VI MAINE STATE COLLEGE. 



results of one hundred and twelve feeding experiments made by 

 American stations. As before stated, many of these results were 

 put into the desired form by the stations making the experiments, 

 but considerably more than half of them were worked up in this 

 oHice from the original data. Moreover, a large part of the 

 exhibit itself has been prepared here. All of this required my 

 personal attention. I make the above statements as an explana- 

 tion why that line of experimental work in which I am immedi- 

 ately interested has been to some extent neglected. 



Inspection oi' Fektilizeus. 



As in previous years, the time of the station force has in part 

 been devoted to the inspection of fertilizers. There is a fair 

 prospect that this will not again be done at the expense of the 

 funds supplied by the United States Government. It now appears 

 probable that the Legislature soon to meet will be asked to enact 

 a law which will provide for the expense of this inspection either 

 l)y direct appropriation from the State, or by requiring a license 

 fee from fertilizer manufacturers doing business in the State. 

 The movement in this direction has the approval of mem])ers of 

 the Board of Agriculture and of others who understand the 

 exegencies of the case. 



Work in Plant Nutkition. 



Through you I desire to urge upon the attention of the Board of 

 Trustees a proposed enlargement of our work in plant nutrition. 

 Since the establishment of the Experiment Station under the pro- 

 visions of the Hatch Act, the experiments and investigations in 

 plant feeding have been under the immediate charge of Prof. 

 Baleutine. He has attempted to reach beneficial results through 

 field experiments on the College Farm, through experiments con- 

 ducted by farmers in different parts of the State, and through more 

 or less experimentation in pots with a view to a more exact work 

 than can be done in the field. 



It is very evident and has been for some time that not only are' 

 the errors of field experimentation very large, but that the use- 

 fulness of this method of work is limited to the testing of theories 

 as to the correct methods of maintaining fertility. An exact 

 study of the fact and principles of plant nutrition must be ac- 

 complished by some other method. It is a noticable fact that 

 American Experiment Stations are giving comparatively little 



