80 Experiment Station Report. 



FIELD EXPERIMENTS. 



The Experiment Station has entered already, in its first 

 year of existence, upon a systematic course of experiments 

 to assist in determining the influence, mode of cultivation, 

 of system of manuring, and of stage of growth, on the 

 comparative feeding value of some of our prominent farm 

 crops. 



The results thus far published, although essentially of 

 local interest, deserve more than a passing notice, on account 

 of the scarcity of examinations of a similar character of 

 forage crops raised under quite common circumstances within 

 the limits of the State. 



The significance of the various analytical results will be- 

 come more apparent as the Avork progresses. 



As the character of our soil, and its psirticular state of fer- 

 tility, ought to be better known before a more detailed discus- 

 sion of the connection between soil, season and composition 

 of the crop can be considered profitable, a mere record of 

 the progress of the analytical work is all that can be con- 

 sistently published at the present stage of the investigation. 



Aside from the trials with some of our standard forage 

 crops, there have been also inaugurated experiments with 

 the cultivation of reputed forage crops of other localities 

 and countries, to test their adaptability to our soil and 

 climate. The successful introduction of a greater variety of 

 valuable fodder crops, promises to furnish a wider range of 

 fodder-substances, as far as their relative, as well as absolute, 

 nutritive value is concerned, a circumstance not less accept- 

 able to our agricultural industry than it has proved else- 

 where. The best interests of the dairy business call for an 

 efficient protection against a serious periodical influence of 

 drought on the yield of meadows and pastures. The culti- 

 vation of fodder crops, growing upon difierent kinds of soil, 



