stations than formerly supplemented their regular publications with more or less frequent issues of press bulletins and other special publications, and most of the stations report a large and constantly increasing correspondence with farmers on a wide variety of topics.

PROGRESS OF THE STATIONS.

As the work of the experiment stations advances from year to year experimental data accumulate in many lines, and from time to time results of great general importance come out of this extensive work. A good example of this at the present time is found in the investigations of the stations relating to cheese making. The importance of this industry in this country is shown by the fact that the production now amounts to 300,000,000 pounds a year, valued at approximately $30,000,000. Though cheese making is probably the oldest dairy industry, very little has been known regarding the principles on which it is based. For centuries it has been carried on largely by rule-of-thumb methods, and the reasons for the various processes and the exact nature of the changes brought about by them have been unknown to the cheese maker. He has been guided mainly by the traditions of his art and has depended upon the skill and judgment acquired through long experience. Within the past ten years several of the experiment stations of this country have prosecuted systematic studies of cheese making, with a view of determining the principles upon which it rests and the means of simplifying and improving its processes. Owing to the large number of factors involved the work has been difficult, and for a considerable time the progress was slow. Now, however, the accumulated results are of great practical value, and it may be fairly claimed not only that. this great industry has been put on a rational basis, but also that the art of cheese making has been simplified and its processes can now be more easily controlled, so that good cheese can be more uniformly produced. Besides providing explanations for the important processes in cheese making, the work of the stations has shown that the traditions upon which the empirical rules were founded were absolutely wrong in numerous important particulars and that the judgment of good cheese makers was also erroneous.

Taken as a whole, the investigations on cheese making by the American experiment stations constitute one of the most important contributions of science ever made to any branch of agriculture. A few of the general results of this work may serve to indicate its practical value.

One of the greatest sources of trouble in cheese making has been milk which is tainted, or which contains certain kinds of bacteria and molds. The milk of a single patron of a cheese factory may unfavorably affect the whole supply by causing gassy curds and other difficulties. To remedy this a simple curd test was developed by the Wisconsin Station a few years ago by means of which faulty milk may be easily detected.

For ages rennet has been used in the production of curd, and it has been supposed that nothing else could take its place. An extended study of the action of rennet by the New York State Experiment Station led to the conclusion that its effects in curd production are due to a single ferment whose action is essentially like that of pepsin. This raised the question whether ordinary commercial pepsin could not be used in the place of rennet. The Wisconsin Station and the Ohio State University have demonstrated that pepsin may be so used with entire success, and tests with pepsin on a commercial scale in an Ohio cheese factory have resulted in the production of cheese of high quality. Some of the advantages of scale pepsin over rennet extracts are that it is of more uniform strength, keeps better, especially in warm weather, and is free from bacteria and molds.

According to the traditions of cheese making, a temperature of at least 70° F. has been considered the proper one for ripening cheese, but investigations have shown that while high temperatures hasten changes in the casein, since ferments and bacteria are then more active, heat also increases the activity of injurious germs and prevents proper control of the ripening. Hence, too warm curing rooms are one of the greatest causes of poor cheese.

Taking up this line of work, the Wisconsin and New York State stations have made extensive experiments in curing cheese at low temperatures, and recently the United States Department of Agriculture has cooperated in this work. Cold curing at from 40° to 60° F. has in this way been shown to be entirely practicable, and to result not only in improved quality, but in a saving from shrinkage which will more than cover the expense of artificial cooling. Cheese makers are now convinced that they have been holding their cheese at too high a temperature, and there is a very general movement among them to provide facilities for lowering the temperature and keeping it down even in the hottest weather.

Another good illustration of the practical value of the accumulated results of experiment station work may be found in the summary of the investigations on apple growing contained in another part of this report. From this it appears that the stations have issued more than 170 bulletins on this subject. Much useful information regarding the best general conditions for apple growing, and the varieties adapted to different localities, has thus been disseminated, but besides this the results of a large number of original investigations have been reported. Studies of the flowers of apple trees have shown that some varieties of apples are self-sterile, while others are good pollenizers. In this way the unproductiveness of many orchards is explained, and the way to remedy this is pointed out. The conditions under which the pollen germinates, and how this process is affected by heat, rain, and cold, as well as the value of bees as agents in the distribution of pollen, have

been shown. The chemical composition of the leaves, trunk, and roots of the apple tree have been determined both for old trees and for nursery stock, and the draft of the orchard on the fertility of the soil has been shown to be fully as great as continuous cropping with cereals. This has brought out the necessity of fertilizing orchards, and has led to important experiments on the action of different fertilizers on the growth of the apple orchard and of fruit production.

In connection with studies relating to the cultivation of orchards, definite information has been obtained as to the period of growth of the shoots and roots, the time of formation of the flower and leaf buds, and the methods of controlling the ripening of the wood so as to prevent winterkilling. The value of clean cultivation and of fall cover crops in the preservation of soil moisture and the protection of the roots during the winter has been demonstrated, and it may be safely asserted that never before in this country have apple orchards been given such thorough and rational cultivation as at the present time.

