The cattle ranch of the open ranges is an institution peculiar to the grazing States. On these ranges vast herds of cattle, branded with the mark of the owner, roam at will over territory often thousands of square miles in extent. Once a year, usually in May or June, occurs the annual round-up. At this round-up men on horseback systematically scour the whole territory and drive the cattle into corrals. Here they are separated; newly born calves are branded with the marks of their mothers; and beef cattle are selected for shipment north and east to be fattened and slaughtered. In the more northern States some provision in the way of sheds and fodder for the herds is necessary to tide over the winter months, and frequently great losses occur from heavy snowstorms; but in the South the cattle run out all winter and find sufficient nourishment in the nutritious grasses of the plains.

Texas, Montana, California, and Oregon are the States most prominently concerned in sheep grazing. A sheep ranch differs from a cattle ranch in that the sheep are grazed in smaller bunches and are constantly watched by a shepherd and his dogs. Sheep on ranches are destined largely for mutton rather than wool.

Ranching is a pastoral and retrogressive kind of farming, but it is the only kind suitable to the unirrigated portions of this great region. The number of sheep and cattle which the natural herbage is capable of supporting is already near the maximum limit, but it seems likely that the food-yielding power of these plains can be greatly increased by the introduction of new species of suitable plants from the arid regions of Australia, South America, Asia, and elsewhere.

The tillable soils of this whole district are abundantly supplied with all the elements of plant growth and the climate, with its clear skies and days of sunshine, is well suited to the growth of all common grains, roots, forage plants, and fruits of the United States. The chief obstacles to agriculture are lack of moisture and the presence of large amounts of alkali in the soils. In the river valleys and wherever water for irrigation can be had this intensive system of farming is in a high state of development. Beginning with the utilization of the small mountain streams for the irrigation of the gardens of the early settlers in Utah, this method of farming has grown until at present more than three million acres are irrigated, and a system of reservoirs, dams, and canals has sprung up rivaling in extent and in engineering features the imperial systems of India. The total area which can be irrigated is many times larger than that now watered, but after all the water resources have been made available for irrigation purposes the amount of land reclaimed will form but a small percentage of the whole.

Irrigation farming requires a high grade of intelligence for its successful management. The economic use of water for the growing of a great variety of crops involves problems requiring years of patient

study for their solution. The conservation by tillage of the irrigation water applied, the effects of seepage, and the rise of alkali consequent upon irrigation are related problems which the experiment stations of the arid States are investigating. Though the actual area cultivated in these arid States is limited, the amount of farm produce yielded is considerable and nowhere in the world can more ideal farming conditions be found than in some of the irrigated valleys of these grazing States.

THE PACIFIC STATES.

These include California, Oregon, and Washington. The agriculture of California is at present largely confined to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Valley systems, constituting the great California Basin, and to a belt of coast lands south of San Francisco. In the southern and central portions of the State irrigation is necessary in the production of crops. The rainfall gradually increases northward. It is periodic in the Great Basin, and is regularly followed each year by a six-months' season of drought. The climate of the California Basin and of the tillable seacoast lands is nearly subtropic, and especially suited to the culture of small grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. On some of the thinly forested lands in and about the valleys cattle and sheep ranches are numerous.

In recent years the fruit industry has been greatly developed in California. Oranges, lemons, prunes, olives, peaches, pears, and raisin grapes are being extensively grown. Fresh California fruits are widely sold throughout the United States and the dried and canned fruits are found in nearly all the cities of northern Europe and in the Asiatic coast towns. The wines from California vineyards compete in the markets of the world with the wines of Europe. In the variety and development of her fruit industries California stands first of all the States of the Union, and in 1890 this State stood second in the production of wheat.

The coast belt north of San Francisco and along the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada is densely forested with conifers. The forests extend northward through Oregon and Washington, where they form the densest and noblest wooded districts of America. The tillable valley soils of all the Pacific States are deep and very fertile and promise to be unusually enduring to the tax of tillage.

Washington and Oregon, like California, seem especially adapted to the growth of small grains, the yields per acre being nearly double those obtained in the Mississippi Valley. The climate is mild and more closely resembles that of Great Britain than does any other portion of America. Deciduous fruits grow luxuriantly, as in California, but the climate seems too moist for the successful culture of the grape. The agriculture of the Pacific States has been developed for the

most part during the second half of the nineteenth century. The problems with which the experiment stations have to deal in that region relate, therefore, to the determination of the natural conditions with reference to the development of agriculture in the manner most suitable to the local environment. Studies of the soil and its management, the testing of varieties of grain, forage plants, vegetables, and fruits, and investigations regarding the utilization of native grasses and forage plants for the development of animal industry have thus far chiefly engaged their attention.

HISTORY OF THE STATIONS.

In the first agricultural societies which were formed in this country near the close of the eighteenth century we find the beginnings of a recognition of the desirability of expérimental inquiries for the advancement of agriculture. The society organized in South Carolina in 1785 had among its objects the establishment of an experiment farm. President Washington, who was a member of the first society for promoting agriculture organized in the United States, which was formed at Philadelphia, then the seat of the General Government, March 1, 1785, in pleading for the establishment of a national board of agriculture in his annual message to Congress in 1796, says that one of the functions of such a board is "to encourage and assist a spirit of discovery and improvement by stimulating to enterprise and experiment." The distribution of seeds and plants begun in 1839 through a Congressional appropriation secured by Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents, which afterwards resulted in the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture, was primarily an experimental enterprise with a view to testing the adaptation of new varieties of agricultural plants to different parts of the country.

