The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1908-06-11
Agricultural Notes

4 The speaker at the convocation ex
ercises on June LIST was Dean Shep
perd Of the agricultural department
He took for his subject, Experiment
Stations" and outlined the history Of
the growth Of agricultural research
illustrating his remarks with apt and
humorous references to some of the
! early Investigators.
The first experiment station in the
world was the famous New Bedford
station in England. established by a
private party. In this country, the
earliest Investigations were undertake.
en- by DR.. Hildgard OF the University
of California. Later on the expert
ment stations were for the most part
established in connection with the
agricultural colleges. Today the ex-
| pertinent stations of the United
States receive annually about 81
| 100000. and employ over 1000 scien-
tific experts.
The national government exercises
a careful supervision of the various
stations through the office of expert
ment stations, requiring that COM
plete report of the expenditure of
the funds be made annually and that
they be used economically in the in
terests of research.
The work of the experiment sta
ton of today covers a very large
field The Inspection and control Of
fertilizers were among the first
works Of the experiment stations.
Later came pure food, the study of
soil problems, irrigation and drainage
Investigations, the field, crops, horti-
culture and forestry.
Professor Firman Thompson has
completed his work at the Agricul
tural College and will leave soon for
a trip into Yellowstone Park, after
which he will take up his new duties
as state chemist of Delaware.
The annual election of the students
organization took place on Monday.
June 1st. Mr.. Levi Thomas was ell
ected editor of the Weekly Spectrum
and Mr.. S. V. Anderson was made
business manager. The following Off
GERS of the students organization
We're elected: President, Mr.. Norman
Powell, vice president, Mr. w. 0.
Whitcomb; secretary, Miss Kathryn
Crest, and treasurer Mr.. Max Har-
rington. An amendment was made
to the constitution. allowing the ed
itor Of the paper $50, providing the
manager shall show net gain of
s1O0
Mr.. Lapham, of the Bureau of Soils
Washington, D. c., was in consulta-
ton with Prof Willard recently in
regard to the soil surveys that are to
be made in the western part of the
state this summer. A large part Of
western North Dakota is to be sur
veyed and the party will be large
one, probably consisting of fifteen
men. The work will be begun in the
vicinity Of Minot.
A plot Of ground northwest of Sci
ence Hall has been staked off and it
is expected that work on the cree
ton of steel and glass greenhouse
will be commenced at an early date
Mr.. H. ]. Hughes and his party of
students who are going to map the
soil of eastern Montana for the N.
P. railway this summer are at pres
ent busy with the preparations for
the field. Mr.. Hughes starts for
Glendive, Mont, soon, where he will
make final arrangements and purch-
ase horses and wagons for the trans
portation and use Of the party.
superintendent Porter returned re-
Gently from a visit to the demonstra-
ton farms located at Darlington, La
kota, Flaxton, Granville, Ross and
Sanborn. He reports a sufficiency Of
moisture at all the places, the soil
in an ideal condition, and everything
seems to indicate fine crop for this
season.
Professor A. D. Weeks attended the
principals conference held at the Uni
versity May 18th. Considerable in
terest is being shown by the princi-
pals in the type of education which
is represented by the agricultural col
lege and many are considering the
introduction of courses in agricul-
tural and manual training in their
schools.
The annual report of Food Commits
sioner Ladd. issued as part II Of the
Eighteenth Annual Report OF the
North Dakota Agricultural Expert
ment Station, has been received from
the state printers and is now avail
able for distribution to all who de-
sire COPY.