land by improper irrigation may be prevented, and has given timely warning to many immigrants to avoid settling on lands until they had determined their actual availability for agricultural purposes. The tests of a great variety of plants made by this station, and the subsequent systematic and carefully conducted distribution of the varieties. giving promise of successful introduction, has been of very great benefit, not only in effecting the profitable culture of varieties new to the State, but also in preventing much loss of time and money which would have been caused by the unsystematic trial of numerous varieties by farmers and horticulturists. The value of the station's investigation on the manufacture of wine and olive oil is also generally recognized as being very considerable. COLORADO. Agricultural Experiment Station, Fort Collins. Department of the State Agricultural College of Colorado. GOVERNING BOARD. P. F. Sharp, (President), Pueblo; A. Lindsley Kellogg, Rockyford; P. A. Amiss, Pruden; Harlan Thomas, Denver; James L. Chatfield, Gypsum; B. F. Rockafellow, Canon City; Mrs. Eliza F. Routt, Denver; Jesse Harris, Fort Collins; Governor Charles S. Thomas, Denver; President B. O. Aylesworth, Fort Collins. STATION STAFF. B. O. Aylesworth, M. A., LL.D., President of the College. L. G. Carpenter, M. S., Director; Meteorolo- W. W. Cooke, B. S., M. A., Agriculturist. W. P. Headden, M. A., Ph. D., Chemist. L. M. Taylor, Stenographer. F. L. Watrous, Assistant Agriculturist. Fred Alford, B. S., Assistant Chemist. R. E. Trimble, B. S., Assistant Meteorologist E. D. Ball, B. S., Assistant Entomologist. Harvey H. Griffin, B. S., Superintendent Arkansas Valley Substation, Rockyford. J. E. Payne, M. S., Superintendent Plains Substation, Cheyenne Wells. HISTORY. The Colorado Station is located near the base of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of about 5,000 feet, in a region in which irrigation has been successfully and extensively used as a necessary basis for agriculture. The eastern third of Colorado is a part of the Great Plains which rise gradually from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains, and are in a natural state a vast treeless and arid region with a fertile soil covered very largely with nutritious grasses. The rainfall varies with different seasons, but is always scanty. At Fort Collins it averages 13.7 inches. The remainder of the State is covered with mountains, hundreds of whose peaks attain a height of over 10,000 feet. Among these are numerous streams and fertile valleys which are more and more utilized for agricultural and horticultural purposes. The development of irrigation and agriculture on anything like a large scale has taken place mainly during the past quarter of a century. At the present time agriculture is a very important industry in the State. The principal crops are wheat, oats, maize, barley, alfalfa, and potatoes. The growing of fruits and vegetables is becoming an important industry. Large numbers of sheep and cattle are produced. There are extensive forests on the mountain slopes. The college with which the station is connected has been developed mainly along technical and scientific lines. Previous to the establishment of the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, the State Agricultural College had been opened in 1879, and had certain experimental duties laid upon it by the State law. The legislature had provided that all agricultural operations on the farm should be carried on experimentally with a view to the improvement of scientific agriculture in Colorado. While the intent of this provision was carried out as far as possible, and in fact considerable work was done, especially by the professors of agriculture and horticulture, nevertheless the limited revenue of the college did not admit of great development along experimental lines. As Colorado was then a new State, and the people were unaware of the possibilities of its agriculture, experimental work consisted very largely in ascertaining field, garden, and orchard varieties which would be hardy under local conditions. The results of these experiments were published in the annual reports of the State board of agriculture prior to 1888 and in two special pamphlets issued in 1884 and 1886, respectively. When the national fund became available, in 1888, the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station was organized as a department of the college, with divisions of agriculture, horticulture, veterinary science, chemistry, and irrigation engineering, and the president of the college, Prof. C. L. Ingersoll, became director. Subsequently the division of veterinary science was discontinued, and one in entomology was formed. A State law provided that substations should be organized in different parts of the State, one in the Arkansas Valley, one on the divide between the Arkansas and Platte rivers, one in the fruit districts in western Colorado, and one in the high mountain park known as the San Luis Valley. A later act of the legislature required that one should also be established on the Plains, at Cheyenne Wells. The substation in western Colorado was never organized. Those in the San Luis Valley and on the divide were in operation only a few years. The two still in existence are at Rockyford, in the Arkansas Valley, and Cheyenne Wells, on the Great Plains in eastern Colorado. ORGANIZATION. The governing board of the station is the State board of agriculture, which consists of eight members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the State senate, with the governor of the State and the president of the college ex officio. The term of office is eight years. Two members are appointed biennially. If vacancies occur before the term of office expires they are filled by the remaining members. There are a number of standing committees, but these committees do not have the authority of the board except by special authorization. The most important committee is the executive committee, consisting of five members elected by ballot for two years, which was formed especially to supervise the affairs of the experiment station. This committee meets monthly and audits the expenditures of both experiment station and college. The board holds two meetings annually, one in December and one in June. Other meetings may be called by the president of the board at the request of three members. Members are allowed $4 per diem and expenses. The staff is composed of the president of the college, director (who is also meteorologist and irrigation engineer), agriculturist, botanist and horticulturist, chemist, entomologist, secretary, stenographer, assistant agriculturist, assistant horticulturist, three assistant chemists, assistant meteorologist and irrigation engineer, assistant entomologist, superintendent of the Arkansas Valley substation, and superintendent of the Plains substation. These officers are appointed by the State board of agriculture and, in general, hold office during good behavior and efficiency. During the most of the station's existence the president of the college has also served as director of the station, acting as chairman of the council and representing the station as its executive officer. Under the present organization the director is a working member of the staff. The heads of divisions are professors in the college and give only a part of their time to station work. The station council, consisting of the heads of divisions, has had heretofore the general supervision of station matters under the executive committee, such as deciding upon lines of work and preparation of bulletins. Hereafter greater responsibility will rest upon the director, and the council will act as an advisory body. Particular lines of investigation are usually selected by each member of the staff, after conference with the members of the council, and adopted by the executive committee. The substations have heretofore been field stations, with a superintendent as the permanent officer in charge. Their principal line of work has been the testing of varieties to determine those adapted to their localities. In future the amount of field work at the stations will be reduced, and the superintendents will devote more time to investigations of questions not confined to the station grounds. |