The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-01-16
STATE EXPERIMENTS.
Director Voorhees, Made His
Report Yesterday to the
Board Of Visitors.

The Board of Visitors to the State
Experiment Station met yesterday at
the State House, received the report of
Professor E. B. Voorhees,, the DirecteH
OF the institution, and elected officers
Professor Voorhees, made his annual
report, which comprehended remarks on
chemistry, commercial fertilizers, fer
tilizer materials, a study of chemical
methods. analyses of feeds, folders and
farm crops, plant nutrition. horticulture,
dairy husbandry the farm, biology,
botany and entomology
The following officers were elected
President, Samuel R. Demarest, Hack
ensack; vice president, S. B. Ketcham,
Pennington; secretary and treasurer, I. s.
Epson. Kew Brunswick All these are re-
elections.
In his report Professor Voorhees, said
that the investigations pursued by the
stations (State and college) this year
have been practically of the same
character as those in the past, the pro-
gress showing rather in the broadening
OF the work than in the Introduction of
new lines The direct usefulness of the
results annually obtained is increasing
from year to year, and is shown in the
larger demand for the publications and
in the requests made for information.
The regular mailing list now requires
than an edition of 11,000 copies of the
bulletins shall be published
The inspection of commercial fertilizers
has required the analyses of 800 samples
of different brands of complete fertilizers,
twenty-five of ground bone and thirty-one
of miscellaneous products. The Desirable
1ty of reduction in the number of
brands of fertilizers has been pointed out
In previous reports. The statistics gath
cred show that the amounts annually con-
sumed increase from year to year; the
sales reported for 1899 are larger than in
any previous year. The tendency on the
part of the farmers to purchase accord
ing to thei own ideas in reference to
formulas is still shown, and the analyses
which verifythe composition of products
bought in this way are of more immediate
value to consumers than those involved
in the general inspection. On the whole
the average cost of the plant food has
been less this year than in any year
since 1881; the charges for mixing, bag
ging and handling are about eigght per
cent. lower this year than in 1899 A still
further reduction in this average would
result if farmers would more generally
adopt the rational methods of purchase
recommended by the station.
In the case of the special mixtures or
products which have been made by the
manufacturer according to the farmers $
formula, saving is also shown, the diff
food in these, and in the home mixtures
fc t1,a ,of,1 e
mixing and bagging, together with his
profits.
The work in this department has con-
tinued on the lines already well defined
in previous reports. The studies con-
corning forage crops have been continued,
and verify the conclusion previously
reached in reference to the value of corn,
the oats and peas, and the cow-pea crops
and it is gratifying that the suggestions
offered by the Station are finding ready
application on many dairy farms in the
State. In fact, no one line of work of the
Station seems to be more keenly appre-
ciated by the farmers of the State, in ref
erence to improved methods of farming,
than that on dairy lines.
The experiments with alfalfa have been
highly successful, the experimental acre
yielding this year 26.6 tons of green for
age, containing protein equivalent to that
which would be obtained in the purchase
of w tons of wheat bran. The new seed
ing of two acres this year is also prom
ising, Notwithstanding the very unfayora-
BILE season. Experiments are now in pro-
gresS to determine how far protein in
such can be substituted in working
dairy ration, for that furnished by wheat
bran and other concentrated feeds.