628 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



Nixoji, in his opening remarks to the A.>:.sem])ly, also gave considerable attention to the 

 need of more adequate provision for agricultural instruction, citing the example of 

 other States in this respect. In conclusion he said: "We should maintain a State 

 agricultural college ecjual to the best in the Union. It is for our interest to do so, 

 and our large agricultural population and the amount of capital invested in their 

 industry, which is the basis of all prosperity, constitute a claim that should no longer 

 be ignored." Keferring to the Cornell School of Forestry, the governor expressed 

 the belief that the school should not be discontinued, "because with the lapse of 

 years a proper understanding of scientific forestry will become more and more a 

 necessity. This is particularly true of farm forestry, w'hich will form an important 

 part of the future of agriculture within the State. That our people do not desire, 

 however, that public lands shall be denuded is beyond question." He recommends 

 immediate legislation to recover the property to the State, embracing about 30,000 

 acres, and suggests an adjustment of the contracts made with the Brooklyn Cooper- 

 age Co. either by the executive or the courts, relieving Cornell University of any 

 burden in the matter. The university has acquiesced in this plan. 



Ohio Station. — George M. Lummis has resigned as assistant botanist on account of 

 ill health. 



Oregon College and Station. — Hon. "William W. Cotton, of Portland, Oreg., has been 

 ajjpointfd regent, vice Benton Killin. 



Pennsylvania Station. — John Foster has been aj^pointed assistant chemist. 



Porto Rico Station. — Hendrick C. Hendricksen, of the subtropical laboratory con- 

 ducted by this Department at 3Iiami, has been appointed assistant horticulturist to 

 the station. During the year prominence has been given to the investigations with 

 coffee, tobacco, and tropical fruits. Experiments with reference to improving the 

 old coffee groves were commenced immediately after the crop of 1902 was harvested, 

 and record was made of the yield of each of ten plats before the treatment began. 

 Several acres of virgin forest have been cleared and planted with coffee trees from 

 the nurseries. A number of foreign varieties have been planted, and the plantation 

 of Porto Rican varieties will be used for studying the best distances for growing the 

 trees, making experiments with shade, manures, and pruning. The tobacco investi- 

 gations consist of a preliminary survey of the principal tobacco districts, and experi- 

 ments with methods of cultivation, manuring, curing, and fermenting. The cultural 

 work is being carried on in cooperation with a farmer at Aguas Burnas. The work 

 ■with tropical fruits has been confined mainly to the assembling of plant material and 

 the propagation of nursery stock. The station nurseries contain all of the citrus 

 A^arieties to be found on the island, most of the stock being large enough to bud. 

 The orchards now contain 45 varieties of bananas, 24 of l^udded oranges, lemons 

 and grape fruit, 12 of cacao, and about 65 varieties of miscellaneous tropical fruits. 

 Experimental plantings have been made of cassava, yautia, malangas, yams, and 

 other tropical tubers, as well as vegetables from Northern-grown seeds. 



Vermont Station. — The station has recently added to its farm 1)uildings a hennery, 

 16 by 80 ft. in size. The building is constructed of novelty siding and paper, with 

 slate roof, and is sealed inside with pine. A feed and tool room, 8 by 12 ft., is pro- 

 vided at one end, and the remainder of the space is divided into 4 general sections 

 for separate flocks, each having a scratching shed, 12 by 12 feet, with southern 

 exposure, protected by long glass windows hung with hinges at the top and balanced 

 with Aveights. One section has oiled cloth in place of windows to test this ])rotec- 

 tion in comparison with glass. Adjoining each scratching shed is a laying and 

 roosting room, 6 by 12 ft., and a yard on the south side 56 ft. deep. Each section is 

 intended to accommodate 40 fowds. At present only three breeds — Barred Plymouth 

 Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and White Wyandottes — are being kept. 



Referees of Of&cial Agricultural Chemists. — The appointments of the referees and 

 associate referees of this association for the year 1904 had not been made at the 



