EDITORIAL. 607 



trie.s. The only rotil bond of union between the (xernum .stations is 

 the Association of Ao-rioultural Experiment Stations in the German 

 Empire, which was or<>-anizcd at Weimar in 1888 for the purpose of 

 securing uniformity in methods for control work; and this does not 

 include all of the stations. 



The ao'ricultural stations and laboratories of Erance, of which there 

 are 7(>, are under the general direction of an inspector-general, an 

 officer of the Ministry of Agriculture. Prof. L. Grandeau has held 

 this position since its creation in 1882. 



Austria has 10 stations, about one-third of which are of the grade 

 of the control station. These are under the general control of the 

 Ministry of Agriculture, which also issues an official publication {Zelt- 

 schHft fur das landtoirthschaftliche Versuchswesen in Ocsterreich) con- 

 taining reports and papers on various phases of the station work. 



In Great Britain it is difficult to determine what should be listed as 

 stations, as man}' of the institutions were not established primaril}' for 

 agricultural experimentation, ])ut have been subsidized by the board 

 of agriculture for that purpose, or have taken up a certain amount of 

 work which has an incidental bearing. The list enumerates about 30 

 agencies, including 12 institutions that may be regarded as stations, 

 10 institutions which are subsidized by the board of agriculture, and 

 7 botanic gardens. In India there are 10 experiment farms and plan- 

 tations and 21 botanic and municipal gardens, besides a number of 

 other agencies for the benefit of agriculture. 



Belgium has a S3"stem of 16 stations, 7 of which are analytical labo- 

 ratories, all under the supervision of the Belgian Ministry of Agricul- 

 ture. Hungary likewise has 16 stations, under the supervision of the 

 central commission of experiment stations, which provides an organ 

 for the publication of their work; and Italy has 15 stations and labo- 

 ratories which receive a portion of their appropriation from the Gov- 

 ernment, many of them also receiving funds from the province or 

 municipality in which they are located and from local agricultural 

 associations and chambers of commerce. 



A feature of the system in Australia, which includes 34 institutions, 

 is the state farms. There are 16 of these scattered over the country, 

 devoted for the most part to culture and similar experiments, demon- 

 strations of good farming, the improvement of live stock, and similar 

 work, but having no n^al scientific work connected with them. 



In the Netherlands there arc 7 stations, including a seed-control sta- 

 tion and a laboratory of vegetable pathology, besides a system of 

 experimental fields, 11 in number, conducted under the auspices o£ 

 local agricultural and horticultural societies, but subsidized by the 

 Government. 



Sweden has 26 stations, controlled and partially supported ))y the 

 state department of agriculture, most of which are chemical and 



