THIED AE"]^UAL EEPOET 



DIRECTOE OF THE STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT 

 STATION AT AMHERST, MASS. 



To the Honorable Board of Control. 



Gentlemen : — The history of the third year of actual 

 work at the Experiment Station shows some progress in 

 various directions. The recently increased appropriation by 

 the State has rendered it an easier task than heretofore to 

 secure a reasonable success of the new institution. 



Desirable changes and improvements in the fitting up of 

 the various farm buildings for special purposes, as well as a 

 more thorough system of general cultivation of the entire 

 area of land at the disposal of the Station, can at present be 

 better attended to ; and the subjects for investigation may 

 hereafter be chosen, in part at least, more freely with refer- 

 ence to immediate practical utility, and in such directions as 

 the interest of the farming community may point out. 



The plans for experiments which were from time to time 

 during the past year submitted to your consideration for 

 endorsement have been carried out to the full extent of the 

 temporary means on hand. Feeding experiments with milch 

 cows and with pigs have been carried on without much in- 

 terruption during the entire year. One experiment with 

 cows, extending over a period of six months, to test the 

 feeding value of corn ensilage as compared with other cus- 

 tomary ingredients of a suitable winter diet for dairy stock, 

 and one experiment with pigs to ascertain the relative feed- 

 ing effect of skim milk and creamery buttermilk, when fed 

 in connection with corn meal, are farther on reported. Others 

 not yet fully finished will be published in due time. 



