AGRICULTURAL INVESTIGATION IN SWITZERLAND. 687 



Adjoiniug these 3 laboratories is the weighing room, which has space 

 for lli balances. Here, also, is a small library of reference books needed 

 in ordinary laboratory work. 



The Avashing of apparatus is done in a special wash room. 



In a room adjoining the general laboratory the purely clerical work 

 is done. The assistants prepare detailed reports of results on small 

 sheets at their worktables, fasten these sheets together, and hand them 

 into the record room, where they are entered in special books bearing 

 the numbers of the assistants. 



The basement space allotted to the station is devoted principally to 

 appliances for drying and preparing samples for analysis, force pumps, 

 distillation apparatus, storage, and a technological laboratory. 



Coarse fodders are prepared for analysis by being passed through a 

 cutting machine, and after thorough drying finely ground by a Grii- 

 son Excelsior mill. Granular, dry, not too hard materials are imme- 

 diately put through the same machine. The finest powder is prepared 

 by the Dreefs mill. With super})hosphates these machines can not be 

 used, as their iron parts are attacked by the acid, and the'final results 

 might be affected. For these materials a mill in which the fertilizer 

 comes in contact only with porcelain has been devised, Avhich has given 

 excellent results. These mills are all operated by a water motor. 



The still used was niad« from special designs by the author, and is 

 arranged not only to distill liquids directly or with steam, but to rectify 

 them at the same time. The same apparatus is also arranged to accom- 

 modate evaporating dishes of different sizes, and may be connected 

 with a vacuum, without, in most cases, interfering with the distillation 

 of water or other solutions. 



All the apartments are provided with complete electrical service. 



The work of the institution. — Convinced of the security afforded by 

 the above described control of fertilizers and feeding stuffs, the farm- 

 ers have year by year more fully availed themselves of the privilege of 

 having the guaranties accompanying purchased goods confirmed by the 

 station analysis, so that at present in many localities no one thinks of 

 using fertilizers on a large scale without taking advantage of such 

 examinations. For this reason the number of analyses each year is 

 very large. 