How best to plant apple trees in the arid West and the humid East, or on clay soils and sandy soils, right methods of pruning the roots and training the tops, how to ward off diseases and insect pests and produce uniform and perfect fruit, are problems on which much valuable experimental information has been obtained. As the result of station work, we know definitely the controlling factors in the keeping of fruit in ordinary and cold storage, and in the utilization of waste fruit by evaporation, or conversion into cider, vinegar, jelly, marmalade, etc. The large amount of work which the stations have done on questions relating to feeding stuffs is indicated by the brief review of this work given elsewhere in this report. Some of the practical results of this work have been very important. The saving and use of corn fodder (stover), which was formerly so largely wasted over a large part of the country, is a striking illustration of this. Its value as a feeding stuff has been demonstrated, and the best means of utilizing it have been shown by the stations' work, and their continual agitation has brought about very great improvement in farm practice in this respect. At the nominal value of $1 a ton the corn stover crop of the United States would be worth at least $100,000,000. While it is not all utilized, a much larger share of it is, and the practice of doing this is steadily increasing.

The inspection of commercial and condimental feeding stuffs, brought about by the experiment stations, has already had the effect of largely holding in check the adulteration of these products and fraud in their sale. In a number of States where the laws have been vigorously enforced by the stations inferior articles have been entirely driven out of the market, because farmers would not buy them unless they received the stations' stamp of approval.

Along with the more scientific work which the stations have done in determining the nutritive value of feeding stuffs there has been much practical work in the improvement of the practice of feeding different kinds of farm animals. The skill which the stations have developed in selecting and feeding animals has of late appealed strongly to the practical feeder. As recent illustrations of this, it is worthy of mention that the Missouri Station topped the Chicago market with a bunch of steers which it selected and fattened last winter, and that at the livestock show at Chicago, in 1903, the grand champion of the fat-animal show was a steer selected from a large lot and fed by the Nebraska Station.

In general it may be stated that the excellent showing that the agricultural colleges and experiment stations have recently made in the great live-stock expositions has brought about a marked change in the attitude of practical men toward these institutions.

NEEDS OF THE STATIONS.

As the work of the stations advances demands are being made upon them in various directions which they are unable to meet with their present resources. In considering the needs as well as in judging the work of the stations it is very important to have in mind the conditions under which they are operating. By the terms of the Hatch Act, the stations are organized with a view to the investigation of problems in all branches of agriculture. For this reason, though it would be better theoretically for individual stations to undertake only a few lines of work and thus refuse to operate in many branches of agriculture, practically it has been necessary to organize them so that their operations may cover the main lines of the agriculture existing in the States in which they are severally located. Thus each station if fully organized would have departments of agronomy (field crops), horticulture, animal husbandry, rural engineering, agricultural chemistry, plant pathology, entomology, veterinary medicine, and, in most States, dairying. If there is any specialization of work in these departments-and no station can do the most effective work unless there is considerable specialization-experts in such subjects as soils, bacteriology, animal physiology, and the different kinds of live stock must be employed. In many States the needs of special industries, such as sugar making, tobacco growing, apiculture, etc., should be provided for. Thus it may be safely said that a station which does not have on its staff experts representing at least ten different branches of the science of agriculture is not adequately equipped for its work. But stations whose income is confined to the Hatch fund can not engage the full time of ten experts, for even if the whole fund were used for salaries, it would provide only an average annual compensation of $1,500 apiece, and this is not a sufficient salary to secure the entire services of a com

petent agricultural expert. Most of our stations have therefore been compelled to content themselves with an organization of their staffs which is necessarily unsatisfactory. They have either taken most of the time of three or four experts and very little of the time of several more, or they have taken about half the time of the members of the staff generally.

The only way in which it has thus far been possible to organize the work of our stations broadly has been through their connection with the agricultural colleges. To meet the demand for the broad organization of both the colleges and the stations, the time of the officers of these institutions has been very largely divided between teaching and research. We hear a great deal of criticism of our college and station officers which entirely leaves out of account this dual arrangement. For example, it may be said of a station veterinarian that he is doing very little original work, and he is blamed for this, when the fact is that he is paid only $200 or $300 a year from station funds, with the understanding that he shall give a small part of his time to some of the more superficial problems of animal diseases in the region of the station. The rest of his time is given to the college or to State inspection work and most of his salary comes from college or State funds. Theoretically, it might have been better for the station to have dispensed with his services altogether, but the agricultural community would not be content with such an arrangement. Whatever may be thought of the relation of the colleges and stations from an ideal standpoint, it would not have been possible to have operated the stations on the broad plan on which they are now organized without the assistance of the colleges, and on the other hand, many college departments would be crippled or destroyed without the aid of the stations.

During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, 52 stations shared in the benefits of the Hatch fund. Twenty-five of these were given additional State aid and 27 did not receive State aid. Of the State appropriations for the stations, 6 did not exceed $1,000, and only 8 equaled or exceeded the Hatch appropriation of $15,000. Several of the State appropriations were exclusively for the support of substations. The total State appropriations for stations and substations were but little more than 51 per cent of the Hatch fund.

The meagerness of the funds available for investigation in the 27 stations not aided by the State is shown by the following figures from the statistical reports on the expenditures of the Hatch fund in those stations. Their total receipts from the Hatch fund were $405,000. Their expenditures for administration and permanent improvements (salaries, labor, traveling expenses, postage, stationery, libraries, and fixtures) amounted to $313,086.38, or an average of $11,595 for each station. The average amount expended for publications was $760. This leaves an average for each station of only $2,645 for the general expenses of