* * *

In 1849 the New York Agricultural Society established at Albany a chemical laboratory for the analysis of soils, manures, etc., and an elaborate examination of maize was made there by Dr. Salisbury. In 1855 a special agent was employed by the Patent Office "to investigate and report upon the habits of insects injurious and beneficial to vegetation, especially those infesting the cotton plant." The same office also employed a chemist and botanist, laid out a propagating garden, and arranged with the Smithsonian Institution for procuring and publishing records of meteorological observations. After the establishment of the United States Department of Agriculture in 1862 as a branch of the Government distinct from the Patent Office the land on which its buildings now stand was for several years chiefly used as an experiment farm. As soon as agricultural colleges were established in this country experimental investigations in field and

laboratory were undertaken, but for a number of years these were carried on with small means and for the most part by the voluntary labor of professors outside of their regular duties as instructors.

EARLY EXPERIMENTAL WORK BY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES.

The act to establish and endow an agricultural college passed by the legislature of Maryland in 1856 contains the following section:

SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of the said board of trustees to order and direct to be made and instituted on said model farm, annually, a series of experiments upon the cultivation of cereal and other plants adapted to the latitude and climate of the State of Maryland, and cause to be carefully noticed upon the records of said institution the character of said experiments, the kind of soil upon which they were undertaken, the system of cultivation adopted, the state of the atmosphere, and all other particulars which may be necessary to a fair and complete understanding of the result of said experiments.

The records of the college show that in 1858, immediately after the college was located, and before building began, field experiments with corn, oats, and potatoes, "to test the relative value of the different manures offered for sale in the cities of Baltimore and Washington,' were commenced on the college farm. This work continued for two or three years, but was interrupted by the financial distress which soon affected the whole country and by the disturbed political condition of the State and nation.

In 1870 the president and fellows of Harvard College began to organize the school of agriculture and horticulture which had been provided for in the will of Mr. Benjamin Bussey, of Roxbury, Mass. This interesting document was signed July 30, 1835, and was proved soon after the death of the testator, in 1842. It bequeathed half of the income of about $300,000 and 200 acres of land in Roxbury to the president and fellows of Harvard College, on condition that they establish on the farm "a course of instruction in practical agriculture, in useful and ornamental gardening, in botany, and in such other branches of natural science as may tend to promote a knowledge of practical agriculture and the various arts subservient thereto." Owing to other provisions of the will, it was not deemed advisable to begin the formation of the Bussey institution earlier than 1870. In the same year the trustees of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture granted to the corporation of Harvard College a considerable sum "for the support of a laboratory and for experiments in agricultural chemistry, to be conducted on the Bussey estate." The laboratory of the new institution was not ready for occupation until the last week in 1871. As soon was completed, however, agricultural researches were begun by F. H. Storer, the professor of agricultural chemistry, and his assistants. The first report of this work was presented to a committee of the trustees of the Massachusetts Society for

Promoting Agriculture, December 3, 1871. The earliest experiments consisted of field tests of fertilizers upon the farm of the institution, and chemical analyses of commercial fertilizers. A number of bulletins were published, including reports of field experiments and investigations on hybridizing plants, the composition of feeding stuffs and fertilizers, injurious fungi, and physiology. The great fire in Boston in 1872 and the commercial crisis of 1873 combined to cripple the institution financially, and for a number of years little was done in the way of original investigations. Recently, however, the financial status of the institution has improved, and investigations have been undertaken in several lines. Several bulletins have been published within the past three years, among which are those on the white pine. (Pinus strobus), basket willow, systematic destruction of marmots and other vermin, and chemical substances in the trunks of trees. An extensive arboretum of indigenous and exotic trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants has been developed on the grounds of the institution through a bequest made to Harvard University in 1872 by James Arnold, of New Bedford, Mass.

When the College of Agriculture of the University of California was organized it was understood that a part of its work would consist of experimental inquiries. In 1870 Prof. E. S. Carr, in an address at the State Fair, made the following specific allusion: "The University proposes to furnish the facilities for all needful experiments; to be the station where tests can be made of whatever claims attention." A later report contains the following statements regarding the development of experimental inquiries in agriculture at the University:

Ex-President Gilman, in his report dated December 1, 1873, alludes to progress in this work, as follows:

The University domain is being developed with a view to illustrate the capability of the State for special cultures, whether of forests, fruits, or field crops, and the most economical methods of production. It will be the station where new plants and processes will be tested and the results made known to the public. * A fine estate has been provided, well adapted to the establishment of an experiment station in agriculture, a botanic garden, an arboretum, etc.

*

*

As is usual in the history of new undertakings, progress at first was slow and hesitating. The report for the years 1873-1875, by R. E. C. Stearns, at that time secretary of the board of regents, shows that 40 acres were prepared for planting with a view to agricultural experiments in 1874, and that during the winter following there were planted 584 named varieties of tree fruits, 73 of grapevines, and 95 of various small fruits. * * *

In 1874 buildings were erected on the grounds set apart for agricultural experiments, viz: A barn 36 by 44 feet; a tool house 64 by 12 feet; two propagating houses, one 64 by 15 feet, the other 30 by 24 feet; a house for hatching fish eggs; and in addition to these larger structures a complement of sheds and outbuildings, hot beds, and cold frames were provided. Propagation of shrubs and trees from seed obtained abroad, and especially from other arid regions of the world, was first undertaken.

In 1874 E. W. Hilgard was chosen professor of agriculture. [Professor Hilgard had previously been engaged for a number of years in conducting an agricultural and geological survey in Mississippi, in connection with which chemical examinations of