40 REPOKT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



W. M. Liggett, dean of the College of Agriculture of the Univer- 

 sity of Minnesota, read a paper on the value of short courses, in which 

 he described the different courses in agriculture given in Minnesota, 

 and stated that he considered the short courses valuable adiuncts to 

 the longer courses. 



Hon. J. H. Brigharn, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, spoke of 

 the short courses as a means not only of giving valuable instruction to 

 farmers, but also of bringing about more cordial relations between 

 the agricultural colleges and farmers. In his judgment " the best way 

 to secure the support of farmers is to let them come to the college, 

 even for a short time, and see that you are trying to do good.' 1 



In the section on agriculture and chemistry considerable time was 

 given to a consideration of the question to what extent the Department 

 of Agriculture and the experiment stations may profitably cooperate 

 in the study of grass and forage plant problems, and the lines of work 

 which are likely to yield the most important results. Prof. B. T. 

 Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, gave a brief history 

 of the cooperative forage-plant work of the Department and the 

 stations. He expressed his opinion that the success of the movement 

 depended on grouping the stations with reference to the problems to be 

 solved in different sections of the countiy, and devising a working 

 plan for each group. The following lines of work were suggested: 

 (1) The introduction of crops from foreign countries; (2) growing and 

 disseminating introduced crops after they have become in a measure 

 established; (3) dissemination of native crops of local value; (4) breed- 

 ing crops for certain conditions; and (5) increasing production by 

 improved cultural methods. Prof. R. H. Forbes, director of the 

 Arizona Experiment Station, described the grass and forage crop con- 

 ditions of that Territory, and gave an account of the cooperative 

 investigations carried on there. These investigations have for their 

 object the improvement of the ranges through the exclusion of live 

 stock, the sowing and harrowing in of seeds of native plants, the 

 introduction of new forage plants suited to the arid region, and the 

 construction of small embankments for holding the storm water. As 

 conducted for two years on a reserve of 350 acres they have given 

 promising results. Prof. F. Lamson-Scribner, Agrostologist of the 

 Department of Agriculture, gave an account of the cooperative work 

 under his direction, which includes arrangements with 17 experiment 

 stations. Among other subjects discussed in this section were the 

 problems of irrigation in humid regions, plant breeding, and artificial 

 plant-food requirements of different soils. 



In the report of the section on horticulture and botany the marked 

 strengthening of advanced courses in these subjects in colleges was 

 pointed out. The demand for especially qualified men in horticulture 

 was stated to be greater than the supply. There has recently been 



