802 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. 



Oklahoma College axd Station. — W. H. Merten, of Guthrie, Okla., has been 

 appohited a member of the board of regents, vice W. H. Coyle. 



Porto Eico Station. — The legislative assembly of Porto Rico has appropriated 

 $15,000 for the purchase of a suitable tract of land for the experiment station estab- 

 lished by this Department in that island. Proposals have been asked for and the 

 bids will be opened the first of May. 



South Carolina College. — An act was passed by the general assembly, at its 

 recent session, requiring the board of trustees to provide for investigations in the 

 coast region of the State. An inquiry is being made as to the lines of work needing 

 attention. 



Texas College and Station. — R. H. Price, horticulturist and mycologist to the 

 college and station, has resigned to engage in truck farming and fruit growing in 

 Virginia. His resignation will take effect in June. 



Washington College and Station. — E. E. Elliott, associate professor of agricul- 

 ture, has been elected professor of agriculture in the college and agriculturist of the 

 station, viceV^. J. Siaillman, resigned. H. S. Davis has been made assistant zoologist. 



Reorganization of the Experiment Station at Gembloux. — This station has by 

 recent royal decree been reorganized and extended under the name of the State 

 Chemical and Bacteriological Institute of Gembloux. A. Petermann remains as 

 director. Tlie head of the chemical section is A. Gregoire. The head of the bac- 

 teriological section, which is the main new feature, is L. Remy. The institute 

 proposes to undertake on broader lines than heretofore researches in chemistry, 

 physiology, and liacteriology as related to progress in agriculture and hygiene, and 

 will be relieved of control analytical work. 



School of Horticulture, Hartford. Conn. — The School of Horticulture estab- 

 lished at Hartford, Conn., by the trustees of the handicraft schools of that city has 

 been in operation less than two years, and yet it is compelled to keep a "waiting 

 list" for applicants who can not yet be accommodated. The school is located just 

 outside of the city on a farm of 75 acres donated to the Handicraft Schools by Rev. 

 Francis Goodwin, who also provides all funds for carrying on the work. The build- 

 ings used by the school include a greenhouse, potting room, classroom, library, office, 

 storeroom, tool room, sheds, stables, etc. 



The students received include apprentices and pupils from the Watkinson Farm 

 School and from the city schools. Pupils from the Farm School spend two and a half 

 hours each day at the school of horticulture and receive instruction in horticulture, 

 floriculture, botany, forestry, entomology, market and landscape gardening, and orch- 

 ard management. About half or three-fourths of an hour is spent in the class room, 

 and the remainder of the time is devoted to practical work in greenhouse, potting room, 

 orchard, or garden. This work includes practice in grafting, budding, layering, and 

 other horticultural operations. 



Pupils from the city schools are received daily for school garden work. There is 

 one class in the afternoon of each school day and several on Saturday. Each pupil is 

 given a plat of ground to work and is allowed to keep the products of his labor. He 

 takes charge of his jilat about the first of May and cares for it until the crop is har- 

 vested. In case any pupil neglects or abandons his plat it is given to some one on 

 the waiting list. 



In the spring of 1901, out of some 70 applicants, 34 boys were given garden plats, 

 and of this number 25 carried on their work throughout the season. The cost of the 

 experiment, including everything but rent and the salary of an instructor, was %\%. 

 Each plat was 4 by 25 ft. and produced on an average the following articles: Lettuce, 

 15 heads; radishes, 250; l)eets, 20; wax beans, 8 qt. ; shelled beans, 6 qt. ; squashes, 

 10; corn, 18 ears; verbenas, 1,000 blossoms. The average age of the boys was 13^ 

 years, and the average attendance 84 per cent. The attendance during the summer 

 vacation of the city schools was kept ui^ by the Vacation Schools Committee which 



