of the station, together with various cultural experiments, such as field tests of mixtures and methods of sewing, and studies have been made on the effect of ripeness on yield and composition. Some attention has been given to experiments with other forage plants.

Maize is the most important agricultural product of the State, of which it produces more than any other State, with one exception. From the organization of the station, this crop has received much attention, and in recent years investigations on it have been made the leading line of work at the station. Plans are now laid according to which this feature of the work will be even more emphasized than formerly. It is proposed to study the maize plant from every point of view that concerns agriculture, among which will be investigations on its botanical, chemical, and physiological characters, fertilizer requirements, culture, and cross fertilization, together with tests of rotations or systems of cropping. Tests of varieties have been in progress since the organization of the station. The permanence of varieties is being studied, especially in its application in plant breeding.

Numerous culture experiments have been made, relating especially to time, depth, thickness of planting, planting in hills or drills, effect of depth and time of planting, frequency and depth of cultivation, and the effects of root-pruning, different fertilizers, and removing tassels. Experiments are now in progress with companion and catch crops for maize. Observations have been made on the habits of growth of the roots and on the rate of growth of the plant. Experiments are in progress to determine the effects of sowing rye in the maize field at the last plowing, and other experiments to determine the yield of maize planted with and without pumpkins, and of pumpkins planted with and without maize. For some time the botanist carried on experiments, the purpose of which was to inoculate the root of the maize with the bacteria of the root tubercles of legumes. Observations have been made on the amount of water required to produce one pound of dry matter in the plant. An extensive study of the history of maize is in progress. The botanist, Professor Burrill, has discovered and described a bacterial disease of the plant. The same officer has also made important investigations on the biology of silage, which have resulted in distinguishing the different fermentations that occur in the silo and the conditions under which each takes place.

The cereals next in importance in the agriculture of the State are oats and wheat. The experiments with oats have been principally cultural in nature and have comprised experiments made to determine the quantity of seed to be used per acre, the relative merits of compact and loose seed beds, and the time and depth of sowing, together with tests of varieties. The experiments with wheat are similar in nature; they have included tests of fertilizers, of methods of soil preparation, of quantity of seed to be used per acre, and of time and depth

of sowing, comparisons of yields from large and small seed, and tests of varieties. Experimental work looking to the improvement of cereals by the production of new varieties by selection and breeding has been in progress for several years. Extensive studies have been made and are still in progress to determine the adaptability of the soil and climate of Illinois to the culture of the sugar beet.

Some attention has been paid to soil studies. A record has been kept of soil temperatures at the college since the organization of the station. Observations have been made on the rapidity of evaporation from the surface of water, from uncultivated soil, from maize, and from grass. Considerable attention has been paid to the improvement of unproductive white clay soils in the southern part of the State. Experiments are in progress in subsoiling and to determine the influence of nitrogen on the growth of leguminous plants. In horticulture considerable attention has been paid to testing new varieties of orchard and small fruits and vegetables, and to originating new varieties. Experiments in the cultivation (Pl. XLIII, fig. 2), management, and fertilization of orchards have been carried on since the organization of the station. Tests are being made of different methods of transplanting trees. Investigations are being made on the deterioration of fruits and vegetables. Tests have been made of new varieties of apples, both by planting and by top grafting, and comparisons have been made of the hardiness of root-grafted and double-worked trees, as also of methods of propagation by whole and by piece roots. The reciprocal effect of stock and scion is being studied.

Investigations have been made on pear blight, the rot of the potato and tomato, and the life history and method of treatment of smut of broom corn. Studies have been made of the economic parasitic fungi of the State and of the smuts of cereals and methods of prevention. Some attention has been paid to the weeds of the State.

DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

The station has issued 11 annual reports, 56 regular bulletins, 17 circulars, and a few press bulletins. The annual report contains in general only a list of experiments in progress and an itemized statement of the station's accounts. The circulars are in the nature of information bulletins, or are issued to collect facts or to report upon work not sufficiently advanced to be put in bulletin form.

The mailing list contains about 17,000 addresses. New names are kept on cards, but from time to time they are added to a printed list which is kept set up in galley proof. The correspondence amounts to about 5,000 letters a year. The call for the assistance of the station in farmers' institutes and at fairs is greater than can be met. During the past year members of the staff attended 75 institutes and other farmers' gatherings. The station regularly makes an exhibit at the State fair and some other fairs.

GENERAL RESULTS OF WORK.

The Illinois Station has done much toward the establishment of better methods of culture of maize, oats, and wheat, noteworthy among which was the introduction of the method of shallow cultivation of corn, which has now been quite generally adopted throughout the State. The introduction of rape into the State was due almost entirely to station effort. In recent years the relative adaptability of different parts of the State to the successful culture of beets for sugar has been ascertained. The station has also accomplished considerable useful work in informing farmers regarding modern methods of dairying, in the promotion of horticulture, and in the repression of plant diseases.

INDIANA.

Agricultural Experiment Station of Indiana, Lafayette.

Department of Purdue University.

GOVERNING BOARD.

Board of Trustees: William V. Stuart (President), Lock Box 37, Lafayette; E. A. Ellsworth (Secretary), Lafayette; J. M. Fowler (Treasurer), Lafayette; William A. Banks, Laporte; Sylvester Johnson, Irvington; D. E. Beem, Spencer; Job H. Van Natta, Lafayette; Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis; William H. O'Brien, Lawrenceburg; James M. Barrett, Fort Wayne; Charles Downing, Greenfield.

STATION STAFF.

James H. Smart,' M. A., LL. D., President of the University.

