356 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



detect errors in notation or computation. Great care is also taken by- 

 many of the European stations to carefully i:)reserve specimens of 

 plants, feeding- stuffs, and other materials which have been the subject 

 of experimentation, and to collect specimens which may be useful in 

 connection with the work which the station is doing. Thus at Tha- 

 rand, ISTobbe has for many years made collections of the seeds of use 

 ful and noxious plants; at Grignon, Deherain has preserved specimens 

 of the plants ^vhich he has analyzed; and at Eothamsted, Lawes and 

 Gilbert have taken numerous samples of the crops grown on their 

 experimental plats. 



There seems to be a greater tendency than formerly among the 

 European stations to enter upon field experiments. This has been 

 increased as the result of the visits which leaders in agricultural 

 science have made among the experiment stations in this country. 

 The necessity of applying the principles learned in the laboratory under 

 field conditions is better appreciated than it once was. There is also a 

 feeling that l)y careful field work light may be thrown on problems the 

 solution of which has not yet been obtained by pot experiments or 

 other laboratory methods. The expansion of field work is, however, 

 being made carefully and cautiously, and a clear distinction is made 

 between experimental x)lats and fields of demonstration. The former 

 are still kept within strict limits as to size and other conditions and 

 data on a number of different points are carefully collected. There is, 

 moreover, a combination of field and laboratory Avork which is often 

 lacking in our stations. Pot experiments and plat experiments go on 

 side by side and analyses of various kinds are made at the same time 

 in the lal)oratories. Professor Wohltmann's work at Poppelsdorf is a 

 good illustration of this. His experiment field is level, has even soil, 

 and is carefully fenced in. Mechanical and chemical analj'ses of the 

 soil are made from time to time. Pheuological and meteorological 

 observations are recorded. There are thermometers on the plats at the 

 surface and at different depths. A record of the sunshine is made, as 

 well as of rainfall and temperature. The products from the different 

 plats are analyzed and, in the case of vegetables, are also subjected 

 to cooking and eating tests. 



European workers have some of the same difficulties to contend with 

 that our workers in field experimenting have. The past summer drought 

 and storm ruined many promising experiments in Europe. Their variety 

 tests are also invalidated in some cases by misinformation regarding 

 the names of varieties. 



In thinking about the European stations it is well to bear in mind 

 that very many of them have been organized primarily for control of 

 fertilizers or seeds, and oftentimes do little or no original work. Some 

 of the stations which have done the most for agricultural science have 

 obtained a large amount of funds devoted to original research from the 



