Ays. 4 
THS 
Bm'a l topics. 
The Experiment Stations. 
MIS FIB FUTURE WORK. 
SUGGESTIONS FROM THE 
DIFECTORS. 
What the Managers think the 
Farmers ought to learn. 
WHAT THE FARMERS WANT. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. When and liow were the station* organ¬ 
ized ? 
2. What line of experiments is most needed 
in your State ? Will it he better to work 
out a few questions thoroughly than to 
try to take up many topics ? What 
general experiments can you suggest 
that can he profitably worked out by all 
the stations ? 
. JIow shall you proceed to extend the 
circulation of the station bulletins ? 
Our readers are familiar with the history of 
the Hatch bill. This measure provides §687,- 
000 for experimental agriculture. It was a 
piece of legislation designed to benefit the 
farmers of the country. It is very evident 
that the experiment stations organized under 
the provisions of the Hatch bill can never be 
made to do their best work until the farmers 
of the country can be drawn closer to them. 
These stations are on trial. If they cannot do 
work that will lead American agriculture to 
greater dignity and profit there is no reason 
why they should continue to use the public 
funds. They are public educators. It is their 
business to teach principles of agricultural 
science so wisely and so interestingly that the 
masses of the farming public will be glad to 
listen and learn. The Rural wants the 
farmers of the country to know what the 
stations are doing. 
This special number has been prepared that 
the public may know something of the plans 
of these public experimenters in so far as they 
have been developed. These articles are to 
the study of the subsequent work of the 
stations what the introduction is to a valuable 
work on science. The Rural hopes its 
readers are disposed to give the stations what¬ 
ever aid they can. The experiment work can 
be made exceedingly valuable. To make it 
valuable we must have thoughtful manage¬ 
ment and intelligent appreciation. We sug¬ 
gest to farmers that they write to the directors 
of their stations suggesting lines of work that 
they would like to see investigated, or approv 
ing ‘those already decided upon which they 
think valuable. Farmers can do more to 
help the cause in this way than they suppose. 
ANSWER8. 
THE MAINE EXPERIMENT STATION. 
1. The original Maine Fertilizer Control 
and Agricultuial Experiment Station was or¬ 
ganized in Apiil, 1885. The Board of Man¬ 
agement was then separate from that of the 
State Agricultural College. In the winter of 
1886-7, the Legislature repealed this law and 
transferred the control of the station to the 
college under the Hatch bill. We organized 
under the new order of things, on October 1st, 
1887, and the college took the risk of support¬ 
ing the work of the station for three months, 
when it was discontinued till after action of 
Congress appropriating money under the 
Hatch bill. The management of the station 
is not now separate from that of the college. 
2. Our general needs are much like those 
of other New England States. Dairying is 
very important, and questions of feeding and 
management, breeds of dairy cattle, which 
are closely connected with this industry, will 
form a prominent part of our work. We shall 
do as much as we can in testing food rations 
for growth and for milk. The whole question 
of the proper relation in quantity of the food 
ingredients of a ration is important, and so 
far is in a very unsettled condition. We have 
plenty of theories, but thej have not yet been 
sufficiently tested in an exact and severe 
manner. The use of cheaper forms of plant 
food in commercial fertilizers for grass and 
grain production, we are now planning to 
study. We shall have under experimental 
cultivation, within two years, from 15 to 20 
acres of land, involving questions of culture, 
and forms, quantities and mixtures of the va¬ 
rious fertilizers, both commercial and farm. 
We are trying to arouse an interest in 
the question of garden seeds also. A study 
of the breeds of dairy cows could well 
be undertaken by all stations in States 
where dairying is an important industry. 
The few cows that any one station might 
select would not with certainty represent the 
breeds as a whole, but the average results 
of several stations would have great value. 
I would say in general that the States can 
well unite on any co-operative experiments 
in which the conditions can be rendered 
uniform, like feeding experiments such as 
testing rations. At the same time, I am loath 
to suggest that much be done in the way of 
co-operative experimenting. The workers in 
each station will each have a genius for a 
particular line of investigation; each State 
will have its peculiar local needs and prob¬ 
lems, as, for instance, Maine has the sweet- 
corn industry; and so it is probably much 
better to leave each station almost entirely 
free to select its work. 
It does not seem to me well for any one 
station to be studying very many problems 
at any one time. Whatever is undertaken 
should be persevered in until all is learned 
that can be. Problems should be studied 
until a full solution is reached, if possible. 
3. In States where farmers’ institutes are 
held, it is important that the station workers 
should attend them and take part in the dis¬ 
cussions. This will give an opportunity for 
the station experiments to be talked over, and 
farmers will have a much clearer idea of their 
force and value than they could get by simply 
reading about them. Another way in which 
to interest farmers in the station is to make it 
a bureau of information to the greatest prac¬ 
ticable extent. 
My method of working up a mailing list is 
seen in Bulletin No. 21. I sent one of these 
bulletins to the member of the Board of Agri¬ 
culture for each county in the State, and 
asked him to send me a Pst of names for his 
township, and to send me the name of some 
farmer in each of the other townships of his 
county who would be willing to send a similar 
list for his township. In this way I made a 
good beginning, and names have been coming 
in freely ever since. 
