January 18, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



69 



ever varying conditions of practical 

 operations; tar wider and more accu- 

 rate knowledge of the insects injuri- 

 ous to crops and the discovery of 

 much better means of destroying 

 them; accurate knowledge of the na- 

 ture and causes of many plant dis- 

 eases and the perfection of methods 

 of prevention; a clearer insight into 

 the relations of environment to the 

 development and helth of crops which 

 promises much in tlie direction of pre- 

 vention of disease — that ounce worth 

 so infinitely more than the pound of 

 cure; the discovery of the causes op- 

 erating to destroy oi injure so many 

 of our shade trees and the pointing 

 out of methods of protection; and ac- 

 curate reports as to the merits of new 

 crops and new varieties. 



Besides these and numerous other 

 lines of w'ork and discovery which 

 might be mentioned, the station has 

 tested and introduced to the agricul- 

 ture of the country one crop — the Jap- 

 anese barnyard millet — which has 

 proved of enormous value throughout 

 ■ a lar.ge part of the United States. It 

 Is yearly grown upon thousands of 

 acres and one enthusiastic sedsman 

 calls it "Billion dollar grass" because 

 as he asserts, its general cultivation 

 would increase our national wealth by 

 that mount annually. 



The station secured the passage of 

 feed and dairy laws. It has helped to 

 protect the public health by the analy- 

 sis of well and spring waters. Final- 

 ly and among the most warmly appre- 

 ciated of its benefits, the members of 

 the station staff have annually an- 

 swered several thousands of letters 

 of inquiry. This line of work, though 

 possibly not the most productive in 

 the direction of general advancement 

 and uplift is nevertheless most highly 

 appreciated by the man who seeks ad- 

 vice or who is in trouble and needs a 

 remedy. 



With this very incomplete reference 

 to some of the accomplishments of the 

 past, let us consider the present. Let 

 me endeavor to show you what this 

 engine of modern civilization known 

 as the agricultural experiment station 

 is. what it has to work with, and what 

 it seeks to do. 



What the Station Seeks to Do. 

 The experiment station is a depart- 

 ment of the college. It numbers on its 

 working staff twenty-one men, besides 

 several clerks and stenographers. Of 

 these men, thirteen give their entire 

 time to the station; the others serve 

 on the teaching force of the college as 

 well. The organization of these men 

 into divisions corresponding with the 

 two great subdivisions in farming, 

 viz., agriculture and horticulture, and 

 with the leading sciences closely re- 

 lated to agriculture, chemistry, botany, 

 entomology, veterinary science and 

 meteorology, is natural and in the 

 Interests of efficiency. These divisions, 

 while pursuing somewhat distinct lines 

 of work, co-operate to the fullest ex- 

 tent the one with the other in all cases 

 where circumstances require such co- 

 operation for the best results. 



The experiment station makes free 

 use of such portions of the college es- 

 tate as are needed in its various lines 

 of work. Its buildings have been pro- 

 •vided in most cases by direct and spe- 

 cial appropriations from the state. It 

 Is supported by both state and national 

 appropriations— about one-third of its 



present assured income coming from 

 the state and two-thirds from the na- 

 tional treasury. 



The work of the experiment station 

 is of three distinct classes: investiga- 

 tion, control work and dissemination 

 of information. Though most impor- 

 tant among the lines of station work 

 and mentioned first, I shall speak of 

 iavestigation last. 



Control Work: The control work of 

 the station has for its object the pro- 

 tection of the purchaser of fertilizers 

 and feeds, and the user of certain 

 classes of dairy apparatus. As related 

 to fertilizers and feeds, the laws pro- 

 viding for this work require, briefly 

 stated, that the seller "shall state what 

 he sells and sell what he states." 

 Those who remember the unsatisfac- 

 tory character of the trade in fertiliz- 

 ers and feeds before the passage of 

 these laws recognize their great value 

 to the community. The honest manu- 

 facturer and dealer as well as the buy- 

 er being protected, the trade is infi- 

 nitely mere satisfactory and attains 

 much larger proportions than before 

 the passage of these beneficent laws. 

 The execution of these laws is the 

 province of the chemical division of 

 the station, each being under the im- 

 mediate supervision of a separate sec- 

 tion. The financial support of the fer- 

 tilizer control work is in part provid- 

 ed for by the license fees which deal- 

 ers are required to pay, the balance 

 coming from the general funds of the 

 station. The feed and dairy control 

 work is covered by a special state ap- 

 propriation. These branches of our 

 work employ almost the entire time of 

 five chemists. 



