446 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
established by the Duke of Bedford at Apsley Guise, where 
experiments of the most elaborate character are being carried 
out. 
In addition to these, experimental plots and gardens have 
been established by several County Councils, and good work is 
being done at some of them ; but as yet they are too few and 
isolated to exercise a material influence upon the advancement of 
horticulture. I am, indeed, persuaded that they will not give 
an adequate return until they are brought into close touch with 
each other, and joining hands engage in experiments which, to 
be useful, must be conducted over a wide area, and consequently 
under divergent conditions of soil and climate. To bring the 
experimental plots belonging to County Councils into union, to 
formulate the experiments to be conducted on them, and to 
collate and prepare the results for publication, must of necessity 
be the work of some central body; and I submit that it is work 
in which the Boyal Horticultural Society might engage with 
advantage to itself and to the whole horticultural community. 
The Society would, I believe, be perfectly willing to undertake 
the work if the County Councils would only consent to be 
guided thereby. 
When we turn to the Continent and the United States we 
find a different state of things, for in several of the Continental 
countries and in America, numerous experimental stations have 
been formed, and are maintained chiefly (often entirely) at the 
cost of the respective Governments. These stations are the 
most numerous in the United States, and it may be of interest 
to mention that by an Act passed by Congress in 1887 an 
annual sum of about .€8,000 was appropriated to a separate 
department of each aided agricultural college, which the statute 
directs shall be called an Agricultural Experiment Station. But 
as the cultivation of fruits, flowers, and vegetables, for com¬ 
mercial purposes, is regarded in America as part of the farmer’s 
business, these stations are as interesting to the horticulturist 
as to the agriculturist. As the result of this Act there are 
now fifty-four of these stations, with a staff of nearly 500 
persons, of whom 115 are chemists, fifty-nine horticulturists, 
thirty-six entomologists, and thirty-six botanists. In many 
instances the annual grant from the Federal Government is 
augmented by grants from the State in which the station is 
