The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-08-29
4 GRAND SUCCESS.
Good Work of the New
Jersey State Agricultural
Experiment Station.
EXPERIMENTS VITA FERTILIZERS
Reports of Entomologists. Botan
lists, Biologists, Chemists and
Horticulturists.
EXPERIMENTS wITH FERTILIZERS

bCllAAlOAt 4N1 EtERNAG4 ~ -
New Jersey "Hand Book the following
interesting article on the station. which
has been instrumental In saving m any
thousands OF dollars to the State;-
Tue New Jersey Agricultural Expert
ment Station was established ny an act
of Legislature in March. 1880. L is con-
trolled by q Board of Man ayers, consist
ing of The Governor Of he State and the
Board OF Visitors OF tn State Agri-
cultural College. together with the
President and Professor OF Agriculture
of that Institution. The annual appro
ptiation of 5000. provided for by The
Original enactmsnt, was increased
TO sIi, o00. This institution. "estao-
lished for the benefit of practical
and scientific agriculture and the develop
ment OF ouf unimproved lands" WAS the
third of Its kind In Am erica, the first
having been established in Connecticut in
1877 aud the second ia North Carolina in
the same year. The station is located at
New Brunswick, and was organized Ia
April, 1886. by the election of DR.. George
II. Cook, rs Director. who cont nued to
hold the office until his death in 1850.
Though the establishment OF the
st ,tion marked the beginning of expert
mental work In agriculture MS such, DR..
Cook has been pursuing investigat ions
and conducting experiments for che
beueht of agriculture since 1850. This
work was largely carrted out nnder the
auspices of the State Ge illogical Survey
and the State 30 I'D of Agric ulture, and
WAS published by their authority: 1t iu-
ciuded surveys of the diff srent suil
formations D the various mari
beds OF the State, accompanied by
analyses OF The same, and recon-
m~endatiops as TO The treatment Of
Tue different soils and the value and uses
of mari. These ia INVESTIGATIONS, which
preceded the actual work of the station
proper. were of vast iRtDortanca to the
farming industry. ana naturally in
fuenced the adoption Of specific lines OF
study by the Station. They had also
prepared the farmers to profit by the
Results secured, and The wide usefulness
Of the Station today is due in no small
degree to the interest in scientific in-
designations aroased by The work which
thus preceded the Stations establish
menr.
The people were prepared in a Measure
to receive the aid that science afforded.
FRUITFUL FIELDS.
The value OF The naturul of
the soils particularly in the central and
northern sections. uud the Importance of
their Improvement BIZ jadfoions cropping
aud stock raising. aud the necessity of d
control of the sale OF commercial fertii-
izers. which were beginning To De used
in very large Quantities by the farmers
in the market garteu districts, furnished
the most fruitful fields for Station work.
The chisf lines OF study adopted, there
lore. wers as follows:-
/. The composition and value of com
mercial fertilizers
2. The c~onducting of field experiments
with fertilizers.
3. Tue composition and value Of fodder
plants.
4. Folders and feeds In their relations
TO tie dairy industry aud stock raising.
There specific lines Of work have re-
mained practically the sauna from the
beginning. though vety much enlarged
Ia b IL scope as means permitted.
The Investigation and study OF new
varieties OF louder piauts. particularly the
lsgumes. has beeu OF very great import.
ance IN showing their ~adaptability aud
usefulness, both as fodder aud as a green
manure; this Is especially true In the
dairy, market garden and fruit sections
of the Stale.
A study of the composition of folders
and leeds has o relation not only to their
position In refereHce to economic feeding
but to their use as bearing upon the
question of increase or decrease OF fertiI-
itF, particularly in stocks raising and
dairy farming. Il mas more particularly
reference to the economies OF lhe farming
industry than TO the study OF the abstruse
6SAthA plAAkttAcS-
Hate EXPERIMENT STATIONS.
In 1887 the enactiasnt esta otishtng Ma
tionGl experiment. stations was passed by
Congress. The Institutions are known Ms
the Hatch Experiment. Stations, ana re-
ceive an annual appropriations of SIS, 900
from the United States Government. In
New Jersey the management of the Hatch
Station was placed by a law of the State
under the control of the Trustees Of Rut-
gers College. who also constltute the gov.
erning board of the State Agricultural
College. III fund available by this net
for agricultural experimentation In the
State was devoted TO specific ines of
work. separate and distinct from those
already engaged in by tbe State station.
The station WAS organized early To 1888
by the establishment of the following
specific departments:
/. Entomology
Q. Botany u horticulture.
8. Biology.
4 Chemical GeologY,
DR.. Cook was elected Director, and
scientists eminent in their sDecialities
were elected as heads OF the various de-
partments. The policy adopted for the
TWO Institutions was, that the work of
the one should supplement that of the
other. which policy Is still In force. The
various departments have been ably
managed. and the importance Of the
adoption OF these distinct lines of work
is ~abuudantly apparent by the practical
results already secured.
The reports published OF the studies
aud Investigations In the Department OF
Entomology have Instructed The farmers
us to the habits of insects. both useful
and injurious, and have Taught them to
successfully oppose their ensmies by
means Of spraying and fertilization, and
by methods of farm practice devised by
ihe EHtomslogists spraying having par
ticular reference to the saving OF orch ard
and whey ard crops. particularly after
insect attack, white the fertilization and
farm practice suggested are preventive
measures, the adoption of which is gu lite
as important in fruit growing as ia gea-
eral farming.
THE BENEFITS.
The many biights aud diseases which
affect fruits, vegetables aud lowers,
which have reeantly been SO prevalent in
certain ttistrtcIs Of our State rs TO seyi-
1usly interfere with the profitable grow
ing Of certain crops. and even to partially
destroy whey ards aud orcharfs. have
been. IN q Very large degree. overcome
by careful study and In vessfg& ton on