THE EXPERIMENT STATION 95 



due to general or special depletion of fertility; to ob- 

 serve the relative values of different forms of the most 

 important elements of plant-food and their effect in 

 improving the growth of different farm crops. For 

 example, he sought to ascertain the value of different 

 forms of phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potash, and 

 their specific effects on the yield and, whenever pos- 

 sible, upon the quality of fodder crops, vegetables, and 

 fruits. 



He used the chemical laboratory, not so much to 

 study fundamental chemical problems, as to ascertain 

 the proximate chemical composition of soils, of ferti- 

 lizers and by-products having a manurial value, of 

 cattle feeds, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. 

 Such data were very scanty at the time and it was 

 necessary to secure them as a basis for future work. 



In addition to descriptions of his own experiments, 

 one finds in the various reports of the Experiment 

 Station brief papers explaining the scientific principles 

 underlying the subject. He had read thoroughly the 

 works of the German, French, and English investiga- 

 tors, and he was thus able to present to his readers 

 the most advanced views of the day on the problem 

 under consideration. 



One can readily see that the many practical prob- 

 lems confronting him on every side, together with the 

 lack of appreciation of strictly scientific inquiry by 

 many of the farmers of the day, prevented him from 

 undertaking any very fundamental research work. He 

 was of necessity a pioneer in the cause of agricultural 

 investigation. If, at the present time, at the age of 



