NovENfBEu 23, 1883.] 



SCIENCE. 



687 



more important data in use in the computa- 

 tion of efficiency, etc. Tlie book is likclj' to 

 prove very useful to engineers engaged in tliis 

 department of construction. 



NEW-YORK AGRICULTURAL STATION. 



First annual report of the board of control of the New- 

 York slate experiment-station, for the year 18S2. 

 Transmitted to the legislature, March 6, 18SS. 

 Albany, Weed, Parsons, and company, pr., 1883. 

 156 p. 8°. 



The rapid multiplication of agricultural ex- 

 periment-stations in. this country during the 

 last few years has been one of the most en- 

 couraging signs of the times to those who have 

 at heart the advancement of agricultural sci- 

 ence, and the application of I'ational and scien- 

 tific methods to the prosecution of a calling 

 which has contributed, and will in the future 

 contribute, so much to our national welfare. 

 Since the establishment of the first state ex- 

 periment-station, somewhat more than sisj'ears 

 ago, their number has steadily increased, until 

 now there are seven such stations, besides 

 some half-dozen institutions which are experi- 

 ment-stations in fact, though not in name. 

 Those who are familiar with the gaiu which 

 has accrued to agriculture through the work 

 of such stations in other countries cannot but 

 be solicitous tliat the movement in our own 

 land shall be wiselj- guided, and that every 

 new station shall have a high ideal as regards 

 the kind and ([uality of its work. 



The first report of the New-York state experi- 

 ment-station is worth}' of more than a passing 

 notice, for the reason, if no other, that it seems 

 to enunciate a view of the duties of an experi- 

 ment-station. 



If we correctly apprehend the introductory 

 paragraphs of Dr. Sturtevant's report, he holds 

 tiiat an expeiimeut-station, or at least the 

 station of which he is director, should select 

 chiefly so-called ' practical ' subjects for inves- 

 tigation ; that is, as we understand it, subjects 

 pertaining to the art rather than to the science 

 of agriculture. This view has evidently been 

 put in practice during 1882. Thus a large 

 amount of work has been done in testing the 

 comparative value of divers varieties of field 

 and garden plants. Fifty-eight varieties of 

 garden-beans have been grown ; their times of 

 vegetating, blooming, becoming edible, ripen- 

 ing, the number and weight of seeds produced 

 per plant, etc., noted ; and a detailed descrip- 

 tion of the botanical characters of each variety' 

 prepared. Many varieties of other garden- 

 seeds have been compared in a similar man- 



ner ; and the same is true of several varieties of 

 m;iize, oats, and barley. Other subjects of a 

 similar character are, the value, as seed, of 

 butt and of tip kernels of maize, of whole po- 

 tatoes aud single eyes various!}' cut, of level 

 and of ridge culture for potatoes, etc. We 

 would not be understood as implying that all 

 the work of the station is of this character, but 

 it is plain that the tendency has been in this 

 direction. The institution has been in many 

 respects more ncarl}' what is generally under- 

 stood b}' an experimental farm than an experi- 

 ment-station. 



That the director of the New-York station 

 should hold a view of the duties of an ex- 

 periment-station ditfering from that generally 

 entertained is, of course, no ground for adverse 

 criticism, except in so far as it tends to ob- 

 scure the signification of the name. Neitlier 

 can it be claimed tliat the work done has not 

 been well done, or is not useful ; though we 

 venture to think that much of such work must 

 generally be published cither too earl}' to allow 

 of its being properly verified, or too late to 

 be of much service. What we object to is the 

 deliberate and avowed adoption, by the largest 

 and most liberally supported of the American 

 stations, of what seems to us a low view of its 

 duties to its constituents and to science, — a 

 view which fosters the demand, on the part of 

 the public, for a species of cheap experiments, 

 easily and rapidly made, and of little perma- 

 nent value. 



An agricultural experiment-station exists 

 for the purpose of investigating the applica- 

 tions of natural science to agriculture. It is 

 primarily a scientific institution, concerning 

 itself with the science and not with the art of 

 agriculture, and, in our opinion, can only at- 

 tain to the best and most enduring success 

 wlien it keeps this fact steadily in view, and 

 devotes its energies mainly to the discovery of 

 new truths, and the verification of old hypoth- 

 eses, in the science of agriculture. That a 

 lower aim will prove more popular need hardly 

 be said ; and, since public institutions exist by 

 popular favor, that favor must lie secured in 

 some way. Moreover, it is impossible to draw 

 an exact line between experiments' which ad- 

 vance the science aud those which advance 

 the art. At the same time, fully admitting 

 that the work of an experiment-station ought 

 to be guided by tlie desires of its constituents to 

 a certain extent, we hold that it is equally 

 its duty to guide and educate public opiniou 

 to tiie point of supporting it in undertaking 

 work of scientific value. 



We urge this, not simply because of the 



