The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-08-18
STATE AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION,
BURLINGTON, VT, 1893.

STATE AGRICULTURAL
EXPERIMENT STATION,
BURLINGTON, VT, 1898.
Bulletin No.S7. Newspaper Bulletin No. 10.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECToR-PART I.
The present report covers the work Of
the station from ian. to Dec. 81, 1899
though part of the work in the test OF
corn fodder ane ensilage extended into
the year 1898. The financial report Gov
ers the year ending June 80, 1892.
Publications.
During the year four bulletins havt
been issued as follows
January-No. 81. Tests of Dairy Ap
paratus.
April-No. 90. Plant Diseases.
1. Potato Blight and Rot.
2. A New Potato Disease.
3. Potato Scab.
4. Apple and Pear Scab.
8. Dat Smut.
May-No. 90 Analyses of Licensed
Fertilizers.
June-No. 80. The Results of tn
Bounty on Maple Sugar.
Changes In Station Staff and Equipment.
Few changes have taken place in the
working force during the year. Mr.. @.
w. Minott resigned his position as hor-
ticulturist of the station. Mr.. D. D.
Howe of Brookfeld, VT, has become the
farm superintendent and Mr.. e. H.
Powell the treasurer of the station.
During 1892 the equipment of the station
was increased by the addition of 30 acres
to the farm for pasture. 1t also be-
came necessary to build an addition to
the creamery to accommodate the stu
dents of the dairy school.
The Work of the Year.
There has been no notable change in
the character of the work the past year
from that of previous years. Most of
the lines of investigation can be grouped
under the headings, Fertilizer Control, Pig
Feeding, Plant Diseases and Their Rene
dies and Dairying, in the broadcast sense
of this latter term. The results obtained
in these several lines will be very briefly
sketched in the following report:
Fertilizer Control.
AS required by law, this station has
made analyses during the year Of the
various brands licensed for sale in this
state. The results have shown that the
farmer has obtained plant food in the
fertilizers at about the same price as dur
ing the previous year. All Of the fertili-
zers have been upto their guarantees.
A comparison has been instituted be-
tween the results Of the fertilizer inspec-
ton in Vermont for the years 1885 to
1898 inclusive. Some very interesting
facts are brought to light. The retail
price of fertilizers has dropped steadily
during these nine years from 1890 in
1885 to $32.32 in 1898, or a fall of $3.50.
1T the same time the composition Of the
fertilizers has somewhat improved.
There was decided improvement dur
ing the years 1888 and 1889, since which
there has been falling off in quality,
but the average goods in 1893 are worth
about $3.50 a ton more than the goods Of
1885.
1t is evident then that the farmer at
the present time is getting more plant
food for his money than he was eight
years ago. A dollar in 1893 bought as
much plant food as $1.24 in 1885. On
the aggregate fertilizer business of the
state this amounts to large sum. It
means that the farmers of this state are
saving $4,000 yearly from what the same
fertilizers would have cost in 1885. Many
influences have combined reproduce this
result, and there is no doubt but that
the work of the station in sampling,
analyzing and publishing the results
broadcast over the state has been one of
these influences, and by no means the
least.
Pig Feeding.
The work in pig feeding during the
past year has been continuation of that
of previous years, the general idea being
to ascertain the best and most econom-
ical way of using the skimmilk from the
dairy for the production of pork. The
experiments conducted seem to show
that the sour skimmilk produced just as
good results, pound for pound, as sweet
slximmilk Where there was any differ