farm animals. Estrogen is the female 

 sex hormone; coumestrol is a plant 

 estrogen. P. A. Wright, an endocri- 

 nologist in the zoology department, 

 and graduate student W. W. Leavitt, in 

 research partially supported by 

 U.S.D.A. regional research funds, de- 

 termined that pure coumestrol had the 

 effect of blocking anterior pituitary 

 gonadotropic function. It caused uter- 

 ine growth, however, prior to inhibit- 

 ing release of the gonadotropin from 

 the pituitary. 



Analytical Services 



In the year 1900 F. W. Morse, chemist 

 and Vice Director of the Experiment 

 Station, reported that "several lots of 

 poultry foods had been analyzed dur- 

 ing the last two years for protein, fat 

 and fiber. Five of seven were meat and 

 bone meal, one was meat scraps and 

 the last was ground dried fish" (Sta- 

 tion Bulletin No. 79). Thus began a 

 service supported in part by the Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station. Forty- 

 eight years later H. A. Davis became 

 chemist in charge of the Analytical 



Services Laboratory in the Station, 

 having begun analysis work in the 

 Department of Agricultural and Bio- 

 logical Chemistry in 1932. His respon- 

 sibility was to supervise testing of 

 feeds, fertilizers, soils and seeds and 

 report the results of these tests to the 

 New Hampshire Commissioner of Ag- 

 riculture annually. Thousands of such 

 samples are tested each year. 



In 1965 Davis and W. E. Urban. Jr., 

 Station Statistician, published in the 

 Journal of the Association of Official 

 Agricultural Chemists a paper entitled 

 "Determination of Total Nitrogen in 

 Fertilizers." Five methods for analysis 

 of total nitrogen in fertilizers were 

 submitted to collaborators in 12 labo- 

 ratories. The study covered several 

 years' data. Appropriate, modern sta- 

 tistical methods were used to assess 

 the importance of three factors — years, 

 techniques, and samples — and their 

 interactions. Although no one method 

 was "best," they recommended that 

 the "chromium powder" technique be 

 adopted as official and that two others 

 be studied further. 



54 



