20 a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



moreover, is private in its nature; it is in the interest of in- 

 dividuals and not in the interest of the public ; and it is doubt- 

 ful whether, therefore, it is a proper function of the experi- 

 ment station. Special trips for the examination of farms or 

 tracts of land will not, therefore, be undertaken. We do con- 

 stantly advise in relation to farm problems which are clearly 

 and definitely brought before us, and members of the station 

 staif make many visits to farms, orchards, gardens and hot- 

 houses for the study of important problems when the solution 

 is likely to be of public as well as of private interest. 



Station Literature. — It appears to be generally thought that 

 the station is prepared to furnisli comprehensive manuals on 

 all subjects related to rural life. We constantly receive re- 

 quests which begin : " Please send me your book, or your 

 treatise, on ," and such subjects as potatoes, corn, straw- 



berries, asparagus, cranberry culture, soils, drainage, etc. fol- 

 low. The preparation of such manuals involves compilation 

 rather than investigation. It is the latter for which the station 

 is maintained. If distribution of such manuals is a proper 

 function of any branch of an agricultural college it is that of 

 tbe extension department rather than of the station. The station 

 is not a publishing house. It is true that in connection with the 

 report of the results of investigations it sometimes seems best to 

 outline existing conditions, practices and opinions. In so far as 

 this assists in correlating new results with earlier practice it is 

 legitimate in a station publication, and some of our publica- 

 tions, therefore, may be valuable as a fairly comprehensive gen- 

 eral guide to practice, but funds placed at the disposal of the 

 station for investigation should not be, and are not, used for 

 the preparation of exhaustive manuals. 



CONTROL WORK. 



No change has been made in either of the control laws with 

 the execution of which the experiment station is charged. The 

 regular inspections of fertilizers, feeds and dairy apparatus 

 have been carried out without incidents requiring special men- 

 tion. The amount of this work steadily increases, especially 



