wealth. But it is essential to the well-being and prosperity of the Institution that the range of its work and the extent of its annual support should be at least approximately fixed. If the State proposes to give a full and fair interpretation to the words of her covenant with the United States, "to provide a liberal and practical education for the industrial classes in the several pursuits and profession in life,” the prescent scope of the work of the College is somewhat too narrow and should be judiciously enlarged. If, on the other hand, the State proposes, after deliberate consideration, to minimize her obligations and merely expend the funds granted by the United State without adding anything thereto, then the present work of the College must be curtailed, and the earlier a decision is reached the better for all interests concerned.

But no one believes for a moment that Pennsylvania will take any backward step. The State College has in recent years come to be recognized as one of the important educational agencies in the State system of public education. An effort has been made in some quarters to convey the impression that it is largely a local Institution; but the sufficient answer to this suggestion is, that its students are drawn this year, as they have been for several years past, from more than fifty counties of the Commonwealth. Its graduates are taking rank as among the best equipped men in their several pursuits and professions, and it is quite within the truth to say that the Institution is esteemed throughout the country as one of the best Colleges which the several states have established on the basis of the Land Grant of 1862. The policy of the College is to give the best possible education at the lowest possible cost. It expects a high standard of qualification in its Faculty and a high standard of work from its students, as the only manner in which the expenditure of public money could be justified, as well as the only course that would be approved by the people of the State. The number of students in attendance and the number of counties of the State represented shows conclusively that this view is well founded, and that the College is meeting a distinct and growing public demand.

The State College has no antagonisms with other Institutions. It rejoices in their prosperity; but, by the action of the State, it has been assigned to a distinct and unique field which it is endeavoring to fill to the full measure of its resources, in the natural order of its position as one branch of the State system of Public Instruction, and with a constant sense of its public responsibilties.

In conclusion, I desire to express my renewed appreciation of the continued support which I have received from the Trustees, the Faculty, the Students and the Alumni of the College. Very respectfully,

GEO. W. ATHERTON,

June 30, 1899.

President.

II. AGRICULTURE.

A.-EXPERIMENT STATION AND SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE.

To the President:

Sir: The work of the Experiment Station and that of the School of Agriculture are so intimately related that, as in previous years, it seems desirable to include the two in a single report.

Several changes in the personnel of the Station and School have occurred during the past eighteen months. Mr. Harry Hayward, Assistant in Dairy Husbandry, was, on April 1, advanced to the rank of Assistant Professor of Dairy Husbandry, with a corresponding position in the Station. Miss M. E. Gray, stenographer of the Station, resigned on June 1, 1898, her place being filled by Miss Mary Garner. Mr. W. S. Sweetser, Assistant Chemist of the Station since 1888, resigned on July 1 to accept the position of Instructor in Agricul tural Chemistry in the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, of Virginia. Mr. J. A. Fries, Assistant Chemist, has been detailed since October 1, 1898, for work in connection with the special investigations which are being carried on in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture, and of which more specific mention is made below. Mr. M. E. McDonnell, Assistant Chemist of the Station, has been given a year's leave of absence for special study in Europe.

As a result of the above changes, what was practically a reorganization of the laboratory force of the Station became necessary. Mr. C. A. Brown, Jr., was accordingly put in general charge of the details of the work in the chemical laboratory under Dr. Frear's supervision, and at the same time was appointed Assistant in Agricultural Chemistry in the College and the vacancies in the staff of Assistant Chemists were filled by the appointment of Mr. M. S. McDowell, who had formerly filled the same position, Mr. A. N. Diehl, a graduate of the class of 1898, and Mr. C. P. Beistle. Mr. J. P. Pillsbury, who, for several years, under the title of the gardener, has had charge of a considerable portion of the details of the horticultural work of the Station, was, on June 1, 1898, definitely added to the staff of the Station with the title of Assistant in Horticulture.

Experiment Station.

It does not seem necessary, at this time, to enter into a detailed statement of the operations of the Station since full information on this point is contained in its separate report (printed as Part II). In place of this, I desire to call attention to some of the features of the work which are of general interest.

The experiments upon the culture of sugar beets in Pennsylvania which were carried on in 1897 in co-operation with the United States Department of Agriculture, have been repeated during 1898 on a much larger scale. Genuine seed, furnished by the Department, was sent to over 1,000 farmers in different sections of the State, with directions for planting and cultivation, and reports, together with samples of the beets raised have been received from a large proportion of these farmers. The results have not yet been digested, but the indications are that they are fully as favorable as those reached in 1897. Special mention should be made here of the very efficient co-operation of Mr. Frank C. Bosler, of Carlisle, and Mr. W. H. Stamey, of Reynoldsville. Both these gentlemen were appointed special agents for the Station for certain sections of the State, and have contributed very largely 'o the successful carrying out of the investigation. This work is being continued in 1899.

