302 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and improved a variety of yellow flint corn named after the farm, and 

 otherwise engaged himself in agricultural problems. His milk inves- 

 tigations early in the seventies attracted considerable attention, and 

 he lectured before prominent societies in 1873-74, discussing the phy- 

 siology of milk, and bringing out striking differences in size of fat 

 globules in milk of several breeds of cows, as found by him in micro- 

 scopical examinations. The subjects of corn culture, farm fertility, 

 and dairying attracted his chief attention, and he became widely 

 known over New England and the Middle States as a prominent agri- 

 cultural investigator and lecturer. 



Dr. Sturtevant early recognized the importance of a more intelligent 

 farming practice, which could be greatly promoted through the aid of 

 boards of agriculture, experiment stations, and agricultural schools and 

 colleges, and was a prominent leader in the agitation for the establish- 

 ment of experiment stations. In an address before the Middlesex South 

 Agricultural Society in 1872 he said: "Every agricultural society 

 should be an experimental station. No matter how few or how many 

 facts or discoveries it makes, each one should have the precision and 

 form which would enable it to be used in connection with other facts 

 derived from other sources. The common facts of the farm are compara- 

 tively unknown. What is a day's labor at any kind of work? What 

 is the effect of various kinds of food ? What is the comparative value of 

 various feeds used on our farms? What is the usual yield of a good 

 milch cow? These and other simple questions, which should have been 

 determined long ago, still remain practically unanswered. The con- 

 stants of agriculture are yet to be given. " 



In 1882 he was invited to become director of the New York State 

 Experiment Station at Geneva, New York, just established, which posi- 

 tion he held for 5 years, resigning in 1887. The duty devolved upon him 

 of organizing the new institution, outlining the work, equipping labora- 

 tories, planning held and laboratory experiments, and establishing a 

 working, coherent experiment station. This Dr. Sturtevant did on a 

 more extensive plan than was attempted by any other American station 

 in operation at that period. He proved himself a good organizer of 

 work and an efficient manager of men. He gathered about him an 

 excellent corps of workers, nearly all of whom have since been among 

 the leading workers in the experiment stations of this country. He 

 personally planned extensive field work with standard farm crops, and 

 especially the cereals, devised feeding experiments with dairy cattle, 

 and directed large experimental work in the vegetable garden. 



The first six reports of the New York State Station, issued under his 

 direction, contain much information on live agricultural problems, and 

 show marked activity on the part of the station working force. When 

 he resigned his place at Geneva, it was to go back to his home, to remain 

 in retirement, for a number of years an invalid. 



Dr. Sturtevant's influence on agriculture from the educational or 