This is a State of general farming The 
products for which we get ready cash returns 
are hay, sweet corn, potatoes and butter. We 
also sell some beef and mutton. The whole 
round of prominent agricultural problems is 
involved in the production of these things. 
Out of these problems we shall try to select a 
few, notably those connected with butter pro¬ 
duction, and the use of fertilizers adapted to 
our peculiar crop production. Of course, we 
shall try to help fight injurious insects and 
plant diseases. We have a veterinarian now 
engaged in special studies before entering 
upon his work here. We shall really cover 
quite a wide field, after all. 
ORONO, Me. W. H. JORDAN, DIRECTOR. 
THE VERMONT EXPERIMENT STATION. 
1. Our station was organized Dec. 1, 1886, 
by a grant from the State of Vermont. It is 
in connection with and under the control of 
the management of the University of Ver¬ 
mont and the State Agricultural College. 
2. We shall take up the following classes of 
experiments which seem to be at the present 
time most needed in this State: experiments 
both in the field and laboratory on the hay 
crop, experiments in milk, both in different 
methods of feeding to produce it and in the 
various methods of its manufacture into but¬ 
ter. We shall test some 500 different varie¬ 
ties of vegetables and 200 of fruits. The an¬ 
alyses of fertilizers and fertilizing materials 
will occupy quite a little of the time of the 
laboratory, and as soon as we can get an En¬ 
tomologist we will go actively to work in 
studying the insect pests of the State. 1 think 
for the present each station had better spread 
and diversify the work so as to treat all 
farm topics in a more or less general way, and 
when through experience each station has 
found out in which department it can do its 
best work, then turn its attention more par¬ 
ticularly to that. We have not yet settled 
on any plans for interesting ’the farmers”in 
the work. 
3. We extend the circulation of our bulletins 
by asking each one who receives a copy of 
them to send us names to put on our mailing 
list. W. W. COOKE, DIRECTOR. 
Burlington, Vt. 
THE MASSACHUSETTS EXPERIMENT STATION. 
1. Our station was organized March 2d, 
1888, by direct vote of the Trustees of the 
State Agricultural College accepting the pro¬ 
visions of the so-called Hatch bill. While 
established in connection with the College, it 
is still separate from it. Its accounts are kept 
separately and every effort is being made to 
keep the two as distinct as possible. It is un¬ 
der the control of a Committee of the Trustees 
entitled “Committee on the Agricultural De¬ 
partment of the College.” 
2. Owing to the lack of a Professor of Agri¬ 
culture we are at the present time undertak¬ 
ing no particular work in that'department, 
beyond such experiments in feeding with refer¬ 
ence to the putting on of fat, and with refer¬ 
ence to increasing the flow of milk, as can be 
readily undertaken. We shall for the present 
devote ourselves particularly to the investiga¬ 
tion of remedies for insects, and the diseases 
of plants. In this Connecticut Valley a new 
insect has appeared, causing great damage to 
the tobacco vine, and it will be one of our first 
aims to investigate its life history, and dis¬ 
cover what remedy can be most effectively 
applied. 
3. To bring this matter before the farmers 
of the State, I have issued a circular addressed 
to every newspaper in the State, calling at¬ 
tention to the fact that by the provisions of 
the act, every paper in the State is entitled to 
a free copy of our bulletins, and all farmers 
who may desire the same, so far as the means 
of the station will permit. 
H. H. GOODELL, PRESIDENT. 
Amherst, Mass. 
NEW VORK STATION. 
The Station is a department of the Univer¬ 
sity and is separated from the College of Ag¬ 
riculture in the same way, and to the same ex¬ 
tent that the College of Agriculture is sepa¬ 
rated from that of Civil Engineering or any 
other college of the University,except that the 
expenditures of this department are kept en¬ 
tirely distinct from all others. 
The Professors of Chemistry, Veterinary 
Science, Botany and Entomology will direct 
the work in their various departments, and 
will, as will also the Treasurer, receive no 
compensation from the funds of the station. 
The salaries of the Director and the Horticul¬ 
turist are divided between the station and the 
University. Several of the assistants have 
not yet been selected. 
We hope to make the station especially 
strong in horticulture and entomology; or, in 
other words, the Horticulturist will strive to 
learn how best to raise certain kinds of plants, 
and the Entomologist, how best to defend 
them from their enemies. How to restore and 
maintain the fertility of the soil, how best to 
cultivate it in order to set free plant food and 
the best methods of dairy husbandry, are the 
most prominent questions of the farm. “What 
general experiments can you suggest that can 
be profitably worked out by all the stations ?” 
It appears to me we shall do better work by 
conducting our experiments independently of 
each other until we have learned more about 
this new business that we are engaged in. 
2. 1 think the energies of the station should 
be largely devoted to a few subjects of vital 
interest. To interest the farmers in the work 
of the station, let editors and directors pull off 
their coats and work together harmoniously 
and energetically for the good of the toiling 
millions, and should any one of us happen to 
have unusual difficulties to overcome, and fall 
a little in the rear, let us not “jump on him 
with both feet.” 
