148 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and, what is better still, send your sons, in order that they 

 may have an opportunity to secure what is better for them 

 than a legacy of silver or gold, — a liberal education. 



II. — The Experiment Stations. 



I think we shall best be able to form somewhat of an idea 

 of how the experiment stations of our State have been a 

 benefit to the farmer, if we attempt to consider some of the 

 most important work in which they have been engaged. 

 Until recently there have been two stations in the town 

 of Amherst, — the State station, situated on the college 

 grounds but having no direct connection with it, and the 

 Hatch station, established by the United States and consti- 

 tuting a part of the college proper. Time will not permit 

 us to consider the work of the two stations separately, and 

 for our purpose this is not necessary. Their work, taken 

 collectively, can be divided into three parts : (a) control 

 work, (6) information, (c) investigation. 



Control Work. 



The work of exercising an official control over the sale of 

 commercial fertilizers was at first in charge of an inspector, 

 but a few years later the law was so changed as to vest the 

 power in the director of the State station. Deputies have 

 been sent out each year, who have canvassed the State, and 

 made an effort to collect several samples of each distinct 

 brand of fertilizer placed upon the market. These samples 

 have been analyzed, and the results published, as you are 

 aware, in various bulletins and reports. That this work 

 has been of immense benefit in protecting the farmer 

 against fraud goes without saying ; it has been a safeguard 

 to the honest manufacturer, as well. The law, briefly 

 stated, compels the manufacturer to guarantee what he 

 sells and to sell what he guarantees. With very few ex- 

 ceptions the law has been strictly obeyed. In addition to 

 this official inspection, the chemical department has re- 

 ceived from formers of the State a great variety of all kinds 

 of material for analysis. This material consisted of crude 



