Ill 



r.-c,-ived their training in the great European laboratories, where they were students 

 ..i 1. it-big, Fn-enius, \'oit, Hoffman, and Pasteur, and they have planted in this 

 country tin- see. I of true agricultural research. Most of the older members have 

 relinquished their labors, and the work of the society may now be said to be in the 

 hands < >i the second generation, "who, it is hoped, will meet with as much success and 



r tin- sain*- spirit and ideals. 



( Jri.u'inally agricultural chemists were in a way self-educated. They secured what 

 kno\\ -led ire they could of general and analytical chemistry and then applied it to the 

 .- -ilutii.il ii agricultural problems. Naturally the work was largely analytical. "What 



hi- -ul.-tance contain? " was and is to-day the quest of the chemist. During the 



i'.-\v years, however, the domains of agricultural chemistry have been greatly 

 enlarged and then- is probably now no other branch of chemistry that calls for so wide 

 a i raining. Organic, inorganic, industrial, physical, physiological, and sanitary 

 cheniM- have definite channels within which their activities are confined, while the 

 agricultural chemi-t mu-i necessarily include in his domain a large portion of all of 

 these. In dealin- with the soil an extended knowledge of both inorganic and organic 

 chemi-try a- well as of physical chemistry is requisite. Our knowledge of soils is 



sarily much restricted because the chemistry of the silicates is so imperfectly 

 under-tood, arid -in the analy-is of plant and animal substances and the interpreta- 

 tion of the n-.-ult- our knowledge is likewise very limited. While the data gained 

 from the aiialy-i- of f..od~tui'f- i- exceedingly valuable, I do not believe that it is as 

 much BO as it i.- de-tMted to be, and while chemistry is one of the most useful of the 



es in the -nidy f agricultural problems, it is capable of being made still more 



valuable and u-eful. 



One of the chief fum -tii.il- of the agricultural chemist is to correctly analyze agri- 

 cultural prod uc t<. In order to do thin methods of analysis based upon rational prin- 

 ciple- mu-t l.i- devised, and Jhi- is one of the principal features of the work of this 

 association. It is scarcely necessary for me to dwell upon its importance. Correct 

 method-, of analy-i-i are essential, as without these chemistry would be entitled to no 

 hiu'ht rrank than alch.-my I do not believe that the importance of the development 

 methods for the analysis of agricultural products is as fully appreciated by 

 ion workers a- it -hould be. A large amount of the work that has been 

 don, u ,1. -tined to !> di- redited and discarded because of errors in methods employed. 

 j.erirncnt -tat ions have been too impatient to secure immediate results 

 and have not paid -utHcieiit attention to methods of investigation. The study of the 

 method- f'ranaly-i id agricultural products can well be continued as the 



promiiH-nt feature of this organization. 



With the advance that i- I.eini: made in general science and the greater recognition 

 i agriculture, more extended provision should be made for the education and 

 training >i the pn>spe. live agricultural chemist. There are many institutions that 

 offer \< client four-year ..tir-es in chemical engineering and other branches of chem- 

 i-try leading to degrees. I know of no American institution where such a course is 

 D in a-ri ultural chemistry. lias not the time arrived for the establishment, in 

 some of our institutions of courses of study having for their object the training of agri- 

 cultural chemist-.' Certainly the importance and magnitude of the field would sug- 

 gest the need of such courses. I shall not discuss the subjects that could most 

 !y form a part of the curriculum, but there should be a correlation of the 

 different s. -fences Mended with general and technical chemistry. As matters now 

 stand, it >- Jem-rally necessary for an experiment station to secure as assistants 

 yoiini; hemi.-ts who have had but little training in analytical chemistry and give 

 them special training in agricultural analysis. The experiment stations have to 

 train their own assistants and by the time they have become reasonably proficient 

 another institution or some industry offers a higher salary and then new assistants 

 must be initiated, the process in some cases being repeated several times a year. Our 