Charles S. Plumb, B. S., Director.
William C. Latta, M. S., Agriculturist.
James Troop, M. S., Horticulturist.
Henry A. Huston, M. A., A. C., Chemist.
Joseph C. Arthur, D. Sc., Botanist.
A. W. Bitting, D. V. M., Veterinarian.

William Stuart, M. S., Assistant Botanist.
A. H. Bryan, B. S., Assistant Chemist.
J. H. Skinner, B. S., Assistant Agriculturist.
H. E. Van Norman, B. S., Assistant to
Director and Superintendent of Farm.

HISTORY.

The Indiana Station is located in the western part of the State, toward the north. The surface of the State is in general an undulating plain with an elevation ranging between 1,200 and 500 feet. The land was originally covered with a variety of forest trees which had to be removed before agriculture could be pursued. There are a number of different kinds of soil and large areas of fertile land. The average annual rainfall is about 42 inches and the temperature 52° F. Maize, wheat, oats, hay, and potatoes have been the principal crops, and large numbers of cattle, sheep, swine, and horses are produced. The practice of agriculture on an extensive scale may be said to have

1Deceased February 21, 1900.

begun with the admission of the State into the Union in 1816. Great commercial and manufacturing interests have been developed, and numerous cities and towns have grown up. This has led to much diversification of agriculture. The university with which the station. is connected has developed very largely along technical and scientific lines, and is a well-equipped institution, with 850 students.

The organization of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Indiana was preceded by a limited amount of laboratory and field work at the College of Agriculture of Purdue University. The second annual report of the university for 1876 contains an account of farm operations for 1875 and 1876, which included tests of varieties of cereals and other field crops. Laboratory analyses of soils and milk from the farm are also given by Dr. H. W. Wiley, now chief of the Division of Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture, but at that time professor of chemistry in the university. The report for 1879 refers to experiments begun the fall of the previous year on the quantity of seed wheat needed per acre and a comparison of maize planted in hills and drills.

In the autumn of 1879 a series of plat experiments was instituted, some of which have been continued to the present time. The next year field experiments with fertilizers, wheat, and maize were begun, and a large number of varieties of grapes, small fruits, potatoes, grasses, and clovers were planted. A series of experiments in rotation of crops was also begun the same year. All of these lines of work were continued for several seasons. The first bulletins from Purdue University were issued by the School of Agriculture and were twelve in number. Bulletin No. 1 was issued in December, 1884.

The Indiana Station was organized July 1, 1887, as a department of Purdue University, in accordance with the act of Congress. Prof. J. W. Sanborn was appointed director, but never entered upon the duties of the office. He was succeeded by the president of the university, Dr. J. H. Smart, who served as director pro tempore until the appointment of Prof. H. E. Stockbridge in 1889. Upon the resignation of Dr. Stockbridge in June, 1890, the president of the university again served temporarily as director, with Prof. C. S. Plumb as vice-director, until June, 1891, when Professor Plumb was made director.

ORGANIZATION.

The board of control of the station is the board of regents of the university, which consists of 9 members appointed by the governor for a term of four years each. The board is nonpartisan. The State board of agriculture has the privilege of nominating 2 members and the State Horticultural Society 1 member. The board meets four or five times a year and the affairs of the station are considered at these meetings. Three of the trustees constitute a farm committee, which 17019-No. 80- -14

meets with the director or president, as circumstances require. The secretary of the university trustees is also secretary of the board of control. All of these officers, as well as the treasurer, are paid by the university. The State legislature appoints a committee at each session to visit the station and inspect its work and report on its needs.

The staff consists of the president of the university, director, agriculturist, horticulturist, chemist, botanist, veterinarian, assistant botanist, assistant chemist, assistant agriculturist, and farm superintendent, who is also assistant to the director. The director has general supervision of the work of the station. The staff meets at irregular intervals, subject to the call of that officer or the president, to consult upon important matters. All considerable expenditures of money must be made through the president on orders signed by him and issued on the recommendation of the director of the station.

EQUIPMENT.

The station buildings comprise an agricultural building (Pl. XLIV, fig. 1), cattle barn, horse and hay barn (Pl. XLIV, fig. 2), pig house, sheep house, tool house, dairy building, veterinary hospital, vegetation house, mushroom pit (Pl. XLV, fig. 1), botanical greenhouse, horticultural greenhouse, and director's house. The agricultural building is of brick, 48 by 135 feet, two stories with basement and attic, and contains about 20 rooms. It is used jointly by the station and college of agriculture. In it are the offices of the director and other members of the staff, and the chemical (Pl. XLV, fig. 2), botanical, and veterinary laboratories. The botanical laboratory comprises a general workroom, a bacteriological room, an office for library, and an herbarium with a greenhouse attached. The rooms used by the chemical division comprise an office and library, laboratory for special work, weighing and sampling room, general laboratory, two fire-proof rooms for combustion work, two store and sample rooms, and dark room for polariscope. The rooms occupied by the veterinary division comprise an office, general laboratory, room for microscope, transfer room, dark room, and specimen room.

The university farm of 150 acres is under the control of the station. About 18 acres are used in systematic crop rotations, 13 acres are devoted to experiments with forage and soiling crops, 10 acres to horticultural work, 18 acres are in permanent blue-grass pasture, and about 30 acres are laid out in 122 field plats (Pl. XLVI, fig. 1), which are under the charge of the agriculturist.

The plats are usually one-tenth or one-twentieth acre in size, and are used for experiments in crop rotation, tillage, constant cropping with and without fertilizers, dates of planting, etc. In connection with the farm the station maintains and owns 40 acres which are devoted to a four-course rotation of maize, oats, wheat, and clover.