608 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



seed-control stations. In addition there are 10 agricultural chemical 

 stations, maintained by societies, which are in reality' laboratories for 

 anah'sis and control. Norway has 11 stations, including several con- 

 trol stations, all, with one or two exceptions, under the direct control 

 of the department of agriculture; and Denmark has 10 stations, sev- 

 eral of them being among the most liberally supported of the Euro- 

 pean stations. 



In Japan there are 15, including 1) branch stations; in Switzerland 

 a S3"stem of 10 stations, all under the control of the department of 

 agriculture, except 1 for brewing; and in Spain 9 stations, 6 of which 

 are oenological and viticultural and 1 for sericulture. 



These comprise the principal countries in which experiment stations 

 and similar agencies are most active, with the exception of Canada 

 and the United States. The full list, however, includes Algeria, 

 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg^iria, Brazil, Egypt, Java, Portugal, 

 Roumania, and mau}^ minor countries and dependencies. 



The more we stud}^ the foreign experiment stations the more appai- 

 ent it becomes that the American stations represent a distinct type of 

 institutions, which are the product of their environment. Their exact 

 prototype or counterpart is not found in any other country, either in 

 scope, organization and management, or in relation to the farming 

 community and the promotion of agriculture in general. The}- are an 

 adaptation of the European stations to the conditions and requirements 

 of this countr3\ As such they present many unique features; and 

 familiarit}' with their general character makes a stud}' of the foreign 

 systems the more interesting. 



The various agencies for agricultural experimentation and research 

 in foreign countries ma}^ be classified in a general wa}' under six heads, 

 i. e., (1) experiment stations proper, (2) special stations for particular 

 crops or agricultural industries, (3) control stations and agricultural 

 laboratories, (4) botanic stations and gardens, (5) experiment farms 

 and demonstration fields, and (6) agencies for local or cooperative 

 experiments. 



Among those of the first class there are l^ut few which correspond 

 to the American stations in the breadth of their work and in their 

 organization. To a quite large extent the foreign stations have devel- 

 oped in the direction of some particular branch of agriculture, as 

 agronomy, animal production, or dairying, although their field of 

 operation is ))roader than that of the special stations. As a rule they 

 are dominated bj- the infiuence of a single man, who is usually the 

 director, and their energies are .bent toward the development of his 

 theories of plant nutrition, or some phase of animal nutrition, or the 

 like. With a few notable exceptions the individual stations do not 

 embrace strong departments in plant production, the feeding of ani- 