3. “How shall we proceed to extend the cir¬ 
culation of the station bulletins?” By mak¬ 
ing them short, sharp and so good that the 
busy, tired man will read them. 
Ithaca, N. Y. i. p. Roberts, director. 
THE PENNSYLVANIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 
1. Our station was organized July 1st, 1887. 
It is under the same management as the Agri¬ 
cultural College, and is, in fact, a department 
of it; but it is kept quite distinct in its equip¬ 
ment and its work from the other departments 
of the college, having its separate funds, and 
its own set of books. 
2. The scope of our work in this State is 
not yet fully defined, but we expect to give at 
present particular attention to the economic 
feeding of live stock, and its relations to the 
preservation and increase of the fertility of 
our soils. In regard to co-operative experi¬ 
ments, I have nothing to suggest at present. 
It appears to me that, in most cases, any at- 
stempt ut co-operation on the part of all the 
tations is likely to be a failure. Such sta¬ 
tions as are engaged in closely related lines of 
work may very well co-operate at times, but 
outsiders cannot lay out the plans for co¬ 
operation of this sort. 
I am very strongly in favor of concentra¬ 
tion in experiment station work. I think it 
far better that each station should select a few 
related subjects, which appear to be the most 
important for its own locality, and give them 
the most thorough and patient study possible. 
While such a course may be less popular, I 
think that, in the long run, it will commend 
itself to popular judgment. 
3. The two most effectual methods for in¬ 
teresting farmers in the work of the stations 
are, I think, first, the attendance of station 
officers upon farmers’ institutes and similar 
meetings. Second, inducing the farmers, so 
far as possible, to visit the station personally 
aDd inspect its work. Of course, there are 
other ways also, but these, I think, are the 
most important. The prime requisite in all 
cases is, of course, that the stations do work 
in which the farmers can take an interest,and 
do it well. When these things are done I think 
the circulation of the bulletins will take 
care of itself. h. p. armsby, director. 
State College, Pa. 
THE OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION. 
1. This station was established in 1882. Its 
governing board is entirely independent of that 
of the Agricultural College connected with the 
Ohio State University, but by mutual agree¬ 
ment between the two boards, the Station oc¬ 
cupies the tillable portion of the University 
farm. 
The officers of the Station are a director, 
horticulturist, agriculturist, botanist, ento¬ 
mologist, chemist, veterinarian and meteorol¬ 
ogist. Of these the five first named give their 
entire time to the work of the station. 
2. Among the problems whose study we 
deem of most importance is that of the con¬ 
servation and better utilization of the fertility 
of the soil. In this study we propose to follow, 
in the main, the plan of experimentation pro¬ 
posed by Prof. W.O. Atwater,and adopted by 
several of the older experiment stations. There 
can be no possibility of too much duplication 
in this work. The 40 odd years of continuous 
investigation at Rothamsted have shown that 
a century may be required,and the repetition 
of the work on every variety of 
soil, and under every condition of cli. 
mate, before all the questions involved 
can be definitely answered. We shall con¬ 
tinue the studies of vegetation which this 
station has conducted hitherto, in comparing 
the leading varieties of cereals, roots, fruits 
and vegetables, and in contrasting different 
methods of culture, and we shall extend our 
studies of the diseases and insect enemies of 
plants. We expect to compare two or three 
breeds of cattle, with special reference to the 
economical production of butter and cheese. 
This question is also being undertaken by 
other stations. We believe it will be better 
to multiply individuals, rather than breeds, 
in these tests. The adaptation of food to 
purpose is as important a problem as that of 
breed. The recent work of Professors San¬ 
born and Henry has added new interest to 
this problem, and their work must be contin¬ 
ued and amplified. 
No question in the entire field of agricultu¬ 
ral experiment possesses greater interest, nor 
is there any more susceptible of immediately 
available results, than the study of the dis¬ 
eases of animals, and very few stations can 
afford entirely to neglect this branch of the 
w’ork; yet these two questions, together with 
many of the studies of vegetation, and espec¬ 
ially those of the diseases of plants, may very 
well be left to those stations that find them¬ 
selves especially fitted, in investigators and 
in environment, for the conduct of the work. 
3. There are four principal methods by 
which the station may draw the attention of 
the farmer to its work. These are : 
(1.) Through the agricultural press. Our 
experience has been that, with a few honora¬ 
ble exceptions, the modern political press is 
too busy with partisanship to pay much at¬ 
tention to our work—except to sneer at it— 
but from the agricultural press we receive cor¬ 
dial co-operation, and this is as it should be; 
because the station and the agricultural journ¬ 
al will naturally benefit each other. 
(2.) Through the farmers’ institutes. 
(3.) Through sub-stations, established in 
various parts of the State for the collateral 
study of such problems as may be affected by 
variations in soil or climate. 
(4.) Through the employment, in the 
lighter portions of its ordinary labor, of farm¬ 
ers’ boys who may be studying ihe science of 
agriculture at the Agricultural College. It 
would not be at all surprising if this should 
ultimately prove the most valuable part of 
the station’s work, by giving such boys a 
truer conception of the possibilities of the 
farm, as well as by opening to them the same 