It seems desirable that in the near 

 future the station should be charged 

 also with seed control. The character 

 of the seeds offered is now in many 

 cases uncertain and unsatisfactory. 

 They should be guaranteed both as re- 

 gards genuineness, freedom from weed 

 seed and foreign matter and percen- 

 tage of germination. 



Dissemination of Information. 



Dissemination of Information: The 

 station carries its information to the 

 public through a number of distinct 

 channels — most important among 

 which are distribution of its publica- 

 tions, correspondence, object lessons 

 and demonstrations, exhibits at fairs 

 and farming special trains. 



The station publications are the 

 principal means of reaching the pub- 

 lic. Since organization, the Massachu- 

 setts stations have issued 32 annual 

 reports, 17C bulletins, besides a regular 

 monthly meteorological bulletin and 

 numerous circulars. These have treat- 

 ed a wide variety of subjects and have 

 been given a very wide distribution. 

 Our regular mailing list at the present 

 time includes some 20,000 names, and 

 to each address all regular bulletins 

 will be sent. 



The correspondence of the station 

 has been previously referred to. Dur- 

 ing the farmers' busy season, the sta- 

 tion will probably average 40 to 50 

 letters of inquiry daily. To answer 

 many of these letters requires investi- 

 gation or consultation of authorities, 

 and this work makes a heavy draft 

 upon the time of members of our staff. 

 The work, however, is "present help 

 in time of need." for every effort :s 

 made to return prompt replies — in 



most cases the day of receipt of in- 

 quiry sees the reply dispatched. It is 

 much appreciated, is rapidly growing, 

 and unless it can be otherwise pro- 

 vided for, must be continued. 



In the line of object lessons and 

 demonstrations upon private farms in 

 different localities and upon our own 

 grounds, we have done something, but 

 when resources in means and men per- 

 mit, these lines of work may be much 

 extended, for they surpass the printed 

 page or the spol<en word in clearness 

 and strength of impression produced. 



Farming special trains, of which we 

 have operated one in co-operation 

 with Vermont and New Hampshire, 

 seem also to constitute a powerful 

 agency for spreading information and 

 driving home truths. These, however, 

 are very expensive — a heavy tax both 

 upon the treasury and the time and 

 energies of busy men. Without the 

 most generous co-operation of the rail- 

 roads and a larger staff such trains are 

 at present impossible. 



Investigation. 



Investigation: Experiments are sug- 

 gested by the name adopted for this 

 institution, and these are naturally re- 

 garded as its principal work, but that 

 all experiments are not investigation 

 is by no means always recognized. If, 

 for example, the experiment station 

 selects three supposedly similar and 

 equal areas of land and having applisd 

 A's fertilizer to one, B's to another, 

 and left the third unfertilized, then 

 plants to corn, cares for the three 

 areas similarly, harvests and deter- 

 mines which has given the better 

 product, it has tried an experiment. 

 So, too, if two lots of animals are fed 

 in contrasted ways and the results 

 compared, this is an experiment. In 

 either case can the experiment be dig- 

 nified by the title investigation. The 

 results may have some value or, on the 

 other hand, they may be absolutely 

 misleading, so numerous and so vari- 

 ant are the conditions which in either 

 case determine the outcome. To know 

 that A's fertilizer in the case supposed 

 gave a better crop than B's estab- 

 lishes a presumption perhaps that it is 

 the better, but unless we have looked 

 deeper and can give the reasons we 

 have not made an investigation which 

 deserves the name. The soil and the 

 subsoil must be submitted both 

 before and after cropping to close 

 chemical and mechanical examination. 

 The chemical character of the fertiliz- 

 ers must be exactly determined. The 

 relations of climate to the outcome 

 must be studied. The growth of the 

 plants must be observed and recorded, 

 and their composition determined. By 

 such an investigation — the experiment 

 being repeated until the result under 

 known conditions can be foretold — the 

 underlying causes and laws may be de- 

 termined, and the discovery of these 

 must have permanent value. 



Up to the present time we have had 

 perhaps too many experiments and too 

 little investigation or research in the 

 work of this as of other experiment 

 stations. We are seeking to improve 

 our work in this direction. Such im- 

 provement is in full line with our am- 

 bitions and is moreover both demand- 

 ed by the most enlightened public sen- 

 timent and required under the last 

 act of Congress relating to the sUtion. 



