
12 REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE 
for which he was no more to blame than was any other intelligent © 
citizen of the Empire State. I think he erred, I think we all have ~ 
erred, perhaps, in failing to fully appreciate our opportunities and 
our responsibilities in this matter; have erred, perhaps, in failing 
to appreciate how much such a Station could do to render 
agriculture more productive and more profitable. 
Let me briefly recall a little of the history of agricultural 
science : 
In 1795 the Earl of Dundonald published the first book in the 
English language on agricultural science, entitled “The Intimate 
Relation Existing between Chemistry and Agriculture.” In 1838 the 
Gottingen Academy offered a prize for the solution of the problem 
whether mineral matter was necessary for the development of a 
plant. In 1851 the first public experiment station was established 
at Moeckern, Saxony. In 1861 fifteen had been established ; fifty- 
six in 1871; sixty-three in 1873, and at present there are in the 
German empire alone 184, devoted exclusively to the solution of 
the various agricultural problems which are continually rising in 
practice. Besides Germany, numerous stations have existed for 
years in Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and other 
countries. Two notable private farms and experiment stations 
have been established which deserve mention: The laboratory and 
farm of Boussingault, near Strasburg, established in 1835; the 
laboratory and experimental grounds of Rothamstead, which were 
established in 1845, and have an endowment fund by Mr. Lawes of 
100,000 pounds sterling. In addition to the above there exist the 
Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland, established in 1849; 
the Royal Agricultural Society of England established about the 
same date; the Royal College of Cirencester, the laboratories of 
Giessen and Munich, where Liebig labored, and that at Tharrandt, 
famous for the work of Stoeckhart. 
The work done at these public experiment stations consists 
largely of feeding experiments with cows, oxen, calves, sheep, 

swine, etc., to determine the best constituents of rations, greatest — 
economy in fattening, effects of different foods on yield and quality 
of milk and butter, the value of steaming food, the relative value 
of different fodders, roots, grasses, hays, clovers, brewers’ and dis- 
tillery wastes, etc., the careful study of solid and liquid excrements : _ | 
of animals under different feeding trials, digestion experiments, 
fertilizer experiments on various crops to determine the effect on __ 
