1910.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 17 



be a certain amount of movement and confusion. Research 

 work side by side with routine control work cannot therefore be 

 made to give the best results. 



Plans for the provision of accommodations needed for re- 

 search work have received the careful attention of the members 

 of the station staff most concerned. It will be necessary, in 

 order to carry out plans which will be at all adequate to our 

 needs, to secure a special appropriation from the Legislature. 



Station Activities. 



Station activities have embraced work along all the different 

 lines mentioned in our last annual report. These lines are 

 experiment, research, dissemination of information and con- 

 trol work. As already pointed out, there has been little change 

 in the amount of practical experimental work during the year. 

 Research work has been somewhat increased, as has also been 

 pointed out. In the lines of work which come under the head 

 of dissemination of information there has been comparatively 

 little change during the year, although some heads of depart- 

 ments have called attention to the fact that, since the organiza- 

 tion of an extension department in the college, there is a slight 

 decrease in the number of calls for information coming to the 

 station. This has been noticeable chiefly in the number of 

 letters of inquiry. It must be regarded as desirable, from the 

 standpoint of station efficiency, that the members of the station 

 staff should be relieved as far as may seem possible of the neces- 

 sity of doing routine extension work. Such relief will mean 

 more time and energy for investigational work, which must be 

 regarded as the most important function of the experiment 

 station. 



The amount of control work during the past year has been 

 greater than in any j^revious year. The increase has been due 

 chiefly to the fact that a greater number of samples of fertilizers 

 have been collected and a greater number of analyses of fertili- 

 zers carried out. 



Attention is called to the fact that three of our neighboring 

 N^ew England States have seed laws. These laws must tend to 

 prevent to some extent the sale of inferior seed in these States, 



