PLATE XIX. Fig. 1.-Mountain side planted to pineapples, Porto Rico.' Fig. 2.-Canning pineapples, Mayaguez XX. Fig. 1.-Constructing straw shade for seed beds, Porto Rico. XXI. Installing water-jacket soil tanks for irrigation investigations XXVI. Minnesota College live-stock pavilion.. XXVIII. Pennsylvania College dairy building-rear view. XXXI. Fig. 1.-Stock judging, Dunn County School. Fig. 2.-Dairy XXXII. Fig. 1.-Pruning by students at Dunn County School. Fig. Page. 402 416 426 426 464 464 464 582 586 590 590 590 680 680 682 XXXIV. Fig. 1.-Kitchen of Dunn County School. Fig. 2.-Sewing room of Marathon County School 682 XXXV. Fig. 1.-General view of exhibit and irrigation and drainage 688 XXXVI. Fig. 1.-Alaska exhibit. Fig. 2.-Hawaii and Porto Rico exhibits 688 XXXVII. Installation plan, college and station exhibit 694 XXXVIII. Fig. 1.-Exhibit of United States Bureau of Education. Fig. 2.-Exhibit of Office of Experiment Stations. 696 XXXIX. Fig. 1.--Agronomy--plant laboratory. Fig. 2.-Agronomy— field crops 698 XL. Fig. 1.-Animal husbandry-investigation. Fig. 2.—Animal husbandry-instruction ... .... 702 XLI. Fig. 1.—Dairy laboratory. Fig. 2.-Sugar laboratory. 704 706 TEXT FIGURES. FIG. 1. Diagram showing rise of seepage water in soil along Fruit avenue, near Fresno, Cal., during irrigation season of 1904. 452 2. Diagram showing influence of irrigation on the soil-water level at 453 Page. FIG. 3. Map of irrigated tract in Virgin River Valley. 455 4. Map of drainage district along Illinois River. 459 5. Diagram showing form of levees along Illinois River when con- 460 6. First-floor plan of live-stock pavilion, Minnesota College 582 7. Subbasement (cattle barn) of live-stock pavilion, Minnesota Col- 584 8. Basement (horse barn) of live-stock pavilion, Minnesota College.... 585 587 10. First-floor plan of dairy building, Iowa College. 11. Second-floor plan of dairy building, Iowa College. 588 589 ANNUAL REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS JUNE 30, 1904. SUMMARY. By A. C. TRUE and DICK J. CROSBY. STATISTICS OF THE STATIONS. Agricultural experiment stations are now in operation under the act of Congress of March 2, 1887, in all the States and Territories, and, under special appropriation acts, in Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico. In Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, Missouri, Alabama, and Louisiana separate stations are maintained wholly or in part by State funds. A number of substations are also maintained in different States. Excluding the substations, the total number of stations in the United States is 60. Of these, 55 receive appropriations provided for by acts of Congress. The total income of the stations maintained under the act of 1887 during 1904 was $1,508,820.25, of which $719,999.67 was received from the National Government and the remainder, $788,820.58, from State governments, individuals, and communities, fees for analyses of fertilizers, sales of farm products, and miscellaneous sources. In addition to this, the Office of Experiment Stations had an appropriation of $175,000 for the past fiscal year, including $15,000 for the Alaska experiment stations, $15,000 for the Hawaii Experiment Station, $15,000 for the Porto Rico Experiment Station, $20,000 for nutrition investigations, $65,000 for irrigation investigations, and $5,000 for farmers' institutes. The total value of additions to the equipment of the stations in 1904 is estimated to be $293,451.69. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. The activity of the stations in disseminating the results of their investigations continues unabated. Of the 795 persons employed in station work last year, 414 did more or less teaching in the colleges with which the stations are connected, and 363 assisted in farmers' institutes, contributing a total of 2,131 days to this work. In this way the results of investigations in agriculture were brought directly to the attention of about 10,000 students in agricultural colleges and probably five or six times as many attendants at farmers' institutes. 21 A much larger number of farmers has been reached and a wider influence has been extended by means of the publications of the stations. These publications during the past year aggregated 393 annual reports and bulletins, and a total of more than 6,400,000 copies of them was distributed to over 685,000 addresses on the regular mailing lists. The stations also published and distributed over 322,000 copies of circulars, besides numerous leaflets, press bulletins, and other special publications. Many of them report rapidly growing mailing lists and correspondence, and in some cases the demands of this nature have been more than the stations could meet. Considering their limited resources, these institutions are accomplishing a large amount of useful work and giving wide publicity to the results attained. PROGRESS OF THE STATIONS. The practical value and general importance of experiment station work become more apparent as the results of experiments and of the educational movement inaugurated and fostered by these institutions accumulate. In no particular line of work are the possibilities greater than in the field of agronomy-the basis of all agricultural production. The total annual production and value of the different field crops grown in this country are enormous. According to the Statistician of this Department the average yields of the five crop years last past for the entire country amount to approximately 2,180,000,000 bushels of corn, 625,000,000 bushels of wheat, 843,000,000 bushels of oats, 115,000,000 bushels of barley, and 29,000,000 bushels of rye. These figures will probably quite closely approximate average crops of the cereals named for the present time. The production for the year 1904 represents a total value of over $1,950,000,000 created on a little over 171,000,000 acres. The value in dollars of a movement increasing the production per acre by only one bushel, or increasing the value per bushel by only a few cents, can readily be calculated. The influence of experiment station work in this line is manifesting itself in different ways. The work itself is becoming more effective and more productive of immediate results, as the stations are attracting the attention and arousing the interest of the farming population and the business interests alike. Cooperative experiments are increasing in number and extending in scope, and educational campaigns are now conducted which some years ago would not have met with half the success, if they had been possible at all. Great progress has been made in recent years in popularizing improved methods of culture; plant, seed, and variety selection; grain judging and grading, and other phases of production and marketing, and the efforts put forth in each particular line are bearing good fruit. |