76 ANNUAL REPORT. 



We have not completed all our buildings, but we have two main build- 

 ings up, the farm house, its offices and appliances, and the farm barn. 

 I pronounce both of them the best buildings of their kind in the United 

 States; I challenge contradiction and examination. We have not yet 

 completed the barn, but the work is now going on; I found the farm 

 had been run continuously in wheat and oats ever since it was taken 

 up by the first settler. I took off last year the nineteenth crop of con. 

 tinuous grain, there was no grass of any account upon the farm. Now 

 we have about one hundred and sixty acres seeded down that will yield 

 two and one-half tons of hay to the acre. A good deal of it was in 

 black oak grubs, and a portion of it so thickly filled with underbrush 

 that a bird could scarcely pass through it. There was not a panel of 

 fence in good condition on the farm and all the line fences were covered 

 with underbrush. My work thus far has been mostly foundation work; 

 in the first place to get our hedge rows cleaned out to get the ground 

 fitted for cultivation; grubbing, plowing and seeding down to grass, 

 and io prepare it for keeping stock; to get our farm buildings erected 

 and get in condition for experinumtal work. I found the fields com- 

 pletely overrun with everything that was vile and noxious to the farm- 

 er. One year ago in passing through the fields on a portion of the 

 place, you could not tell whether we were growing oats, wheat or wild 

 mustard for a crop, but the wild mustard predominated. Our fields 

 were so filled with wild mustard, with wild peas, with wild oats, that 

 we could not grow a single bushel of grain fit for seed purposes. Now, 

 we have commenced a system of improvement. Our fences are not 

 yet up, but we are ready for them. I have been preparing the ground 

 in the first place. As I said, our buildings are nearly completed. 



We are just ready, really, to commence our legitimate work of 

 illustration and experiment work. Es'ery department of agriculture 

 and horticulture is expected to receive a proper proportion of attention. 

 You are interested of course to know what we are doing in horti- 

 culture. I have commenced this season for the first time the putting 

 out of our fruit plantations, I have in our orchards and nurseries, 

 this season, the entire collection of Russian varieties furnished by Prof. 

 Budd, in all, 197 varieties. I have established a Russian orchard; of 

 trees as yet, I have only seventy varieties. Prof. Budd could not fur- 

 nish me trees of suitable age of more than about seventy varieties. I 

 have two acres and a half devoted to these Russian apples. The trees 

 are all two years old, and I have lost but two out of the entire number. 

 I sent one of my young men down to Prof. Budd's nurseries in March, 



