12 a EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



for investigation, and the establishment of the station in a 

 central and easily accessible location in the principal market- 

 garden section of the State would bring its work within easy 

 reach of the busy, practical man engaged in the industry, and 

 this as well as trial under varied local conditions is one of the 

 important objects in experimental demonstration. 



Further, the rapid organization of the county leagues and 

 the adoption in these leagues of a carefully considered plan for 

 demonstrations under the supervision of the county agents, who 

 work in close touch with the college and station, will also help. 

 While, therefore, the line of work under consideration might 

 undoubtedly be considerably extended with profitable results, 

 it is perhaps the part of wisdom to allow opportunity for the 

 fuller development of the two movements referred to before 

 asking direct support of local experimental demonstrations. 



Tobacco Groivers' Problems. — The area of land in Massa- 

 chusetts suited to the production of wrapper leaf tobacco is 

 relatively small. The industry under normal conditions has 

 been among the most profitable agricultural specialties in the 

 State. Accordingly there has been a marked tendency to prac- 

 tice continuous culture upon the best tobacco soils. In many 

 cases, though by no means invariably, the crops on such soils 

 have been growing less and less satisfactory for a considerable 

 number of years, until in extreme cases the crop is a practical 

 failure. There has been for some years a growing feeling among 

 tobacco growers that the station should carry on more experi- 

 mental work with a view to helping solve their many problems. 

 We have, it is true, had one of our most competent research 

 men devote the greater part of his time for four or five years to 

 the study of mosaic, which at the time the work was begun 

 seemed to be the most serious disease affecting tobacco; our 

 chemists have studied the composition of a large number of 

 tobacco soils with a view to determining whether the condition 

 known as "tobacco sickness" could be connected with the 

 systems followed in the use of manures and fertilizers; and we 

 have carried on a considerable number of other lines of experi- 

 ment. Although we believe we have thrown some light upon 

 it, we have not, however, solved the problem of greatest in- 

 terest to growers, namely, how to correct or to prevent "to- 



