406 BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 



Suitable rooms have been secured in the chemical depart- 

 ment of the State Agricultural College for the accommoda- 

 tion of the chemist of the station and his assistants. These 

 apartments have been supplied with gas for illumination, and 

 especially for heating purposes. The gas is made from gas- 

 oline and air, and the works for its production have been 

 constructed under a special contract by direction of the 

 committee appointed by the Board for that purpose. The 

 gasworks and burners are substantial, and the gas produced 

 is of a good and serviceable quality for the various opera- 

 tions for which it is designed. It is estimated that one 

 thousand cubic feet of gas will not exceed one dollar in cost. 

 Two gas-burning stoves, for elementary analysis, are still 

 among the wants seriously felt in this connection. As the 

 ordinary gas-burning stoves require alterations to use the 

 gas produced by gasoline, an expenditure of from seventy 

 to seventy-five dollars will still be necessary to provide the 

 chemical laboratory with an indispensable outfit for quantita- 

 tive analytical work of first importance. Some chemical 

 apparatus and a limited quantity of chemicals, to meet the 

 first requirements of the laboratory, were secured from the 

 stock of the State college and such other sources as could be 

 bad without cash payment. 



I felt also obliged to engage, since Nov. 15, 1882, an 

 experienced graduate of the college, Joseph L. Hills of Bos- 

 ton, of the class of '81, who, since his graduation, has pur- 

 sued a post-graduate course in the chemical department of 

 the college, to assist in the chemical laboratory ; his services 

 have been secured until the first of February, 1883, at a 

 compensation of five dollars per week. A larger supply of 

 chemicals and of apparatus for general chemical operations 

 has just been received. The chemical laboratory is thus 

 supplied for from four to six months hence, with such 

 materials as are daily needed to carry on its ordinary work 

 without any serious interruption. The bills covering these 

 transactions are enclosed and are accompanied with a com- 

 piled statement of the various items. 



