EXPERIMENT STATION. 423 



the remainder, according to particular location, either general 

 farm crops, or utilize them as permanent meadows. 



The area occupied by field experiments upon the old grounds 

 has been considerably enlarged. The number of separate fields 

 has been increased ; their outlines have been established 

 with a view to permanency, wherever the soil has attained a 

 desirable uniformity as far as its state of cultivation, as well as 

 the condition and character of its latent resources of plant food 

 are concerned. To secure the latter condition as soon as 

 practicable, one and the same mixture of manurial matter — 

 ground bones and muriate of potash — has been used since the 

 establishment of the Station, whenever a general good state of 

 fertilization was needed in the interest of success. Four 

 distinct fields, each more than once acre in size, have been thus 

 far set oflF to serve, if necessary, for years, for some definite 

 line of observations. The experimental work carried on in 

 the barn, the field and the laboratory during the past year is 

 described in the subsequent pages under the following head- 

 ings : — 



1. Experiments with milch cows to ascertain the feeding value of 

 corn stover as a substitute for English hay, and that of corn ensilage 

 as compared with beet roots. 



2. Analyses of fodder articles with reference to their nutritive 

 value, accompanied by a short exposition of the leading principles- 

 recognized as the basis for determining the comparative feeding value 

 of our fodder articles in a rational system of stock feeding. 



3. Analyses of some prominent feed stuffs, with reference to the 

 fertilizing constituents they contain. 



4. On the best condition of fodder corn for the silo. 



5. Fodder corn raised on underdrained and exhausted lands, partly 

 manured with one single article of plant food, partly without the use 

 of any manurial matter. 



6. Influence of fertilizers on the quantity and the quality of some 

 prominent crops, — corn and four grasses. 



7. Experiments with some prominent fodder crops to furnish a 

 continuous supply of green fodder for dairy stock, — oats, vetch, 

 serradella and Southern pea vines. 



8. Experiments with potatoes. 



9. Miscellaneous field experiments. 



10. Fertilizers and fertilizer analyses; miscellaneous analyses. 



11. Well water anal^'ses. 



12. Meteorolosical observations. 



