PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS, 1923. 



A Report of the Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural 

 Experiment Station for the Year 1923, Including a Financial 

 Statement for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1923. 



The fundamental need of new research — jmrticularly of soil investigations 

 throughout the state — which was outlined in the last annual report of the 

 New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, has become more apparent 

 during the past year — so much so that I am tempted to dwell upon it at once 

 before reporting on the work in the various projects. 



It is undoubtedly true that the next decade is to see radical changes in the 

 state's agricultural industry. The volume of business has been too small on 

 tlie average New Hampshire farm to compete with modern production. On 

 the other hand, the nearness to market and the cheapness of land seem in- 

 evitable causes of expansion in certain regions. New economic conditions de- 

 mand a thorough understanding of the resources of the state; and pei'haps in 

 no respect is tlie problem so complex and so difficult as in regard to the soil 

 types and requirements. 



The glacial action which determined the character of New Hampshire left 

 the state with a variety of soils. The response of these soils to various crops 

 and to varying fertilizer treatments can be determined, but it can be deter- 

 mined only by careful scientific research. Experimental plots at Durham 

 .suffice only for the particular types of soil found there; they are not a true 

 criterion for the intervale land of the two big river valleys of the state, the 

 upland soils of the interior, nor the warm hillsides of the lake region. Nor 

 are general farm practices or extension demonstrations a sound guide here. 

 This is a time when farm practice is shifting; and. the question itself is to 

 wliat foundation the shift should be made. Extension demonstrations are 

 valuable as lessons of truth already learned; but the plain fact is that some 

 of our most important soil-and-crop problems have not yet been satisfactorily 

 solved. They can be solved, in our judgment, only by a thorough-going system 

 of plat woi"k conducted in representative areas, and carefully supervised over a 

 period of years. It is exceedmgly unfortunate that such work has already been 

 overdelayed by lack of additional funds. 



The importance of these investigations has been strikingly shown during 

 the past year in the survey which the Experiment Station has been conducting 

 of the lime sources of the state. It has not been commonly realized that any 

 of the soils were of limestone origin; yet in tracing the outcroppings of lime 

 along some of the ridges of the Connecticut Valley, the influence of the deposits 

 on the lowlands near the river is very strongly suggested. Such an influence 

 is bound to be an important factor to weigh in recommendations for agricul- 

 tural practice in that region. This is only an instance of what soil investiga- 

 tions should mean. 



By instituting experimental plat work in typical areas a considerable saving 

 in time, as well as efficiency, could be effected over the present process. It is 

 now necessary- to make experiments at the University and then to repeat them 



