378 BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. 



farmers' interests in Massachusetts will see that suitable 

 laws are speedily enacted to regulate the sale of commercial 

 feed stuffs, and thus protect the farmer and every other man 

 who keeps a horse or cow or pig. 



The laws irovernino; the trade in the various fertilizers and 

 fodders are scmiewhat different in different sections of Ger- 

 many. As a rule, every man who buys a certain quan- 

 tity of fertilizer or grain has the privilege granted him 

 of sending a sample of the goods ])urchased to be analyzed 

 at the station. Sometimes the local dealer is allowed to do 

 this l^y the manufacturer ; at other times the cost of analy- 

 sis is borne by the local dealer himself. Very often large 

 dealers and manufacturers make contracts with experiment 

 stations, whereby they are allowed to have a certain number 

 of analyses made for a specified sum. Many of the sta- 

 tions encourage the farmers to clul^ together and ])urchase 

 their goods in large quantities from first hands, thus saving 

 money, and at the same time securing goods fully u}) to the 

 guarantee. These methods of control have their advantages, 

 in that they hv'ing the farmer into close connection with the 

 station, and cause him to pay attention to guarantee and 

 general composition, as well as to price. It would seem, on 

 the other hand, to leave in a large measure the small farmer 

 unprotected. 



AVhcnthe German investigator has obtained results of value, 

 he publishes them as a rule in one of the numerous scientific 

 ao-ricultural iournals in which the German lan<»:uao-e abounds. 

 He is bound by no law in the matter, the articles are in 

 scientific lano-uase, and I fancy but few other than scicn- 

 tific men, broadly educated agriculturists and agricultural 

 editors, read them. Ver}' often a synopsis of the work 

 accom})lislied is presented in popular form in the local 

 agricultural papers. Here I think we in many respects 

 have l)etter methods. The Massachusetts State Experiment 

 Station, for example, by means of its bulletins, sends infor- 

 mation directly into the homes of ten thousand Massachu- 

 setts farmers. Still, I believe our American stations have 

 not even yet reached perfection. I have often thought that 

 many of the bulletins ])ublished l)y the different stations 

 were just scientific enough to l)lind the farmer, and not 



