Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-24

What the Agricolsur.i Experiment Stations
Do for the rillers Of the Soil
6NHk UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

= spends $50, 600 every year In making seri-
cultural experiments at stations established all
over the country. Very interesting and profit
able II the work carried on ct these posts. of
which there il one in every state and territory,
while some states have each two or three. AT
every one Of them il gathered Q little knot of
scientific men, Who are continually engaged in
trying to 6nd ont how TO improve the pro-
ducts Of the soil There il nothing which has
to do with the tiIling Of the fields that they
do not investigate. The planting and culsivs-
ton Of the crops, the saving and use Of manures,
the care and feeding of stocks. the management
Of the dairy, the preservation Of both crops and
stock from insect pests and diseases, and .
thousand other things besides, come within the
range Of their attentive study.
It has been said that farming ID . perpetual
trying OF experiments with soils, manurcs and
crops; with cattle and cattle food; with milk.
outtsr and cheese; with plows, harrows and
tnings The most successful farmers are those
VINO themselves experiment most industriously
and intelligently, and who take the fullest ad-
vantage OF the experiments Of others. In early
times the farmer made for himself the rude
Tools ne needed for the primitive practice Of
MS art Now he employs implements and ma
chinery which can be made only with large
capital and the highest mechanical skill. So
the experiments which he can make do not
meet his needs today. Therefore, farmers and
men OF science interested in farming have re-
Gently established agricultural experiment
stations, where the resources Of science are
usalzed Tor the improvement Of agriculture.
A BUSINESS OF DISCOVERY
IL Prof. Atwater says in Q bulletin on the
subject issued by the authority Of Secretary
Rusk. the object of these stations is to make a
regular business OF discovery for the use Of
farming" The experts attached to them intro
duce scientific investigation to the green house
the garden, tho orchard. the field, the stable,
the dairy. There are few subjects which the
farmer has to deal with that are not being
studied assiduously by one or more Of the sta
lions Just for example, suppose the question to
be one Of feeding. What are the effects Of diff
ferent kinds OF fodder, rs hay, cornmeal or
bran, fed to cows, upon the quality or quantity
OF the milk2 Or what feed shall be used to
most economical rations for fattening steers
or working horses? To get answers to these
questions the stations make actual tests by
feeding the animals and noting the results.
Successful feeding, says the bulletin quoted
u not merely matter Of SO much hay, corn or
turnips, but OF the nutritiye ingredients which
they contain and which the animal digests and
smploys to make blood, bone, muscle, fat or
milk, or uses rs fuel to keep warm AMI give il
strength for work. The chemist of the station
analyzes in his laboratory the materials fed, as
well as the excrement or undigestcd portion,
weighing both. Thus he learns how much of
the whole food and of each ingredient the
animal actually assimilates. In trials with
COWS the milk Is likewise weighed and sub
jected to analyses, and sometimes the very air
the animals inhale and exhale is measured and
analysed with the aid of q very elaborate ap-
paratus. When the feeding is finished the
animal is sometimes slaughtered and the diff
ferent portions weighed and analysed. Ex-
periments have already proved that different
feeds modify the relative proportions of the
different organs of the body; that the blood
can be increased or diminished, the liver made
larger or smaller, and even the bones made
weaker or stronger. These results are not pro-
duced by over or under feeding. but by q diff
ference in the chemical constituents Of the
food.
THE FIRST zxPERIMENr STATION.
Forty years ago q company of farmers near
Leipsic, Germany, organized the first agricul-
tural experiment station. The first one in this
country was begun in 1875 in the chemical lab.
oratory Of Wesleyan University. at Middletown,
Conn. In 1887 there were seventeen Of these
institutions in fourteen states. and in that year
Congress. made the enterprise national by an
appropriation of $3.50 per annum to each of
the states and territories which had established
agricultural colleges. Today, counting branches,
there are ffty-seyen such stations in the
United States. The several states appropriate
e125. 600 in addition to the $500. 900 appro-
priated by Congress. This may seem fike
large sum to expend annually for agricultural
experiments. bnt II il less than 10 cents for
each of the Z. 500, 900 farm workers of the cour-
try, or, reckoning the annual value OF the pro-
ducts OF the farms ct e. zoe, 600 600, il means
an expenditure of about SO cents for every
u 600 worth OF products in an attempt to in.
crease the value o. those products in future
years.
The European stations have become as fully
established as schools. The consummate pro-
duct OF applied farm science over there is the
Farmers Almanac" which tens of thousands
OF German farmers carry in their pockets. 1t
contains a calendar, blanks for daily memo
randa, cash accounts. and so on. Then follow
blanks for names Of workmen, their work and
wages, forms for registering cows and their
daily or weekly yield Of milk, and for other
STOCK; other forms for keeping account with
seed, produce, and so on. Then comes a series
Of tables and statements which compress in
brief space an amount of information that Is
marvellous.
SOME OF THE INFORMATION.
One table gives the amount of seed by weight
or measure needed per Prussian acre or hec-
tare, broadcast or in drills or hills, for each of
niDety-fve different kinds Of crops. Further
on are sables OF the chemical composition of
pIents. OF fertuizers, OF feeding stunts, OF fod-
der rations, of human food, and even Of the
whole bodies of animals. Referring to these
the farmer sees at glance how many pounds
Of the valuable food ingredients-protein, car
bohydrates and fats-there are in hay, straw.
bran, cotton-seed meal and $50
other materials which German farmers feed to
their stock. Close by is table Of feeding
standards which tells how much Of each Of
these ingredients will make fair daily ration
per 900 pounds live weight Of oxen at rest in
the stall, oxen at work milch cows, young cat
tie, and SO on By comparing the composition
OF these standards with that of tho feeding
stuffs in the barn or store, rations can be cal
culated which will bring the largest amount of
work or meat or milk nt the least cost.
The various experiment stations OF this coun-
try have each their special work upon which
they are engaged. Irrigation receives q good
deal OF consideration in Colorado sugar max
ing in Louisiana, wine making in California
At least one station is doing rome thing in poui-
try raising and another in the keeping of bees.
The oldest station, in Connecticut, is particu-
larly interested in manures and dairying. Its
have driven inferior fertilizers
md feeding stufs from tho markets Of the
state.
Studies in Scholarship.
From the London Globe.
Scsne-An elementary school A teacher IL
49, l. IL