AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. Ill 



DIRECTOR'S REPORT. 



M. C. Femald, Ph.D., President Maine State College: 



Sir — A report of the work of the Maine Experiment Station for 

 the year 1890 is herewith submitted. The nature of the work 

 which this Experiment Station is undertaking to do is best under- 

 stood by a reference to the subject matter of this report. A 

 glance at the table of contents very clearly shows that the time 

 and attention of the Station force have been occupied by matters 

 directly related to practical agriculture. Moreover, it is found by 

 the treasurer's report that the large item of expenditure outside 

 the funds devoted to the payment of salaries, is for the mainte- 

 nance of field and feeding experiments, these being of necessity 

 practical in their character. If any other assurance is needed that 

 the Station is working along the lines which would be commended 

 by the good judgment of the farmers themselves, it is only neces- 

 sary to point to the constitution of the Station Council. Of the 

 six gentlemen connected with that Council who are not members of 

 the Station staff, five are directly and intimately associated with 

 the agricultural interests of the State, and as from this Council 

 proceed largely the suggestions which control the work of the 

 Station, it is safe to assume that under present conditions, the 

 Station will not drift into lines of experiment and investigation 

 purely theoretical and scientific that stand in a remote relation to 

 agricultural interests. 



It is deemed wise, however, and rightfully, that more or less 

 time shall be given to a study of those principles which underlie 

 all the operations of the farm, and of which we have still far too 

 scanty a knowledge. Some of the mistakes from which practical 

 agriculture still suffers might be avoided by the proper use of facts 

 already known, but there are other errors which will undoubtedly 

 be avoided by a better understanding of facts which we now see 

 but dimly, and a knowledge of facts of which we are now ignorant. 



Fertilizer Inspection. 



The annual inspection of fertilizers is still carried on by this 

 Station, although no State appropriation is made to the Station for 

 that purpose. The United States officials are certainly giving a very 



