366 ANNUAL REPORT 



present time, has been done with limited and unskilled assistance, and 

 in such intervals of time as the director could secure from a mass of 

 other duties. 



The passage by the last Congress of what is known as the "Hatch 

 Bill," making liberal appropriations for the work of agricultural ex- 

 periment stations in all the states, and the prospect that the funds 

 thus provided for will be available at an early day, will enable the 

 board of regents to properly organize this station for the work con- 

 templated. The increase of scientific and skilled assistants, a subdi- 

 vision of labor, and release from a mass of details, will enable the 

 director to give largely increased attention to the work of the station. 



In carrying out the objects of the organization, we cordially invite 

 the co-operation of the citizens of the State. Suggestions as to lines 

 of experimental work, problems to be solved, inquiries relating to ag- 

 riculture, horticulture, stock, and the dairy, will be cheerfully re- 

 ceived and answered as far as possible; but no work will be undertaken 

 unless of public value, and the results of which we are at liberty to 

 use for the public good. 



Specimens of grains and grasses; seeds of fruit and forest trees; 

 vegetables, plants, and flowers that are true to name; varieties of 

 beneficial and injurious insects; samples of mineral waters and ores, 

 and whatever may illustrate any department of agriculture will be 

 gladly received, and due acknowledgments made in annual reports. 

 Directions for collecting, packing and shipping such specimens will 

 be furnished on application, and all expenses paid 



Bulletins will be issued at least quarterly, giving the results of ex- 

 perimental work as fast as completed, together with such suggestions 

 and information as may be thought valuable to the farmers of Minne- 

 sota. These bulletins and the annual reports will be sent, free of 

 charge, to each newspaper in the State, and to such individuals as may 

 request the same. 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 



There are several other matters to which I desire to call attention. 

 As already intimated, the work of our experiment station is not con- 

 fined exclusively to horticulture; it is designed to cover all the opera- 

 tions of agriculture, and we have of course to devote a due amount 

 of attention to each; horticulture comes in for its proportion, and up 

 to the present time it has received the lion's share of our work, for 

 the reason that the facilities at hand enabled us to devote more atten- 

 tion to this line of work than to any other. 



