AGKICULTURE AT THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 541 



A report was received from the coiuuiittee iU'tin<>- in cooperation with 

 a committee of the Association of American Agricultural Colleg-es and 

 Experiment Stations, for the purpose of requestino- the board of trus- 

 tees of the Carnegie Institution to apply some portion of the Carnegie 

 gift to the promotion of scientihc research in its relation to agricul- 

 ture. In the memorial presented to the board of trustees certain gen- 

 eral lines were suggested as suitable for research work. The commu- 

 nication was considered at a meeting of the board of trustees and 

 returned to the committee with a request for concrete suggestions 

 rather than generalizations. The committee was continued with a 

 view to making such suggestions. 



W. J. Beal discussed briefly courses of study in agricultural colleges, 

 mentioning some of the features of instruction in agriculture in early 

 years, and expressing the opinion that allied groups of subjects should 

 be elective b}^ students soon after entering college. This brought out 

 a spirited discussion upon entrance requirements and agricultural edu- 

 cation in general. 



The same speaker presented some biographical notes on the late 

 Robert C. Kedzie, who was a member of the societ3\ 



A paper on The Diameter of Wool Fibers from Difl^erent Breeds of 

 Sheep of the United States and Canada, b}^ T. F. Hunt, was read by 

 title. Measurements of the wool from 1 to 5 sheep of 13 breeds were 

 made by Lamotte Ruhlen. and showed a range in the diameter of the 

 libers from -4.28 to 1.8 centimillimeters, the extremes being represented 

 by the Leicester and the American Merino breeds. 



B. E. Fernow presented a paper on The Farmers' Wood Lot, in 

 which the importance of looking after the wood supph^ more carefully 

 was emphasized. Estimates were given of the increased consumption 

 of wood products in the United States and foreign countries. The 

 export trade of the United States was stated as having doubled during 

 the last 10 jears. At the present rate of consumption the timber 

 supply of the United States in view will, according to the author, be 

 exhausted within 30 years. As 60 to hU) years are required for the 

 production of millable timber, and for other reasons, it was shown 

 that few farmers can engage in this business. For the production of 

 wood for fuel purposes, however, the time required is only 20 to 30 

 years, and waste lands ma\^ be utilized for this purpose. 



Before the section of Social and Economic Science a papei- on 

 Requisites in Crop Reporting was read ])y H. Parker Willis, which 

 dwelt at some length on the purpose and importance of crop I'eports, 

 and the reasons for lack of confidence in such reports as now prepared. 

 The requisites pointed out were in ])rief (1) perfect confidence in the 

 man in charge of the reports, his office force, and his correspondents; 

 (2) publicity as to methods of operating; (3) dealing with facts rather 

 16398— No. 6—03 3 



