulletins by the Department has been many millions of 

 copies. Tn IDOO alone more than 7,r)0(),()()() copies were printed. 



The abstract jouriud was provided in the E.vperiinevt Station 

 Record ^{\w first volume of which appeared in 1881). This has been de- 

 veloped into the most comprehensive journal of its class in existence, 

 and its circulation among students and investigators in agricidtural 

 science is world-wide. The Office has also published a considerable 

 number of monographs on special subjects, as suggested by Professor 

 Atwater. 



With the rapid growth of the experiment station movement at 

 home and abroad and the recognized success of the Office as a pro- 

 moter of the stations' interests, the business of this Office soon in- 

 creased to such an extent that it became obvious that it should have 

 at its head a Chief who could devote his entire time to its manage- 

 ment. Unwilling to relinquish his work as a teacher and investi- 

 gator, Professor Atwater decided to give up the directorshijD of the 

 Office in 1891. He continued, however, to have official relations with 

 the Office to the end of his active career. 



The influence of Professor Atwater on the develojDment of agri- 

 cultural education and research in this country has been greatly 

 broadened through the men who came into direct association Avith him 

 as students in his laboratory and who haA^e since become directors 

 of experiment stations and professors in the agricultural colleges. 



