708 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECCED. 



1 degree of fertility, a "euphorimetric scale" is constructed, each 

 degree of which corresponds to a definite product of crop. It may 

 be objected, says the author, that the inconstancy of the seasons and 

 the variations of the temperature may overthrow all predictions and 

 destroy all calculations. This, he admits, may modify the importance 

 of a given crop, but he holds that it can not weaken in an}- wa}^ the 

 exactness of the theoretical results that are to be compared; and he 

 explains that whatever may happen, the farmer who puts into his 

 ground fertilizing material of any kind can say with assurance: "Since 

 I have added certain degrees of fertility to the soil over and above 

 what it was capable of producing by its unaided resources, I ought to 

 produce so much wheat, oats, etc. Nature will make these for me; 

 the temperature may sometimes interfere with the running of the 

 machine and some irregularities in the annual crop ma}' result; but 

 it is only a question of time, and it is certain that the calculated 

 degree of fertility will be realized entire." 



No one doubts the desirabilit}' of reducing agricultural practice to 

 a more scientific basis. But as the study of the subject has pro- 

 gressed it has been clearly shown that agricultural investigation can 

 not be expected to furnish definite and positive ''rules for farming," 

 and it is especially surprising that in this day, when so much has 

 been learned about soil fertility and the changes in location and con- 

 dition which fertilizing materials undergo in the soil, such a theory 

 as that of euphorimetr}^, which might possibly have passed current at 

 the time when Varembey made his experiments, should be brought 

 forward with an}^ degree of seriousness. 



The Russian Meteorological Bureau and the system of agricultural- 

 meteorological stations connected with it are described in an official 

 publication of the Department of Agriculture and Imperial Domains, 

 recently received. This system of institutions for the study of agri- 

 cultural meteorology was established in 1897. Its object is to bring 

 observations on meteorolog}' and on agricultural phenomena into closer 

 relation, with a view to determining more definitel}^ the effect of vari- 

 ous meteorological conditions on crop production. Each meteorolog- 

 ical station has connected with it a series of plats, not exceeding 1 

 deciatine (2.7 acres) each in area, on which various crops are grown. 

 Adjacent to the plats are arranged the meteorological apparatus for 

 measuring the temperature and humidit}' of the air, intensity of the 

 sunlight, direction and velocity of the wind, etc. On the plats are 

 installed a rain gauge, thermometers for determining the temperature 

 of the soil at the surface and at different dej^ths, and likewise appara- 

 tus for determining the humidity of the soil and measuring the snow 

 fall, Phenological observations are made systematically on the crops 

 under cultivation, and a record is kept of the different stages in the 



