velopment of each of these lines means a sure and permanent hold upon a constantly increasing constituency. Respectfully submitted, CHAS. A. MILLS. A. C. VARNUM. W. A. KILBOURN. GEORGE CRUICKSHANKS. WM. HOLBROOK. GEO. L. CLEMENCE. THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS OF BY DR. J. B. LINDSEY OF AMHERST. It is my purpose to ask your attention (I.) to some general information relative to the German experiment stations, and (II.) to a consideration of some of the work in which the stations are now engaged, and to the methods employed in its execution. I. GENERAL INFORMATION.* The stations of the German empire may be divided into two classes: first, those belonging to what is known as the Union of Agricultural Experiment Stations of Germany; and second, those outside the union. Many of the stations within the union are largely engaged in control work, some do only control work, while others are investigating special problems in plant and animal nutrition, plant disease, soil physics, etc. The Union of stations was established in 1888, and had for its object the furthering of the mutual interests of the stations, both in scientific and practical ways, and especially in enabling them to secure uniformity in methods of analysis and inspection of fertilizers, fodders, seeds and other important agricultural materials. The methods now in use for control and inspection work are very similar to those employed by the American Association of Agricultural Chemists of the United States. The stations outside the Union are more generally in connection with the German universities, and are officered by See statistics of the German stations in Mentzel and von Lengerke's Landwirthschaftlicher Kalender for 1893, compiled by Professor Nobbe. various professors, who carry on investigations in their specialties. The German professor, when compared with the average professor and teacher in our agricultural colleges, has comparatively little teaching to do, and his time is largely spent in original inquiry. The number of stations within the German union is forty-seven, while those outside number twenty, making a total of sixty-seven within the German empire. Prussia has thirty-five, Bavaria ten, Saxony six, Würtemberg, Baden, Anhalt and Hamburg two each, while Brunswick, Hessen, Mecklenburg, Weimar, Meiningen, Oldenburg, Bremen and Alsace each has one. Each of these sixty-seven stations has a director, and some an assistant director. The stations employ many special investigators, about a hundred and fifty chemists, four botanists, six seed inspectors, besides secretaries, gardeners, laboratory helpers, etc. Thirty-five stations exercise analytical control and examination over the sale of commercial fertilizers, fodders and seeds; ten conduct experiments in animal nutrition; twenty-three in plant physiology; four examine foods and beverages; three conduct experiments in beer brewing; two devote themselves exclusively to plant diseases; four to sugar beet culture; two exclusively to fruit culture; one to investigations in veterinary science; one to dairying; one to the improvement of marsh lands; and one to agricultural physics. Some eight or ten give their entire time to scientific research, doing no control work of any kind. Many of the stations are equipped with vegetation houses for conducting experiments in vegetable physiology; two stations, one at Göttingen and one at Möckern, have the Pettenkofer respirations apparatus, and one at Berlin a horse dynamometer. The income of the German stations is as a rule much smaller than that received by the stations of the United States. It is derived from the general and provincial governments, from agricultural societies and from analyses fees. It is a noticeable fact that many of the stations are supported in whole or in part by agricultural societies, and are concerned with the investigation of special problems, on which the society desires information. The first agricultural experiment station was established at Möckern, near Leipsig, in 1851. In 1861 we find nine stations in operation; in 1871, twenty-three; in 1881, fifty; and finally, in 1892, sixty-seven. The German stations in their earlier days carried on a great variety of investigations; but they soon learned to specialize, to study fewer subjects, and to study them more exhaustively. More attention is now being given to work in the laboratories, in the greenhouse and the stables, and less to the farm and garden; i. e., they have found that many of the questions asked them by agriculturists are of so difficult a nature as to require long and careful study, under conditions where all circumstances can be controlled. Many of the stations in former years were situated on large farms, but they have been gradually moving towards the cities and universities, in order that the assistance of the ablest scientific investigators might be secured. |