One of the questions of popular interest at the present time is that of the purity of foods, drugs and condiments and its enforcement by laws, both State and National. In January, 1898, a Pure Food Congress was called to meet at Washington, D. C., to which were invited representatives of all interests which would be affected by such legislation, including the Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. Dr. William Frear, Chemist of the Station, was appointed to represent the College and Station at that Congress, and by the Congress was made chairman of its executive committee. Largely as a result of this Congress and of the subsequent work of its executive committee, material progress has been made towards securing a national law for the prevention of adulteration, etc., of foods, drugs and condiments in the District of Columbia and the territories, and in so far as they are objects of inter-state commerce. Closely correlated with this work is that of standards of purity for these different articles, a work which has been taken up by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists and in which our own laboratory has participated to some extent.

During the year 1898, the dairy interests of the State made an important advance by the organization of the Pennsylvania Dairy Union at Harrisburg, in April. The Experiment Station was represented at this meeting by the Director and by Assistant Prof. Hayward, the latter gentleman being elected secretary of the new organi

2--22--98

zation, a position to which he has since been re-elected. This organization aims to represent the interests of the dairymen of the whole State and, in view of the great importance of those interests, the Station has endeavored to co-operate as far as it properly could in this work. The Union held a very successful meeting and exhibition at Williamsport in December, at which an exhibit was made by the College creamery.

One of the prominent lines of Station activity has been, as in previous years, investigation in stock feeding. I have more than once pointed out the desirability of so enlarging the equipment of the Station as to enable it to make more thorough and scientific investigation into some of the fundamental laws of animal nutrition. During the past year, we have been so fortunate as to secure the cooperation of the United States Department of Agriculture in this line of research and have now the prospect of having, within a comparatively short time, an equipment for this purpose unequaled by that of any Station in the country. Of recent years, the study of animal nutrition has taken to considerable degree the form of a study of the transformations of energy in the animal body, this energy being conveniently measured in terms of heat. For investigations of this kind, it is necessary to determine the total amount of potential energy contained in the food and excreta of the animal and likewise the amount given off in the form of heat or external work by the animal itself. For the first of these purposes, the Station has procured a Berthelot bomb-calorimeter of the latest form, as modified by Hempel and Atwater, manufactured by Mr. O. S. Blakeslee, of Middletown, Conn. With this instrument, exceedingly accurate determinations can be made of the heat of combustion of feeding materials and excreta. For the second branch of the investigation, a more elaborate and expensive apparatus, known as the respiration-calorimeter, is needed. Arrangements have been made with the Department of Agriculture, by which it will defray a considerable portion of the expense of constructing such an apparatus. The apparatus will be modelled after the one for experiments with man devised by Professors Atwater and Rosa, of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and now in successful operation there. Plans for the apparatus, as well as for a special fire-proof building to house it, are now well advanced and it is expected that its actual construction will be begun at an early date. In this connection, I would gratefully acknowledge the kindness of the Board of Trustees in granting me leave of absence during the summer of 1898 by which I was enabled to study personally different forms of apparatus of this sort in Ger many, France and England.

The publications of the Station during the year have comprised the Annual Report and the required number of four bulletins. By direc

tion of the Board of Trustees, in pursuance of the request of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Annual Report will henceforth cover the United States fiscal year ending June 30th, instead of the calendar year. Accordingly, the present report has been made for the eighteen months ending June 30th, 1899. The small number of these reports now printed in comparison with the demand for them continues to cause very serious embarrassment to the Station, since it has been unable to supply reports to more than half of those whose names are on its list.

School of Agriculture.

The work of the School of Agriculture has gone forward much as usual, the conditions not permitting of any considerable expansion. The members of the School have taken a prominent part as heretofore in the work of Farmers' Institutes, Messrs. Frear, Butz, Fries and Hess having been detailed as the representatives of the College. This Institute work has been carried at considerable inconvenience and even at some sacrifice in the efficiency of the work at the College, because it was regarded as a very important part of the work of the Institution to reach the people of the State generally and make available to them the results of study and investigation at the College.

Owing to the demand for Institute work just spoken of, it was deemed impracticable to carry on during the Winter of 1897-8 all the special courses which had hitherto been given. Accordingly, the. opening of the Short Course in Agriculture was postponed from January 3d to early in March. While this change seemed unavoidable, the result was, as was not unexpected, that only four students registered in the Course and consequently the development of the Course which we might have hoped for was very seriously interfered with. It was found possible to begin the Course for 1899 at the opening of the winter session as hitherto, but owing, doubtless in part to the postponement in 1898, only nine students registered in the Course. It is my belief that this Course is capable of a development which will render it of great value to the farmers of the State and will attract to it a considerable number of students, but our means have hitherto not been adequate to provide the teaching force or the material equipment necessary to realize this hope.

The Dairy Courses, particularly the Creamery Course, have, as in previous years, been the popular courses. During 1898, thirty-five students were registered in the Creamery Course and fifteen students in the Cheese-making Course. For 1899, the corresponding numbers are forty-six in the Creamery Course and ten in the Cheese-making Course. Each year, a large number of students have been refused in