The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1909-03-18
C Ounty Experiment Stations.


The county court OF Jasper county,
No, has just arranged TO take sd-
dvantage of the law making It pos,
sible for each Missouri county to
have an agricultural experiment sta.
tion Of its own The county will put
up $500 annually for u Period Of five
years, and additional expenses will
be paid by the state. The location
for the new station will be agreed
upon at once, Prof. NJ. +. Miller. oil
the Agricultural College at Columbia,
representing the state, and the
ground will be made ready for the
1909 season. This Is the first sta.
tion OF she kind TO be established in
Missouri, and it is said to be the first
In the United States. But several
other Missouri counties will prob.
ably arrange for similar stations
inst as soon as possible The cost
Of such u station In any county need
not exceed few hundred dollars, at
most, while the great value is hard
80 estimate.
The law providing for the estab'
lishment OF county agricultural ok.
pertinent stations (known as the Mel.
son law, from the name Of she auth.
orr was enacted In 1907, Section |
reads. in part: "ln order to deter
mine an1 demonstrate the impor.
tance # improved seed, OF bester
agricultural practice, and to bring
the results OF the scientific research
OF the state experiment station and
OF the federal department. OF agricul
ture within reach OF all the farmers
OF Missouri, she county court OF any
county in the state may establish
and maintain q county experiment
station"
Such county experiment stations
may be located on the county farm
or elsewhere. The state experiment
station as Columbia furnishes, wish.
out expense to the county, all neces
sary advice and assistance In the
planning of the experiments, the Sc
lection OF suitable land, and in the
laying out OF the plots. Is also FUR.
nishes seed and fertilizers, and,
wherever possible, q proper officer to
superintend the planting and har-
vessing and TO make such photo
graphs and records az may be need
ed, the reports TO be printed for pub
lie distri button.
At Il county experiment station
experiments are to be conducted for
the purpose OF testing different crops
and varieties OF seeds In which the
farmers OF the county may be espec-
Tally interested. New and untried
crops may also be tried, crop rota,
ton studied, and fertilizers tested.
Improved seed may also be grown
Tor dissemination within the county.
In brief, a county experiment sta
tion is for the farmers OF she county.
II they want hall dozen varieties OF
seed oats tested they can have 1t
done right at home and without ex-
pense, thus determining which varie-
ty is best. Or they may get definite
information on corn, trying eight or
ten differen. varieties. In some coun-
ties alfalfa Information may be
wanted, and tests plots, under differ
ent conditions, sowed. Thus will
they get an answer to the question,
VIII alfalfa grow in this county?
The possibilities are not limited to
the answering OF a single problem.
Every county in Missouri may have
an agricultural experiment station
| II it wants 1t, but 1t may not be pos.
sible to reach all at once. 1t will be
case OF first come, first served"