r:xiM':RiMi':NT sTyvnoN rI":cord. 



Vol 1. SEPTEMBER, 1889. No. 1. 



IN'TFU)I)i;(JTI()N. 



Ill piirHiiaiico of tin; plan aiiiioiiiiccd in the introduction to Part 1 of 

 tJM', Dif^cst of Annual licpoit.s of the Agricultural lO.xpcrinient Stations 

 ill Mic United States for ISHS (l-^xperiment Station liiiilctiu No. 2), the 

 publication of al)stracts of station bulletins of the current year is here 

 begun. 



Tli(! Digest of It('i)orts for 1888 is inteiMled to include such outlines 

 and (h'tails of the station work as will be most useful for [)ertnaiient rec- 

 ord and convenient reference. It will give a fair idea of the condition of 

 the experiment station enteriirise in the United States in that year. 

 The aim here is simi»ly to make a current record, in brief outline, of the 

 results of exjierimeiit station and kindre<l work. The effort has been to 

 give such a rapid and concise synopsis of the contents of bulletins as 

 will enable the busy worker to readily ascertain what is going on at 

 the stations in various lines. It has not Ijeen i)racticable, however, to 

 adhere strictly to this j)lan. Aside from those difficulties inherent in 

 every new enterprise of the kind, the main embarrassment has arisen 

 from the diverse character of the material in the l)ulletins. These vaiy 

 from l)rief, popular summaries of (lui results of investigations at the sta- 

 tions and elsewhere to detailed accounts of elaborate experiments. To 

 iii(;lude within narrow limits anything like a consistent exliil)it of bul- 

 letins so widely dillereiit in scope and method of treatment is well nigh 

 iiiipossil)le. Naturally, therefore, certain bulletins containing much val- 

 uable work have received scant notice here. It is hoped that serious 

 omissions may be supi)lied in a more detailed digest of station work for 

 1889. It may Ix; added, however, that without regard to the i)erplexities 

 imposed on this ollice, as here indicated, it seems not improbable that 

 the stations will be gradually forced, by circumstances peculiar to them- 

 selves, to distinguish l)etwe(Mi tluj small and numerous l)ulletins, issued 

 in large editions for the informal ion of practical farmers, and those full 

 and accurate reports of experiments, with which alone the demands of 

 the scientist can be satisfied, and whi(;li are to be stored in libraries as 

 the i)ernian(Mit evidence of the industry and success of the investigators. 



1 

 84G(J— No. 1 1 



