256 EXPERIMENT STATION KECORD. 



the protein sliow tliat in wheat 88.8 per cent of the nitrogen exists as 

 albuminoids; in rye, 90.G per cent; in barley, 97.4 per cent; in oats, 04.2 

 percent, and in corn 93.3 per cent, indicating codsiderable ditiereuce 

 between the protein of wlieat and rye and of barley, oats, and corn, 

 which may not be without effect upon its nutritive value. 



It is but fair to assume that the eminent authorities who have given 

 us this elaborate and painstaking compilation had good reason for 

 ado])ting the ligures used for wlieat and rye, but m theinterest of agricul- 

 tural science our knowledge should be more definite and complete. The 

 value of wheat as a food for nearly all kinds of farm animals has been 

 abundantly demonstrated from a practical standpoint. But the method 

 of feeding varies greatly, and it is impossible to calculate with certainty 

 the amounts of digestible nutrients which a wheat ration contains. 

 What is now needed is information that will show how it can be best 

 compounded into rations for diiferent purjioses, and for this purpose 

 exact knowledge as to the digestibility of its constituents is essential. 



' The results of field experiments with fertilizers are so liable to mis- 

 lnteri)retation that the necessity for the careful statement and expla- 

 nation of such experiments is increasingly evident to every thoughtful 

 student of the literature of agricultural investigation. The dihiculty 

 of making suitable reports of fertili/er exiieriinents is greatly increased 

 because of the .eagerness with which unscrupulous manufacturers of 

 fertilizers seize upon unguarded or incidental statements in station 

 iniblications and use them for advertising purposes to the injury of the 

 general public and to the disadvantage of the stations. This unwar- 

 ranted use of station publications is well illustrated by the circular of 

 a fertilizer dealer recently called to the attention of this Office, in which 

 a brief statement in one of the station bulletins regarding the beneficial 

 effect of soft Florida phosphate observed in a single experiment on 

 peas was distorted into an "official" indorsement of a '' natural plant 

 food" fertilizer composed of soft phosphate and glauconit. It is of 

 course Impossible, even with the utmost care, to entirely prevent such 

 dishonest practices, but it will be wise to take this danger into consid- 

 eration when reporting the results of experiments, and guard against 

 unqualified statements which may be caught up by dishonest individ- 

 uals to mislead the unwary, with the result of casting upon the stations 

 the odium of being parties to the fraud. 



In this connection it may be well to add that as the influence of the 

 station increases it Avill undoubtedly be more and more important that 

 all officers connected with these institutions shall avoid even the 

 appearance of relations with manufacturers of fertilizers or other agri- 

 cultural commodities which might in anyway compromise the stations. 

 It is very doubtful whether the stations do wisely in publishing any 

 information which, though it may be of temporary advantage to farm- 

 ers, can be construed as an advertisement of private interests. 



