the manure and potash (4 cords of the former and 160 pounds per acre of high-grade sulfate of potash) it was at the rate of 86.72 bushels of hard corn and 8,280 pounds of stover per acre. This experiment has now continued for nineteen years, corn and grass alternating during most of the time in periods of two successive years each. The manure alone gives slightly larger crops, but at a cost disproportionally greater than that of the product on the combination of manure and potash.

V. The field used in experiments comparing different phosphates was planted to late cabbages during the past season. The crop was a poor one on account of the prolonged drought. The experimental result, however, was satisfactory, as it illustrated as strikingly as in any previous year the marked dependence of the cabbage upon a liberal supply of highly available phosphoric acid. The average product of the three no-potash plots was at the rate of only 2,573 pounds per acre, all heads, both hard and soft, being included. The best results were obtained on plots to which raw bone, dissolved bone black and basic slag meal were applied, these being respectively at the following rates per acre:

During the past year, therefore, we have on the best plots a yield of cabbages eight times greater than was produced on the no-phosphate plots. In 1908 these same no-phosphate plots gave a yield of hay at the rate of about 4 tons to the acre, as compared with a yield only 1,200 to 1,300 pounds per acre greater on the plots to which the most soluble phosphates were applied. These facts illustrate in a striking manner the remarkable difference in the degree of dependence of the two crops (mixed grass and clover hay, and cabbages) upon the phosphoric acid content of the soil.

VI. The experiment on the nine-acre field in top-dressing grass land with manure, fine ground bone and muriate of potash, and wood ashes has been continued. The product this year of the different materials was at the following rates per acre:

The average yield for the entire area during the past season was at the rate of 4,977 pounds per acre. The average for the entire period, 1893 to 1908 inclusive, has been 6,220 pounds. The yields this year were considerably lower than usual, especially those of rowen, and undoubtedly on account of the marked deficiency in rainfall.

VII. In the experiment comparing winter with spring application of manure the crop this year has been mixed grass and clover hay. The field was cut twice, and the averages for the plots representing the two systems of application have been as follows per acre:

Spring application has given substantially 10 per cent. more hay and about 1412 per cent. more rowen than winter application.

VIII. Our work with poultry has been directed principally to a comparison of the so-called dry mash with the moist mash system of feeding laying fowls. The results have not indicated any marked superiority for either. The number of eggs from the fowls receiving the moist mash has been somewhat greater than the number produced by the fowls receiving the dry mash. Whether the difference is sufficiently great to offset the greater labor cost of the moist mash system of feeding we are not yet prepared to say.

REPORT OF THE CHEMIST.

JOSEPH B. LINDSEY.

DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL CHEMISTRY.

Research division: EDWARD B. HOLLAND, ROBERT D. MACLAURIN.
Fertilizer division: HENRI D. HASKINS.

Feed and dairy division: PHILIP H. SMITH.

Assistant chemists: LEWELL S. WALKER, JAMES C. REED, Philip V. GOLDSMITH.

Assistant in animal nutrition: Roy F. GASKILL.

Inspector: WILLIAM K. HEPBURN.

Clerks and stenographers: HARRIET M. COBB, ALICE M. HOWARD.

This department of the experiment station conducts experiments in animal nutrition and applies the science of chemistry in studying dairy problems, the composition of soils and the composition and food requirements of plants and animals. It inspects the fertilizers and cattle feeds sold in the State, as well as Babcock machines and the accessory apparatus employed in determining the commercial value of milk and cream; tests water used for drinking, at a cost of $3 per sample; analyzes farmers' samples of fertilizer, milk and cream free of cost, and conducts tests of pure-bred cows under the rules and regulations of the several cattle clubs. Its work for the year ending Dec. 1, 1908, is outlined below.

1. CORRESPONDENCE.

The department conducts correspondence with interested parties on all of the subjects mentioned above, endeavoring so far as possible to answer all questions promptly and completely. The number of letters of all kinds sent out during the year has approximated 4,800.

2. NUMERICAL SUMMARY OF LABORATORY WORK. From Dec. 1, 1907, to Dec. 1, 1908, there have been received and examined 143 samples of water, 625 of milk, 2,899 of cream, 122 of feed stuffs, 169 of fertilizers and fertilizer materials, 33 soils and 26 miscellaneous. In connection with experiments made by this and other departments of the station there have been examined 256 samples of milk, 194 samples of skim milk and buttermilk, 54 samples of butter, 151 samples of cattle feeds and 476 samples of agricultural plants. There have also been collected and examined 895 samples of cattle feeds in accordance with the requirements of the feed law, and 624 samples of fertilizer in accordance with the fertilizer law. The total for the year has been 6,667.

In addition to the above, 23 candidates have been examined and given certificates to operate Babcock machines, and 2,713 pieces of Babcock glassware have been tested for accuracy of graduation, of which 33, or 1.22 per cent., were inaccurate.

3. REPORT OF THE FERTILIZER DIVISION.

Mr. Henri D. Haskins makes the following report, including topics (a) through (j):

The principal work of the fertilizer division has been in connection with the official inspection of commercial fertilizers and the analyses of materials forwarded by farmers and farmer organizations.

The new law, obliging the station to publish commercial valuations and the percentage of differences, has added materially to the detail of the inspection work, more particularly with reference to the necessary correspondence and clerical work. The results of the year's work indicate a more complete collection and analyses of the licensed brands than ever before, and show, on the whole, an improvement over the preceding year in the quality of the goods that have been sold in Massachusetts markets.

(a) Fertilizers licensed.

During the year 76 manufacturers, importers and dealers have secured licenses for the sale of 409 distinct brands of fertilizers and agricultural chemicals in Massachusetts; this is

23 more than were licensed in 1907. They may be grouped as follows:

The samples which furnished the material for this year's inspection were taken by Mr. W. K. Hepburn, the authorized sampling agent of the experiment station. During the months of April, May and June, 624 samples, representing 400 distinct brands, were taken from dealers' stock in various parts of the State. Ninety towns were visited and samples were taken from about 180 different agents. Duplicate samples of the same brand have been taken from various parts of the State whenever possible, as in previous years, and an analysis has been made of a composite sample composed of equal weights of the various samples.

(c) Fertilizers analyzed.

Ninety-two more analyses have been made than during the previous year. One hundred and eleven more samples, representing 44 more brands, have been collected and analyzed than during 1907. In the inspection of the licensed fertilizers the following analyses have been made:

Complete fertilizers, .

322

Ground bone, tankage and fish,.

39

Acid phosphate, dissolved bone black and slag,
Cotton-seed meal, linseed meal, castor pomace, blood

14

and nitrate of soda,

Muriate, sulfate and carbonate of potash and kainit,
Materials furnishing potash, phosphoric acid and lime,
such as ashes,

Aside from this, 21 samples of fertilizer have been analyzed that were sampled officially by the collecting agent and which represent goods manufactured for private use, making in all 454 analyses.