NOTES. 



Alaska Stations. — Isaac Jones, who has had charge of the station at Rampart for 

 the pa^t year, has resigned. On his way out from the interior Mr. Jones went over 

 the trail from Eagle to Valdez with a view to obtaining definite information concern- 

 ing the agricultural prospects in the Upper Tanana and Copper River valleys. The 

 trip from Eagle to Valdez occupied 18 days. He reports that the outlook is very prom- 

 ising, that there are large tracts of agricultural land in that region, that grass is 

 abundant in many places, and that the limited attempts thus far made by prospectors 

 at gardening and grain growing have been very successful. It is hoped that funds 

 may be provided to establish a station somewhere in that region. During the past 

 season a comfortable two-story log house has been completed at Kenai, which Avill 

 serve as office and dwelling for the superintendent in charge at that place. Two acres 

 of land have been cleared there, in addition to that previously cleared. The work 

 there has been mostly with grain crops, grown on a larger scale than at the other 

 places where tested. At Sitka a four-room cottage and a good-sized barn have been 

 completed. Small plats of grain and a great variety of vegetables, grown with a 

 number of different fertilizers on new and old land, have constituted the principal 

 experimental work. The past season has been unusually dry, both at Sitka and 

 Kenai, so much so as to interfere somewhat with the experiments. It has, however, 

 been favorable to hay making, which this year has presented no difficulties. 



C. C. Georgeson, the special agent in charge of the Alaska stations, has returned to 

 Weshington, D. C, for the winter. 



I'lorida College and Station. — Work on the new science hall, which was pro- 

 vided for by the last legislature, is progressing rapidly. The building is Spanish in 

 design. It consists of a main building, three stories in height, and two wings at the 

 rear, two stories in height, with a loggia on the first and second floors on the court 

 side. It is expected to cost between $45,000 and $50,000. 



Purdue University. — The university has received a donation of $60,000 from Mrs. 

 Eliza Fowler, of Lafayette, Ind., for the erection and equipment of an assembly 

 hall. 



loAVA College and Station. — The contract has been let for a new laboratory 

 building for the department of horticulture. The building will be 35 by 50 feet, two 

 stories in height, and built of pressed brick, and will contain a large laboratory room 

 accommodating 30 students, in which practice will be given in grafting, budding, 

 making cuttings, potting plants, and all the practical indoor work of the horticul- 

 turist. It will also contain a large fruit room, to be used for instruction purposes, 

 connected with two refrigerators, one for experimental work in cold storage and the 

 other for preserving fresh fruits for study and comparison of varieties. On the sec- 

 ond floor a photographic room, dark room, and museum are provided. In the base- 

 ment are storage rooms for bulbs, grafts, and nursery stock. It is expected that the 

 building will be one of the most complete of its kind in the country. The estimated 

 cost is $6,000, exclusive of heating and plumbing. 



397 

 10409— No. i 8 



