THE NINTH ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF 

 GERMAN A(;RICULTURAL ENPERLMENT STATIONS, ^1896.' 



Oliver L. Fassig. 



By a provision of the constitution of the Association of German 

 Agricultural Experiment Stations its meetings are held in close con- 

 nection witli those of the Association of German Naturalists and 

 Physicians {GeseUsclKift dentsche Xaturforscher und Aerzte)^t'\i2, asso- 

 ciation which in Germany corresponds to our American Association for 

 the Advancement of Science. Whenever possible, a neighboring town 

 is chosen in which there is an experiment station. This year as the 

 naturalists and physicians met at Frankfort on the Main, the station 

 meetings were held in Wiesbaden, distant about half an hour's ride 

 from Frankfort. Wiesbaden is an attractive town of about 60,000 

 inhabitants situated in the midst of the vine-growing region of the 

 Rhine, and is famous for its mineral springs. It is the home of 

 Fresenius, so well known to all readers of chemical literature. In con- 

 nection with the famous Fresenius laboratory is the Wiesbaden Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station with Prof. H. Fresenius, son of the above 

 mentioned, as director. 



The association is composed of agricultural experiment stations in 

 the German Empire, each of which is entitled to send one voting dele- 

 gate to the annual meetings. Membership is restricted to such stations 

 as are under the control of the State, province, or an agricultural 

 society, and conducted in the interests of the public. The association 

 numbers about 50 stations. It does not include all the stations eligible 

 to membership, as it is not a State institution and membership is not 

 compulsory. 



The method of organization and the nature of the work done are 

 referred to with special emphasis here since these received a large share 

 of attention at this meeting, as will appear later on. The work of the 

 association is largely along chemical lines, corresponding in this respect 

 to our Association of Ofticial Agricultural Chemists. The main pur- 

 pose, as expressed in the constitution, is to secure uniformity in methods 

 of analysis and of control of fertilizers, feeding stufi's, and seeds. 



The association is governed by an executive committee of 5, chosen 

 for 3 years. The chairman of the executive committee presides at the 

 annual meetings. This committee nauies the members of committees, 

 to which are referred questions relating to methods of analysis. Of 

 these there are apparently at present 4; (1) a committee for the inves- 

 tigation of fertilizers; (2) one for the investigation of feeding stuff's; 

 (3) one for soil analysis; (4) one for seed examination. An important 



'An account of the eij^hth annual convention, abstracted from the pnlilished 



proceedings, is given on p. 4B2. 



447 



