The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-07-19
Maryland Agricultural College and
Experiment Station.

Experiment Station.
From President Aivord we have re.
ceived the first Annual report of the
STATION and we cannot give better
review of the work at the station than
is contained in the following article
published in The Country Gentleman.
Thirty miles southwest of Baltimore
and little less than half an hour from
on the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, is the Maryland Agricultural
College and Experiment Station, now
under the care Of a we'll known and
highly respected authority, Maj.
HENRY E. ALvoRD, who is pres: dent
of the one and director Of the other.
The college is one Of the Oldest insti
tutioDs of its kind in this country, and
the only one ever established by voIun.
tary contributions fact which speaks
we'll for the enterprise of the Mary
land farmers of forty years ago. The
charter dates from March 1856. being
more than six years before the first
Federal legislation for a similar pur-
pose. AS a foundation, about FIVE
hundred persons subscribed the
amount necessary to purchase the farm
and erect the first buildings. Suisse
quently the State made special appro.
priations, which are still continued.
and the institution receives the benefits
of the congressional land gra ut Of July
I'd, 1862, and the appropriations under
the act of March %, 1887. The farm
embraces 2S7 acres, 40 Of which are
woodland, the remainder under cultiva.
ton. The institution has done good
work, but for years, owing to defects
in its management, and other serious
misfortunes, has been rather under a
cloud of unpopularitJ. This the new
president seems likely speedily to clear
up; at least he has made very favor
able impression on the people Of the
State, SO far as they have had oppor,
tunity to become acquainted with him;
and prospects now look bright.
The faculty includes six resident
professors, and advantage is taken OF
the proximity Of Washington to secure
the services Of number of experts
from the department of agriculture and
other institutions there, whose instruc.
ton is Of peculiar value.
The EXPERIMENT STATION.
The Experiment Station, in its pre-
sent form, dates from the passage of
the Hatch bill of 1887, though expert
mental work as we'll as educational was
completed in the organization of 1856,
and was for year or two carried on.
AS now arranged, about so acres of the
college prov erty, with very good
building, are devoted to the station
work. Among other field experiments,
&C varieties of the tomato are under
trial, their individual peculiarities,
botanical and chemical, to be studied
with special reference to their fitness
for the great canning interest; also 40
varieties of oats, As of wheat, 80 of
strawberries, 40 of early peas (for the
benefit of truckers), and so on. Con.
Joined with these variety tests are ex.
periments in the use of fertilizers, a
subject on which particularly the
tomato-growers have held extremely
diverse opouions. A plat of 10 acres
is devoted to trial ( for the depart.
ment Of agriculture, under special
appropriation) of no less than a hun.
dred varieties of sorghum, with 25
different fertilizers. An orchard of
1000 trees, 200 or $50 varieties, was
set out last year; and other planting is
gning on.
In the building, the new director
has wisely established what is already
a valuable library, chiefly of technical
works, and including many of high
value and high cost net often readily
accessible. A very respectable chemi
cal laboratory is in full operation.
Here, as elsewhere through the pro
jected work of this station, emiuently
practical results, pecuniarily profitable
10 the agriculture of the State, are
chiefly sought for. Thus soil analysis
is to be prosecuted on quite an extern
sive scale.
In Grange Thought, the Husband.
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