DIRECTOR'S REPORT.

FISCAL YEAR 1891-2.

GENTLEMEN OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS:

In order to present to you a clear conception of the work and operations of the Agricultural Experiment Station, I shall discuss the work of the Station under the several heads into which it is divided. I also attach to my report the reports of the several Chiefs of Divisions, to which your attention is directed.

The work of the Experiment Station for this year has been divided into the Executive Work, Chemical Work, Agricultural Work, Entomological Work, and the Botanical Work. I also have a report from Dr. Brown upon the fruit trees sent to his district some four years since.

Taking up the work in order we begin with the CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT.

CHEMICAL DEPARTMENT.

In the chemical department, the work has been done with a great deal of efficiency.

The fertilizer law, passed by the last Legislature, precipitated upon the department last fall an immense amount of work which was held back by the fertilizer manufacturers until the season was open, and then they made a grand rush all at once to have their work done, taxing the department to its utmost capacity. The Chemist, Mr. Hite, and another assistant, together with the Director, were forced to work night and day for obout three months in order to clear up the work. The manufacturers were notified promptly that they would be expected to comply with the conditions of the law, but they seemed not, until the last moment, to realize that it would be enforced, and the impossibility of making such a large number of analyses (about eighty) in the time that was placed at our disposal before the season opened, led to what we thought was unreasonable criticism. With a view to avoiding this complication, they were notified last fall and again Jan. Ist, that they were required to comply with the law the first of January, and I am happy to say that the majority of manufacturers selling fertilizers in this state have already complied with the law for this season, and we do not anticipate any further difficulties, as they appear now to appreciate the necessity of promptly complying with the law, which will relieve us of the extraordinary pressure of work that came upon us last fall, and they will have their fertilizers promptly analyzed.

The accuracy with which our work has been done is shown by the fact that not a single sample about which there has been any dispute has been found, upon a review, to have been inaccurately analyzed by us. In one case where the manufacturers

were particularly persistent in insisting that we had made a mistake, I shipped samples of the goods to the station in Kentucky to have them check our work, and in each case the results arrived at by the Kentucky station chemists were within the limits of working error of our own results, showing that the manufacturers and their chemists were in error. This season we have had no dispute of this character, as the manufacturers appear to be convinced that where a shortage is found in their goods, the mistake has been made in their factories, or by their chemists, so that for the present season, we have had no bitter disputes with the manufacturers in regard to their goods. Of the fertilizers offered in the market last fall, about 27 per cent. were found to be short of the guarantee given by the manufacturers and, in some cases, very seriously short. This year the manufacturers are coming up very close to their guarantees, and it is thought that with each year, as the fertilizer inspection is carried out, it will increase in popularity with the farmers, and in the confidence of the manufacturers. We have reported several parties to the various prosecuting attorneys for prosecution.

The system of testing the chemical work done at our experiment stations in this country is the most elaborate and exact in the world, and through the samples sent out by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, we are able to determine exactly the working capacity and accuracy, not only of our own, but of every other agricultural chemist in the country. Our work in the chemical department here stands equal to that done at any of the older laboratories which have the entire confidence of the manufacturers and scientific men of the country.

The work of the chemist for last season has appeared in the bulletin upon "Commercial Fertilizers;" in Dr. Millspaugh's bulletin upon "Weeds as Fertilizers," and in the proceedings of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists. Dr. de Roode has offered to furnish considerable additional matter for publication which would, no doubt, be of interest and advan tage to the farmers of the State if we could have published it; but as we had so much other matter which had been on hand

longer, I deemed it expedient for this year to publish the latter rather than that offered by Dr. de Roode, and I assume entire responsibility for the failure of a larger amount of matter to appear in bulletin form over Dr. de Roode's name. We were forced by the inadequate appropriations of the Legislature for public printing, and by the warning served upon us by the Secretary of State, to very largely curtail the matter that we were prepared to furnish to the farmers, and to reduce our mailing list from about 31,000 names to about 8,000, and I adopted the policy where matter of apparently equal importance was offered by different members of the station staff for publication, as far as practicable, to have it printed in the order in which the investigations were begun. I have on file considerable valuable matter from the various departments ready for publication.

Our laboratory is magnificently equipped, and we are prepared to carry forward any kind of investigations upon the chemical side of agricultural science. The line of work followed by this department during the past year embraces the analyses of commercial fertilizers, soils, feed stuffs, the samples sent out by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, and the careful study of some improved methods of chemical analyses.

From time to time, under pressure of the work, we have employed, temporarily, various assistants. Mr. Hite, a former graduate of the university, and a very expert analyst, was employed during the summer vacation. Prof. Whitehill helped us for a short time, and certain lines of work not involving special scientific training, was carried out by young ladies employed from time to time as necessary.

ENTOMOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.

By the very persistent and enthusiastic eflorts of our entomologist, Mr. A. D. Hopkins, a very large amount of valuable scientific work has been done in this department. I have been especially interested in the lines of investigation undertaken by him, and am led to believe that valuable results will be arrived at which may be of immense immediate value to the agricultural interests of the State.

When we remember that the depredations of insects upon the various fruits, grains and forage crops of the State amount in the aggregate probably to hundreds of thousands of dollars, the importance of the work done by this department is not likely to be over-estimated.

Mr. Hopkins, like Dr. de Roode, has offered for publication quite a voluminous amount of matter which I have been forced, by the lack of sufficient appropriations, to ask him to condense, and also withhold for the time being. I have done so, however, with the expectation of giving him as full opportunity as possible during the next year. In his case, also, I assume the responsibility for the failure of more matter to appear in print. In the general adjustment of affairs and resources of the station, it has been necessary to restrain the volume of matter of fered for publication.

I desire to call special attention to the efforts which we are making through this department to import into the State from Europe beneficial and parasetic, insects, which will have a tendency to check the ravages of destructive insects imported. into this country from Europe, but which, on account of freedom from their natural enemies, are promising to be specially destructive in this country. If we can succeed in accomplishing this enterprise, the immediate and remote benefits to be derived from it can scarcely be estimated. Just as the importation from Australia of parasites of the orange scale has saved to the State of California the orange groves which were being destroyed by this pest, so our forests, fruit trees, and garden products may be largely protected by friendly insects imported into this country to destroy the insect pests brought in from foreign countries and from their natural enemies. It is one of the most important enterprises that has been attempted by any experiment station in the country, and we look forward to these results with intense interest. If we succeed, we shall have accomplished an extremely valuable result not only for this, but for other stations. If we fail, the failure will be in one of the best causes to which we can devote the energies of this department.