4 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



taken toward unifying and promoting the common objects of the 

 societies of agricultural science and increasing their effectiveness. 

 The desirability of such a step is so evident and the apparent interest 

 in it so widespread as to give much encouragement for its realization. 



Through all the meetings of the week the consideration of methods 

 ran as perhaps the most significant single subject. In the present 

 formative stage of agricultural science and education the question of 

 methods — of ways and means — transcends all other questions in im- 

 portance, for it is fundamental to the acquisition of knowledge Avhich 

 shall stand the test of time, and likewise to its most effective presen- 

 tation. In control or police work accurate and reliable methods are 

 the basis of justice to the producer and the consumer alike. 



The Association of Official Agricultural Chemists and the Official 

 Seed Analysts naturally dealt mainly in their meetings with the con- 

 sideration of technical methods and questions bearing upon them. 

 The former paused in its deliberations to listen to the annual address 

 of its president on a less specialized subject. In this address Doctor 

 Withers discussed The Teaching of Chemistry in American Agricul- 

 tural Colleges, reviewing the requirements of colleges in different 

 parts of the country, and showing that while there was considerable 

 variation, the recommendations of the committee on methods of 

 teaching agriculture of the Association of American Agricultural 

 Colleges and Experiment Stations were being quite generally realized 

 in the subject of chemistry. He also made a gratifying showing of 

 the opportunity now afforded at these institutions for training for a 

 chemical career and the quite widespread provision for graduate 

 work in that subject. 



The Association of Feed Control Officials continued its discussions 

 upon the subject of a uniform feeding-stuff law for the various States, 

 which was undertaken at the instance of the manufacturers and 

 dealers in such products over a year ago. Definite progress Avas made, 

 as a tentative law was agreed upon and a list of definitions of by- 

 products used as feeding stuffs was adopted. 



Methods for agricultural investigation also constituted a prominent 

 jjart of the proceedings in the Society for the Promotion of Agi'icul- 

 tural Science and the American Society of Agronomy. The trend 

 of the papers and discussions before the latter society was toward 

 standardization of methods for conducting experiments. The pres- 

 ent inadequacy of certain methods of procedure in field experiments 

 was emjohasized, and the need of improvement was pointed to as 

 fundamental. As illustrating this, numerous experiments were cited 

 which have been made to determine the value for seed of light and 

 heavy kernels of cereals, the results of which are not comparable, 

 owing to the methods pursued, so that despite a large amount of 



