2 EXPEKIMENT STATION "RECORD. 



missioners will recommend to the ministry such measures for the pro- 

 motion of agriculture and the improvement of the ag'ricultural condi- 

 tions in their respective governments as seem to them desirable. 



The inauguration of this system would seem to be a distinct mark 

 of progress. Taken in connection with the recent decrees regarding 

 the establishment of additional agricultural experiment stations and 

 systems of agricultui'al education, alread}^ referred to, it should mate- 

 rially impi'OA'c and modernize the practice of agriculture in Russia. 



The last appropriation act for this Department carried provisions 

 for the inauguration of experiment stations in the islands of Hawaii 

 and Porto Rico. In accordance with this the preliminary steps have 

 been taken to determine the best plan of operation in each case and the 

 subjects which are in most need of immediate attention. 



Prof. S. A. Knapp, of Louisiana, who for a considerable number of 

 vears has been engaged in subtropical agriculture on an extensive 

 scale, was selected to investigate the agricultural conditions and possi- 

 biKties of Porto Rico. Professor Knapp went to the island early in 

 June. In general he will study the present agricultural conditions 

 existing in Porto Rico, the lines of experimental investigation which 

 should be undertaken there, especialty in the immediate future, and 

 the locations suitable for stations, together with the approximate 

 expense of inaugurating and maintaining the work of the stations. 

 He will also look into the feasibility of undertaking cooperative exper- 

 iments with the residents of Porto Rico, and the best means of reach- 

 ing the people through difierent classes of publications, demonstration 

 experiments, and otherwise. 



For the preliminary survey of the conditions in the Hawaiian 

 Islands. Dr. W. C. Stubbs, director of the Louisiana Experiment Sta- 

 tions, has been selected as especially fitted b}^ experience. Dr. Stubbs 

 sailed for Hawaii a1)out the middle of July, and will spend the month 

 of August in the islands. The conditions there with reference to 

 station work are different from those in Porto Rico, as a station for 

 experiments in sugar production has been maintained by private benef- 

 icence for a number of years. In connection with his investigation of 

 the location of a station, Dr. Stubbs will consider the feasibility of 

 combining the Federal station with the Hawaiian Experiment Station 

 or the agricultural department of the Kamehameha Manual Training 

 School at Honolulu. Here also the lines in which inv(«tigation is 

 most needed, the possibility of greater diversification of the agriculture, 

 the expense of inaugurating and maintaining experiment station work, 

 and the means of disseminating information among the people will be 

 carefully inquired into. This will pr()bal)ly i)rove a profitable field 

 for investigations on the use and economy of water in irrigation, since 

 according to reports received from authentic sources, in no other place 



