408 EXPEEIMENT STATION KECOKD. 



uvuilability of the constituents was shown vci\y forcibly; for instance, 

 in some cases over a ton of nitrogen per acre was found within the 

 iirst 9 in. of soil, but the crop showed that it was starving for lack of 

 available nitrogen. As a rule, the Rothamsted soils contain only about 

 30 to 40 lbs. of nitrogen per acre which is available under the most 

 favorable conditions. Continuous wheat culture was shown to be of 

 necessity an extravagant practice, as the wheat is harvested before 

 nitrification in the soil is completed, and there l)eing no crop to take up 

 the nitrified nitrogen the nitrates are washed out b}^ the rains. The 

 indications are that very little nitrification takes place in the depths of 

 the subsoil, and that these stores of nitrogen are unavailable to plants 

 to any degree. A study of the drainage waters indicates that the 

 ammonia salts rob the soils of lime, rather than the nitrate of soda, as 

 sometimes claimed. Many other interesting points were brought out 

 in regard to the chloriu content of soils, the availability as afl'ected by 

 different fertilizer mixtures, and the effect of other conditions on the 

 rise and fall of the fertilizer elements in the soils. The investigation 

 is one of the most extensive and S3^stematic of its kind, and affords 

 much material for .careful study. It is expected that Dr. D3^er's lec- 

 tures will be published later by the Department. 



Besides resolutions of thanks to Dr. D}^er, the Association adopted 

 a memorial expressing its high appreciation of the life and work of 

 the late Sir John Bennet Lawes and his associates at the Rothamsted 

 Station. 



A carefully prepared and eloquent address on the career of the late 

 Senator Justin S. Morrill, of Vermont, was delivered by President 

 G. W. Atherton. President Atherton's close association with Senator 

 Morrill for many years and his intimate familiarity with the history 

 of the movement for the establishment of colleges and experiment 

 stations under national auspices enabled him to treat this subject in a 

 very thorough and satisfactory manner, so that his address will have a 

 permanent historical value. Bj^ vote of the Association it is to be 

 published separately. 



One of the most important subjects on which the Association took 

 action was the report of the committee on cooperative work between 

 the Department of Agriculture and the experiment stations. This 

 was carefully prepared by a representative committee after consulta- 

 tion with the directors of the stations, and was unanimously adopted 

 by the Association. It commended the attitude of the present Secretary 

 of Agriculture towards closer cooperation between the Department 

 and the stations, and pointed out the different ways in which the two 

 institutions might aid each other. It also outlined the principles on 

 which, in the opinion of the committee, the joint work should be 

 arranged and conducted. It was held that both the Department and 

 the stations should feel entirely free to propose or decline cooperative 



