6 
in generalization, for we have not as yet investigated the distinct 
influences of soil and manure upon the rooting habits of plants. 
At present it will not be surprising if their appears to be contradic- 
tion between results reported for the same species of plant from year 
to vear. 
The study of agriculture is a complex one, involving chemical, 
physical, biological, mathematical, and personal factors, and each 
branch of science must be called upon for assistance In common 
problems under investigation, and there must necessarily be no strict 
divisions into departmental work. ‘The various subdivisions of our 
working force being for convenience of administration only are not 
allowed to act as a barrier against co-operative work. The labora- 
tory is under the charge of the chemist, but any member of our staff 
can go there for assistance or to obtain the use of facilities for his 
work, and our chemist in turn has the garden, the field, and the 
farm at his disposal. The whole staff have equal rights and privi- 
leges, and I am happy to report that now for four years harmony has 
existed, and the spirit of mutual helpfulness has been ever present, 
thus adding very much to the efficiency of the Station, and to the 
easing of my own multiple and often involved duties. I trust that 
with accumulated material, and with the continuance of the esprit 
de corps of my assistants the time may soon come when the subor- 
dinate relations of the part to the whole shall become better defined 
in our reports, which at present are allowed to appear fragmentary 
in their character. 
DONORS. 
Among our friends we are under especial obligation to Messrs. Vil- 
morin, Andrieux & Cie, seedsmen of Paris, who have placed at our 
disposal already for several years, free of cost not only such seeds as 
they keep in stock, but as well their personal service in procuring 
seed not on the market. The seed procured from them serve us as 
standards for our comparisons, not alone from their high quality and 
general trueness to name, but also because they represent varieties 
described in that admirable volume by the Messrs. Vilmorin, entitled 
‘‘ Les Plantes Potageres.” We cannot refrain from mentioning also 
the liberality and friendliness of Messrs. Thorburn & Co., seedsmen 
of New York, who have not alone refused all payment for whatso- 
ever orders we have placed with them, but have also freely supplied 
us with articles of interest, and have held themselves ready to re- 
spond to such calls for information as we have found useful to make. 
We are also under renewed obligations to those other seedsmen whose 
names appear in our list of donors, and if we do not mention them 
more particularly it is only because circumstances have uot led us to 
take advantage of their willingness to accommodate. It speaks well 
for seedsmen that they are ever willing to aid us and to profit by our 
work, and that they seem desirous that we shall be outspoken in our 
comments upon the quality and purity of their wares. 
We have received, in 1885 : 
Jan. 7. Of J. J. DeForest, Duanesburg, N. Y., one file of ‘‘ The 
Husbandman,” nearly complete. 
Jan. 7. Of Duryea Starch Manufacturing Co., Glen Cove, Long 
Island, 8 bbls. starch feed. 
