ANNUAL EEPOET 



DIRECTOR OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERI- 

 MENT STATION AT AMHERST, MASS. 



To the Hojiorable Board of Control. 



Gentlemen: — I h;ive the honor to present herewith 

 respectfully the Annual Reports. 



The real estate rented from the trustees of the Massachu- 

 setts Agricultural College consists of one dwelling house for 

 offices and collection rooms, one barn with stables for stock- 

 feeding experiments, and nineteen acres of land for field 

 experiments. A few rooms set apart in the chemical depart- 

 ment of the college serve as a laboratory for the execution 

 of the chemical work of the station. The reconstruction of 

 the buildiugs accepted by the Board has been devised and 

 conducted by the committee appointed for that purpose ; 

 namely, the President of the college and Mr. Hadwen. The 

 refitting of the barn and stables for stock-feeding experi- 

 ments has been under the personal supervision of Professor 

 M. Miles, and in the main according to plans of his sub- 

 mitted for consideration to the committee on buildings. A 

 detailed description of this work, with illustrations, will be 

 found in his report to the Secretary of the Board. The 

 supervision of the field work has been divided between Prof. 

 Miles and Prof. Maynard. To the former has been assigned 

 sixteen acres in the vicinity of the farm buildings of the 

 station ; to the latter three acres near the plant-house in the 

 botanical department of the college. 



The field work of the station during its first year of 

 active operations has been in several directions, and for 

 obvious reasons of a preparatory character. 



As the lands secured from the college consisted largely of 

 grass land, of some pieces of winter grain — wheat — and 



