REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 



SIDNEY B. HASKELL. 



REVIEW OF THE YEAR. 

 Additions to Station Equipment. 



Through appropriation made by the legislature, the Station this past year was 

 able to supplement its land equipment through the purchase of the farm lying 

 immediately north of its present area. By the vote of the trustees of the College 

 this is to be known as the "William P. Brooks Experimental Farm". It contains 

 about sixty acres of land, most of this being tillable and admirably adapted for 

 experimental work, particularly in the two great crops of the Connecticut Valley 

 — onions and tobacco. It is a cause for gratification that the legislature realized 

 the need, for existing facilities have been taxed to the utmost. 



In addition to the above there is promise of improvement in the Station land 

 equipment in one other direction, this coming about through the offer from the 

 trustees of the will of the late Miss Cornelia Warren of some fifty acres of land in 

 Waltham, for the uses of the College. The trustees of the College have voted to 

 accept the gift and have placed this in the custody of the Experiment Station in 

 expectation of mo\'ing the Market Garden Field Station from Lexington to the 

 new estate in Waltham. This area has two distinct soil types, both of them rela- 

 tively uniform and typical of fairly large areas, and is in many other ways better 

 suited for experimental work in vegetables than is our present location. At the 

 date of making this report the transfer has not yet been finally made, nor has the 

 project been approved by the legislature. It is to be hoped, however, that the 

 change may be made without difficulty. 



The land equipment of the Station may now be considered as complete, save 

 only for two minor projects: the first relating to the purchase of a small area to 

 supplement the equipment of the Cranberry Station; the second of land devoted 

 to pasture experimental work. This last is important to the welfare of the dairy 

 industry; and as soon as land now under the control of the Station is developed 

 for experimental purposes, the project will be formally presented. 



Changes in Organization Policy. 



During the year a number of changes in administrative policy have been made, 

 all of these with the objective of securing greater economy. Through arrange- 

 ments with the treasurer's office, much of the labor of accounting is now removed 

 from the Station office. The mailing lists of Extension Service and Station are now 

 combined, with the work done by the former organization. This is a distinct 

 step in advance, prevents duplication of effort, and through centralization insures 

 lower cost of handling the Station publications. In the publication work itself 

 the size of editions has been greatly reduced, and bulletins are now sent out to 

 but restricted mailing lists or on request only. This eliminates waste circulation 

 and insures, so far as may be possible, maximum returns from publication funds 

 available. Finally, for much of the miscellaneous analytical work formerly done, 

 a charge is now being made for that part which is primarily personal service. 

 Despite the fact that the practice of making free analyses of agricultural products 

 is a custom of long standing, this change has been put into effect with an astonish- 



