52 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. ICJOO. 



THE WORK OF THE STATION. 



While the Station carries on co-operative work, such as 

 orcharding, blueberry culture, and field experiments with 

 farmers in different parts of the State, most of its work of inves- 

 tigation is from necessity, carried on in its own laboratories, 

 greenhouses, barns and fields. Its special investigations have 

 been along the lines of the nutrition of plants, the nutrition of 

 animals (including man), and injurious insects and fungi. 



SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT INVESTIGATIONS AND THEIR 



RESULTS. 



Detailed accounts of the work of the Station have been given 

 in its publications ; nevertheless it seems appropriate to briefly 

 summarize some of the leading experiments and the results 

 obtained. In thus doing no reference is made to the report or 

 bulletin in which they were described. The report of 1896 con- 

 tains a general index to all the publications prior to January, 

 1897, and the three later reports are each indexed. If any one 

 cares to look up the original papers, they can in this way be 

 readily found. 



FERTILIZATION OF FLOWERS,, WITH REFERENCE TO THE 

 SECONDARY EFFECTS OF POLLINATION. 



The subjects receiving particular attention thus far are (1) 

 the immediate influence of pollen on the mother plant; (2) stim- 

 ulating action of pollen and the effects of varying amounts; (3) 

 agamic development of fruit. 



Results: (1) Within certain restricted limits there is an 

 immediate influence of pollen on the mother plant. The most 

 important plants showing this influence are the pea, the kidney 

 bean, and Indian corn. Sweet corn shows the immediate influ- 

 ence of foreign pollen more frequently than do the other races 

 of corn. Cucurbitaceous and solanaceous plants have never 

 been found to exhibit such influence. There appears to be no 

 relation between the amount of pollen produced by a plant and 

 the amount required for fecundation. In some species, notably 

 the egg-plant, the bean, and the cucumber, the ovary developed 

 in the entire absence of pollen ; but in no case where pollen was 



