FARM EXPERIMENTS AT LAKESIDE. 



~|~N commencing a series of farm experiments in 

 1863, with the view of deciding some contro- 

 verted points of much importance to the interests 

 of husbandry, it was felt that no satisfactory results 

 could be reached in less period of time than four or 

 five years. The matter of time in all farm experi- 

 ments, in my view, was of the highest importance, 

 and therefore it was resolved to make no extended 

 statements, and venture upon no conclusions, until 

 the experiments had been carried through several 

 successive seasons. 



So far as I could learn, there were some interest- 

 ing problems in agriculture which had never been 

 satisfactorily solved in New England, or, in fact, in 

 any section of our country. It seemed desirable to 

 ascertain, approximately at least, by careful and 

 extended experiment, the value of special or chem- 

 ical fertilizing agents upon our New England soils, 

 and in order to test this matter satisfactorily, it was 

 clear that the experiments must be conducted upon 

 a scale of considerable magnitude. If it was proved 

 that a-neglected, exhausted farm, embracing a vari- 

 ety of soils, with uplands and lowlands, could be 



