402 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The universities of Leipsic, Kiel, and (liessen oft'er no opportunities 

 for the study of agi'icultural chemistry under the direction of special- 

 ists. In two universities, Gottingen and Halle, full professorships 

 when vacated have been reduced to limited, and in Leipsic, where 

 such men as Knop and Stohmann labored with notable success, 

 agricultural chemistry has been completely dropped. In Kiel, Emmer- 

 ling was permitted to lecture on agricultural chemistry as a fr'nmt 

 doeent to the end of his life, and since liis death no representative 

 of this specialty has been ajjpointed. It was mentioned, furthermore, 

 that at that universit,y not a single full professorship in any branch 

 of agriculture is provided. 



The conditions at the agriculturnl high schools and academies 

 were said to be somewhat better, although not all that could be wished 

 for, the position and activity of the agricultural chemist often being 

 limited. Professor Pfeiffer stated that at present there is not a 

 single prirdt doeent in agricultural chemistry in all Germany, and 

 hence there are no young men in training for that specialty. This 

 condition was ascribed to the present position of agTicnltural chem- 

 istry in Germany, and the small future which it holds out to a man 

 entering it. 



From its history this specialty was shown to be a most important 

 pillar of agi'icultural science, fully entitled to rank among the fore- 

 most subjects in agricultural instruction. Unless it can be main- 

 tained in its former position, it was predicted that the development 

 of agricultural investigation and agricultural instruction in Germany 

 must surely be retarded. In vicAv of the importance of the matter 

 and the inconsistency of the present attitude, it was decided to peti- 

 tion the (xerman Agricultural Council for assistance in bringing 

 about increased attention to the teaching of this subject, and in 

 obtaining fuller recognition for it in German universities. 



Closely following the above discussion, Dr. H. Thiel, of the Min- 

 istry of Agriculture at Berlin, presented a paper before the Inter- 

 n.itional Agricultural Congress at Vienna on the .subject of higher 

 instruction in agriculture. In the course of this paper, Doctor Thiel 

 laid down the general proposition that the natural sciences in their 

 applications to agriculture should be taught in the respective depart- 

 ments of these sciences, and not in such departments as agricultural 

 chemistry. He contended that the way should be opened for the 

 agricultural student to learn the principles of natural science on 

 which agriculture rests directly from the general sciences them- 

 selves — that is, in those departments of science. This plan, he ex- 

 plained, is ideal at present, and would presupi30se the provision in 

 these departments of facilities suited to the special needs of the agri- 

 cultural student in the form of lectures, laboratories, seminars, and 



