12 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



Lines of Wouk. 

 There have been no important changes in the general charac- 

 ter of station work dnring the year, althongh in scope and 

 amonnt it constantly increases. It includes general experi- 

 ments both on the home grounds and at substations as well as 

 in co-oi)eration with farmers, research, police or control work, 

 and dissemination of information. 



Gexekal Experiments. 

 In order to give a general idea of the nature of the work 

 which is being carried on I cannot do better than to quote a 

 statement in the last annual report : — 



Under this head are inchuled a large number of experiments rela- 

 tive to the following subjects: soil tests with fertilizers, with different 

 crops in rotation; comparisons of ditferent materials which may be 

 used as sources, res2)ectively, of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash 

 for different field and garden crops; the results of the use of lime; 

 systems of fertilizing grass lands, both mowings and pastures; com- 

 parisons of fertilizers for both tree and bush fruits; different methods 

 of ai)plying manures; variety tests of field and garden crops and of 

 fruits; trials of new crops; detei'minations of the digestibility of feed- 

 stuffs; methods of feeding for milk; systems and methods of manage- 

 ment in feeding poultry for eggs; and co-operative w'ork wdth selected 

 farmers in the trial of crops and sj^stems of fertilizing them. 



In addition we have two sul)stations where work of a highly 

 diversified character is being carried on, viz., asparagus sub- 

 station in Concord and cranl)erry substation in Wareham. In 

 later pages will be found brief reports on the work in these sub- 

 stations, while a short account (d* the results of our co-operative 

 experiments Mdth alfalfa will be found in Part IT. of this report. 



No full general account or discussion of exi)eriniental work in 

 progress will be given. Brief re])orts on some of tlie general 

 experiments will be found under the dei)artments in which they 

 are being prosecuted. 



Reseakcii. 



The research work in ])rogress at the station is, for the most 



part, carried on under \]iv Adams fund. The work during the 



past year along certain lines has been somewhat interrupted 



owing to the necessity of making extensive additions and iin- 



