New York AqricutturaAL Experiment Station. 9 
3. A study of insects infesting late cabbages. 
4. Investigation as to the prevalence of the San José scale 
insect and remedial measures for same. 
5. Investigation of a Lecanium scale insect occurring on various 
woody plants, and which is especially injurious to plums, - 
and experiments in fighting this insect. 
The Investigation of Different Breeds of Dairy Cattle. 

In the investigation which now for several years has been con- 
tinued at this Station of several leading breeds of dairy cattle, 
there has somewhat widely if not generally existed a misconcep- 
tion as to the leading object and aim of this investigation, which, 
while arising naturally enough, has largely tended to eclipse 
what has appeared to be the more important subjects of investi- 
gation and directed attention to other matters of less importance 
- and to conclusions less valuable, at least in this, that the data 
at hand were too limited to draw other than but limited 
conclusions. } 
For example, it has not been contemplated to carry forward, 
even upon a limited scale, what may be termed “a battle of the 
breeds,” nor has it been proposed to carry forward a series of 
either breeding or feeding experiments with our cattle. 
Whatever conclusions may be drawn from the elaborate test 
made with selected representatives of three of our leading breeds 
of dairy cattle at Chicago, it would hardly appear possible to 
determine the relative value of the different rations fed these 
animals, even without consideration of the ulterior effects upon 
the animals themselves. Nor indeed is our present knowledge 
of feeding such that we may feel certain that even by a mere 
‘interchange of rations the several herds under investigation at 
Chicago would not have given results widely different from those 
secured. When, in addition, we consider that the representatives 
of these several breeds were solely selected for this competitive 
trial on account of their exceptional and estabJished superiority, 
the practical worthlessness of this series of tests is obvious, 
giving, in fact, no practical result of any value whatever to the 
average dairyman as a guide to him in the management of his 
herds, by which, with increased knowledge, more valuable 
practical results could be secured. 
2 
